חגי תשרי – הגישה האוניברסלית

Behold, a day of the LORD cometh, When thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; And the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, And the women ravished; And half of the city shall go forth into captivity, But the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, And fight against those nations, As when He fighteth in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, Which is before Jerusalem on the east, And the mount of Olives shall cleft in the midst thereof Toward the east and toward the west, So that there shall be a very great valley; And half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, And half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; For the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azel; Yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah; And the LORD my God shall come, And all the holy ones with Thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall not be light, But heavy clouds and thick; And there shall be one day Which shall be known as the LORD’S, Not day, and not night; But it shall come to pass, that at evening time there shall be light. And it shall come to pass in that day, That living waters shall go out from Jerusalem: Half of them toward the eastern sea, And half of them toward the western sea; In summer and in winter shall it be. And the LORD shall be King over all the earth; In that day shall the LORD be One, and His name one. All the land shall be turned as the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel unto the king’s winepresses. And men shall dwell therein, And there shall be no more extermination; But Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite All the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, And their eyes shall consume away in their sockets, And their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, That a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; And they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, And his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. And Judah also shall fight against Jerusalem; And the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together, Gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. And so shall be the plague of the horse, Of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, And of all the beasts that shall be in those camps, as this plague. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso of the families of the earth goeth not up unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, they shall have no overflow; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

למען ידעו דורותיכם, the plain meaning of the text is in agreement with the view expressed in Sukkah 11 according to which the word סוכה is to be understood literally. The meaning of the verse then would be: “construct for yourselves the festival of huts when you gather in your grain and grape harvest (Deuteronomy 16,13) You are to do this at the time you gather in the produce of the earth and your houses are filled with all the good things the earth produces such a grain, grape, wine and oil (olives). This is to be done in order that you will remember” כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל, in the desert for a period of 40 years when they neither owned land nor found themselves in a cultivated part of the earth. Remembering all this you will have ample reason to be grateful to the One Who has provided you with all of your present wealth and comfort. You must not fall into the trap of thinking that all this success is due to your own efforts. We find a similar thought expressed in Deuteronomy 8,2-3 “you shall remember all the way which the Lord your G’d has led you for these last 40 years…and He fed you the manna, etc.” Why do I command you to do all this? For the Lord your G’d brings you to a good …and you will eat and be satisfied, etc. As a result your heart may become haughty and you will credit yourself with all this as your own achievement. (Deuteronomy 8 7-18) In order that this will not happen and to show that the Israelites G’d’s part in their success they will move out of their solid houses as a reminder to the time when they had not been blessed with any of these benefits which they enjoy ever since inheriting the land of their forefathers. They acknowledge that it is G’d Who provides the Jewish people with the ability and valor.

At four set times the world is judged:On Pesah in respect to the produce. On Shavuot in respect to the fruit of the tree. On Rosh Hashanah all the people of the world pass before Him like a division of soldier [a numerus], as it says, “He who fashions the hearts of them all, who discerns all their doings” (Psalms 33:15). And on Sukkot they are judged in respect of rain.

