- (א) כי בסכות הושבתי את בני ישראל.
- יש מרז"ל שאמרו סכות ממש עשו להם,
- ויש שאמרו ענני כבוד.
- דעת האומר סכות ממש עשו להם,
- מפני זה נצטוינו לעשות סכות דוגמתן
- כדי שיתגלה ויתפרסם מתוך מצות הסכות גודל מעלתן של ישראל במדבר,
- שהיו הולכים עם כובד האנשים והנשים והטף במקום ההוא אשר אין בטבע האדם לחיות בו,
- כי שם באותו מקום הכנתי להם כל צרכם ולא חסרו דבר.
- דעת האומר ענני כבוד היו מפני שהיו הולכים בעמוד ענן יומם ובעמוד אש לילה.
- כענין שכתוב (שמות יג) "לא ימיש עמוד הענן יומם ועמוד האש לילה לפני העם" , והיו
- מוקפין ומסוככין מכל צד בענני כבוד,
- וזהו העקר והנכון בפשט הכתוב.
(1) כי בסכות הושבתי את בני ישראל, “for I have let the Children of Israel dwell in huts, etc.” Some of our sages understand the word סכות literally, i.e. booths, huts, whereas others understand it allegorically, meaning that the protective clouds of G’d acted for them as if they were dwelling in secure huts. According to the view of those who understand the word literally we have to assume that the people constructed the huts for themselves (as they certainly did not take prefabricated huts with them out of Egypt). As a remembrance of the Israelites having dwelled in real huts the Torah would command us to re-enact history and build these huts for ourselves on the Sukkot festival. The message of the commandment would be to bring home to us the devotion of the Israelites to G’d seeing they had to travel for 40 years in the desert with their wives and children, erecting and dismantling their huts each time they journeyed, etc. This would also be what the prophet Yoel 2,20 had in mind when he described the condition of the desert as “a parched and desolate land;” the Torah (Numbers 20,5) speaks of the desert as “not a place fit for planting seed where either fig trees or grapevines could grow.” The prophet Jeremiah 2,31, quoting G’d asks the rhetorical question: “have I been like a desert to Israel or a land of deep gloom?” What the prophet meant was that G’d used the barrenness of the desert to remind the Israelites of how He had not allowed them to feel deprived by the fact that they were traversing such unfriendly territory. He had provided for them all the comforts of life which their natural habitat could not provide for them. If one accepts the view of the people who believe that the Israelites had dwelled in actual huts one must suppose that they had had regular commercial contact with traders from far off who had brought to them the various necessities of life including plants, etc.
If one accepts the view of the second group of sages that the Israelites’ “huts” consisted of these protective clouds of the Lord known as ענני הכבוד in our literature, the reason may be that the Israelites were described on occasion as traveling at night under the light and protection of the pillar of fire. According to Deut. 16,14 we must imagine the camps as surrounded on all sides by miraculous manifestations of the attribute of כבוד. It is most likely the correct meaning of our verse that the manifestations of G’d’s clouds and pillars are referred to here as “huts,” and that the word ‘huts’ is employed by the Torah to describe protective cover. The words: “when I took the Jewish people out of Egypt,” i.e. immediately, lends weight to the opinion that the word is used in an allegorical sense. This would be compatible with the words of Isaiah 4,5: “the Lord will create over the whole shrine and meeting place of Mount Zion a cloud by day and smoke with a glow of flaming fire by night. Indeed over all the glory shall be hung a canopy which will serve as a hut for shade by day and as a shelter for protection against drenching rain.” The “hut” the prophet speaks of is clearly reminiscent of the ענני כבוד and the kind of illumination for the righteous in the future. Concerning this development in the future David said in Psalms 27,5: “He will shelter me in His hut (סכה) on an evil day, etc.”
If one accepts the view of the second group of sages that the Israelites’ “huts” consisted of these protective clouds of the Lord known as ענני הכבוד in our literature, the reason may be that the Israelites were described on occasion as traveling at night under the light and protection of the pillar of fire. According to Deut. 16,14 we must imagine the camps as surrounded on all sides by miraculous manifestations of the attribute of כבוד. It is most likely the correct meaning of our verse that the manifestations of G’d’s clouds and pillars are referred to here as “huts,” and that the word ‘huts’ is employed by the Torah to describe protective cover. The words: “when I took the Jewish people out of Egypt,” i.e. immediately, lends weight to the opinion that the word is used in an allegorical sense. This would be compatible with the words of Isaiah 4,5: “the Lord will create over the whole shrine and meeting place of Mount Zion a cloud by day and smoke with a glow of flaming fire by night. Indeed over all the glory shall be hung a canopy which will serve as a hut for shade by day and as a shelter for protection against drenching rain.” The “hut” the prophet speaks of is clearly reminiscent of the ענני כבוד and the kind of illumination for the righteous in the future. Concerning this development in the future David said in Psalms 27,5: “He will shelter me in His hut (סכה) on an evil day, etc.”
Open and read every verse Rabbeinu Bahya mentions and few verses before and after.
פשט- simple meaning
רז"ל או חז"ל- חכמינו זיכרונם לברכה our rabbis of blessed memory
דעת- opinion
כובד-many
הטף=ילדים
טבע האדם-human nature
כל צרכם all their needs