Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
What's going on here? מַה זֶה?
Our parashah explains that we celebrate the holiday of Sukkot in order to remember that God provided sukkot for Benei Yisrael in the wilderness. What exactly were these sukkot? It’s an important מַחְלֹקֶת (mahloket, dispute) from the Sifra (Emor, chapter 17)!
- According to Rabbi Eliezer, we are supposed to remember the actual huts that Benei Yisrael lived in while God led them through the wilderness.
- According to Rabbi Akiva, the “sukkot” we are supposed to remember are not the tents they lived in, but God’s pillar of cloud that surrounded and protected Benei Yisrael in the wilderness (Shemot 13:21-22).
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