1 "On the seventh month on the first of the month" (Leviticus 23:24): This is [the understanding of] that which is written (Psalms 119:89), "Forever, O Lord, does Your word stand in the Heavens." It was taught in the name of Rabbi Eliezer, "The world was created on the twenty-fifth of Elul." And that of Rav comes out like that which Rabbi Eliezer taught. As we recite with the shofar blows of Rav, "This day is the beginning of Your works, a memorial for the first day, 'For it is a statute for Israel, etc.' (Psalms 81:5); and about the provinces it is said, which for the sword and which for peace, which for hunger and which for satiation; and for the creatures - on it are they remembered, to remember them for life or for death." It comes out that you say on Rosh Hashanah (the first of Tishrei in the first year) in the first hour, [man's creation] rose in thought; in the second, [God] consulted with the angels; in the third, He gathered his dirt; in the fourth, He kneaded it; in the fifth, He weaved it; in the sixth, He made it a form; in the seventh, He blew breath into it; in the eighth, He placed him into the Garden [of Eden]; in the ninth, he was commanded [about the fruit]; in the tenth, he transgressed; in the eleventh, he was judged; in the twelfth, he was pardoned. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Adam, "This is a sign for your children: In the same way that you stood in front of Me in judgement on this day and were pardoned, so too in the future will your children stand in front of Me in judgement on this day and be pardoned in front of Me." When? "On the seventh month on the first of the month" 2 Rabbi Nachman opened [his discourse]: "And you, have no fear, My servant Yaakov" (Jeremiah 30:10) is speaking about Yaakov, as it is written (Genesis 28:12), "He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground [...]." Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said, "These [angels that Yaakov saw in the dream] are the ministering angels of the nations of the world." For Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said, "It teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Yaakov our father, the ministering angel of Babylonia ascend seventy rungs; of Medea, thirty-five rungs; of Greece, one hundred and eighty rungs; and of Edom [he saw] ascend and did not know how many. At that time, Yaakov our father feared. He said, 'Is it possible that this one has no descent?' The Holy One, blessed be He, said, '"And you, have no fear, My servant Yaakov"; even if he comes up and sits with Me, I will bring him down from there.' This is [the understanding of] that which is written (Obadiah 1:4), 'Should you nest as high as the eagle, should your eyrie be lodged among the stars; even from there I will pull you down.'" Rabbi Berakhiah, Rabbi Chelbo and Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai said in the name of Rabbi Meir, "It teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Yaakov the ministering angel of Babylonia ascend and descend; of Medea ascend and descend; of Greece ascend and descend; of Edom ascend and descend. The Holy One, blessed be He said to Yaakov, 'You should also ascend.' At that time, Yaakov our father feared and said, 'Lest, God forbid, just like there was a descent for these, for me too [will there be one].' The Holy One, blessed be He said to him, '"And you, have no fear." If you ascend, you will not ever have a descent.' [But] he did not trust, and did not ascend." Rabbi Berakhiah, Rabbi Chelbo said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai [that] Rabbi Meir expounded, "'Nonetheless, they went on sinning and had no faith in His wonders' (Psalms 78:32). This [refers to] our father Yaakov who did not trust and did not ascend. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'If you had trusted and ascended, you would not have descended again. But now that you did not trust and did not ascend, your children will in the future be subjugated in this world with taxes, crop-taxes, penalties and poll-taxes to these four empires. At that time, Yaakov feared. He said in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Master of the world, is it possible it is forever?' He said to him, 'Be not dismayed, Israel, for I will deliver you from far away' (Jeremiah 30:11)." It is like you say (Isaiah 39:3), "They have come to me [...], from Babylon.” "Your folk from their land of captivity" (Jeremiah 30:10), from Gaul, and Spain and its fellows; "and Yaakov shall return," from Babylonia; "and have calm," from Medea; "and quiet," from Greece; "with none troubling," from Edom. "For I will finish all the nations among which I have dispersed you" (Jeremiah 30:11) - the nations of the world that finish their fields, I will finish; but Israel who does not finish their fields - as you say (Leviticus 23:22), "you shall not finish the corner of your field" - "I will not finish; but I will chastise you in measure" - to chastise you with afflictions in this world in order to cleanse you for the future to come. When? In the seventh month. 3. Rabbi Yehuda son of Rabbi Nachman opened and said, "God ascends in acclamation (lit. in truah), The Lord in the call of the shofar" (Psalms 47:6). In the moment when the Holy Blessing One sits on the Throne of Judgement, God ascends with judgement. What happens? God ascends with acclimation, at the time when Israel takes their shofarot and sounds them before the Holy Blessing One, God stands up from the Throne of Judgement and sits on the Throne of Mercy, as it says, "Adonai in the call of the shofar," And they are filled with mercy and God has mercy on them, and switches their treatment from the attribute of judgement to the attribute of mercy. When? In the seventh month... 4 Rabbi Yoshayah opened [his discourse]: "Happy is the people who know the joyful blow; O Lord, they walk in the light of Your presence" (Psalms 89:16). Rabbi Abahu explained the Scripture [here] to be about the five elders that convene to make the year a leap year. What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He leaves His court above and descends and contracts His Divine Presence among them below. The ministering angels [then] say, "Where is the mighty One, where is the mighty One? Where is God, where is God - the One about whom it is written (Psalms 89:8), 'God who is lauded in the council of great holy ones,' leaves His court and contracts His Divine Presence among them below?" Why so much? So that if they err in a matter of law, the Holy One, blessed be He, enlightens their faces [to correct it]. This is [the understanding] of "they walk in the light of Your presence." Rabbi Yoshayah said, "It is written, 'Happy is the people who know the joyful blow.' And do the nations of the world not know how to blow? How many horns, and bugles and trumpets do they have? And you said, 'Happy is the people who know the joyful blow?' Rather it is that they know how to sway their Creator with the blow; and He stands up from His Throne of judgement and [moves] to the Throne of mercy and is filled up with mercy upon them. Then He reverses His attribute of judgement to the attribute of mercy. When? In the seventh month. 5 Rabbi Berakhiah opened [his discourse] in the name of Rabbi Yirmiyah: "The path of life leads upward for an intelligent man" (Proverbs 15:24) - the path of life is nothing but Torah, as you say (Proverbs 3:18), "She is a tree of life for those who grasp her." Another interpretation of "The path of life leads upward for an intelligent man" - the path of life is nothing but afflictions, as you say (Proverbs 6:23), "and the path of life is the rebuke that disciplines." "Leads upwards for an intelligent man" - for one who looks at the commandments of the Torah. What is written above the matter? "You shall not finish the corner of your field" (Leviticus 23:22). 6 Rabbi Berakhiah opened [his discourse]: "Blow the horn (shofar) on the new moon, [on the covered (moon) for our festival day]." (Psalms 81:4). And is it not that all the new moons only become months when they are covered; and all the months are only covered for our festival day; and is Nissan not a month that is covered and has a festival of its own? Rather which month has a new moon that is covered and has a festival, and its festival is on the day [of the new moon]? You only find this in the month of Tishrei. On this month, rejuvenate your deeds with the shofar; on this month, improve (shapru) your deeds. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, "If you have improved your deeds, I will surely do like this shofar for you: Just like this shofar takes in [air] on this [side] and releases [it] on that [side], so too will I stand up from the throne of justice and sit on the throne of mercy and reverse the trait of justice for you into the trait of mercy." When? In the seventh month.

For the Leader; a Psalm for the sons of Korah. O clap your hands, all ye peoples; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. . For the LORD is most high, awful; a great King over all the earth. He subdueth peoples under us, and nations under our feet. He chooseth our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob whom He loveth. Selah God is gone up amidst shouting, the LORD amidst the sound of the horn. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing ye praises in a skilful song. God reigneth over the nations; God sitteth upon His holy throne. The princes of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham; for unto God belong the shields of the earth; He is greatly exalted.