The Beatles' Abbey Road has just returned to #1 in the pop album charts (UK) and one of the best songs on the album is "Here Comes the Sun" by George Harrison.
(א) סֻכָּה שֶׁהִיא גְבוֹהָה לְמַעְלָה מֵעֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה, פְּסוּלָה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה מַכְשִׁיר. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ גְּבוֹהָה עֲשָׂרָה טְפָחִים, וְשֶׁאֵין לָהּ שְׁלֹשָׁה דְּפָנוֹת, וְשֶׁחַמָּתָהּ מְרֻבָּה מִצִּלָּתָהּ, פְּסוּלָה. סֻכָּה יְשָׁנָה, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי פּוֹסְלִין, וּבֵית הִלֵּל מַכְשִׁירִין. וְאֵיזוֹ הִיא סֻכָּה יְשָׁנָה, כָּל שֶׁעֲשָׂאָהּ קֹדֶם לֶחָג שְׁלשִׁים יוֹם. אֲבָל אִם עֲשָׂאָהּ לְשֵׁם חָג, אֲפִלּוּ מִתְּחִלַּת הַשָּׁנָה, כְּשֵׁרָה:
(1) A sukkah which is more than twenty cubits high is not valid. Rabbi Judah validates it. One which is not ten handbreadths high, or which does not have three walls, or which has more sun than shade, is not valid....
The Gemara (Sukkah 22b) raises an interesting question - what if there equal amounts of sunshine and shade - will the Sukkah be kosher?
It replies with the answer, that it all depends on which angle you view both the sunlight and shade.
In the case where you look at the schach and see them being equal, then the sukkah would be pasul (i.e. non kosher) but if you look at the ratio on the ground, where the beams of sunlight have diffused through the cracks in the schach and therefore appear equal to the amount of shade, then we allow the sukkah and say that the schach is "sufficiently dense" and the shade therefore exceeds the sunlight.
I think this is an important lesson for all of us.
When we judge a situation, we need to take in all the points of view before making a decision about how to act. It would be easy to automatically disqualify the sukkah if you thought that there was an equal amount of shade - but look at the roof and then the ground and make your decision.
I remember a TV advert for the Guardian where a skinhead ran towards a well dressed man and violently grabbed him. One's initial reaction was to automatically side with the hapless gentleman until you saw the rest of the ad where it showed how the skinhead" had pulled the man out of the way of some scaffolding which fell and shed its heavy load - the result of which would have probably killed him.
The narration read "an event seen from one point of view gives one impression. Seen from another point of view, it gives quite a different impression. But it's only when you get the whole picture, you can fully understand what's going on"
Coming from the Guardian, that's quite ironic. But nevertheless, its message has always stuck with me.
Every Friday night, we recite the bracha of:
. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' הַפּורֵש סֻכַּת שלום עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל עַמּו יִשרָאֵל וְעַל יְרוּשלָיִם:
Praised are you, Lord, who spreads the sukkah of peace over us, over all G-d's people Israel, and over Jerusalem.
We are going to hopefully spend many days and nights in our Sukkah and hear lots of points of view - let's try to ensure that our sukkot do promote peace amongst us, by equalling the amount of sunshine to shade, if we view this from the top below.
Finally, on another Beatles' note, you might be aware that the 'B' side of the Paperback Writer single is a song called "Rain"...maybe that's a devar torah for a different day!
Chag Sameach!