אמר רבי אבין: משל לשנים שנכנסו אצל הדיין ולית אנן ידעין מאן הוא נוצח, אלא מאן דנסב באיין בידיה, אנן ידעין דהוא נצוחייא. כך ישראל ואומות העולם באין ומקטרגים לפני הקב"ה בר"ה ולית אנן ידעין מאן נצח, אלא במה שישראל יוצאין מלפני הקדוש ברוך הוא ולולביהן ואתרוגיהן בידן, אנו יודעין דישראל אינון נצוחייא. לפיכך משה מזהיר לישראל ואומר להם: ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון:
(Translation from aish.com)
This commandment is a parable that describes two people who contend in a legal battle before the King. Although the two people were not informed in whose favor the judgment was issued, they can figure it out by looking to see who walks out still holding his weapons. Thus Israel along with the nations of the world face the Divine judgment on the Day of Atonement. We cannot tell which one emerged victorious, which is why God commanded You shall take for yourselves ... You can see from the fact that Israel emerges from before God holding its palm leaves and citrons, its lulav and etrog, that Israel emerged victorious.
Question:
1. According to the Midrash, what does the taking of the four species after Yom Kippur express?
(מב) בַּסֻּכֹּ֥ת תֵּשְׁב֖וּ שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֑ים כָּל־הָֽאֶזְרָח֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל יֵשְׁב֖וּ בַּסֻּכֹּֽת׃ (מג) לְמַעַן֮ יֵדְע֣וּ דֹרֹֽתֵיכֶם֒ כִּ֣י בַסֻּכּ֗וֹת הוֹשַׁ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּהוֹצִיאִ֥י אוֹתָ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
(42) You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in [sukkot] booths [?] (43) in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in Sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I the LORD your God.
BACKGROUND TO THE FOLLOWING SOURCE: "Clouds of glory" [annanei HaKavod] is a rabbinic term. It refers to the clouds that appeared in the Israelite camp in the desert. These clouds expressed God's Presence and protection to the Israelites.
For it has been taught: "For I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths [sukkot]" (Leviticus 23:43): These were clouds of glory, the words of R. Eliezer. R. Akiva says: They made for themselves real sukkot.
Questions:
2. What are Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva arguing about?
3. According to Rabbi Eliezer, what is the meaning of our practice of sitting in booths/huts on Sukkot?
4. According to Rabbi Akiva, what is the meaning of our practice of sitting in booths/huts on Sukkot?
5. With which of these two opinions do you like more and why?
Background to the following source: According to rabbinic literature, Moses comes down from Mount Sinai after forty days on the 17th of the Jewish month of Tammuz. He sees the Israelites worshipping the Golden Calf and immediately shatters the tablets containing the Ten Commandments. He then spends forty days praying for God to spare the Israelites. Once God has forgiven the Israelites, Moses goes back up to Mount Sinai for another forty days. On the fortieth day, Moses comes down with the second set of tablets, which he has written himself. The day on which Moses descends with the second set of tablets is Yom Kippur.
The following source assumes the opinion of Rabbi Akiva, that the Sukkot described in the Torah were the clouds of glory.
Sefer Hatoda'ah (The Book of Consciousness) by Rabbi Eliyahu Ki Tov
We are not making them [the sukkot] in memory of the first set of clouds of glory that surrounded them when the y first left Egypt, since these clouds of glory left them afterwards with the sin of the golden calf. Rather, we make them in memory of the clouds of glory that returned for them afterwards and never left them for all forty years...
When Israel sinned with the calf, the clouds of glory left them...When Moses came down for the third time he also brought the commandment of building the tabernacle, as a sign that God had forgiven them...
[After Moses descends on Yom Kippur, the people of Israel begin to bring all of their gifts towards the tabernacle.]
Comes the fifteenth day of Tishrei....What do they see?...They see the clouds of glory that returned after leaving them from the sin of the calf until then. From then on, the people of Israel dwell in the shade of the clouds of glory that enveloped them like a Sukkah...
Question:
6. According to the previous source, why do we celebrate Sukkot soon after Yom Kippur?