סכות

סכות

                We just finished the most important part of the Jewish year, Elul. We have now entered זמן שמחתנו, the time of happiness. The question is why is סכות such a happy time? We leave the comfort of our houses to go live in a hut, why is that such a שמכה?

                We all know that a סוכה needs to be a temporary dwelling. When we move into a community and decide that we want to stay and build a life there what is the first thing we do? The first thing that most people do is search for a house to live in so that they can establish themselves in that community. When you buy a house you ROOT yourself into the community. On סכות we are showing that we as a people, no matter where we live are not a people who are rooted in the community that we live, we are rooted in our heritage and in עולם הבא. Our real connection is up above.

This is also the שמכה that we have. We are showing that we are not a people who are rooted in the physical world. Yes, we are allowed to have a good life, work hard, make money, etc… But at the end of the day we are a spiritual people, connected to ה' and because of this we know that we have limitless potential.

Have an Awesome Chag

Yoni Spigelman

יום כיפור

יום כיפור

                On ראש השנה we are written and on יום כיפור we are sealed. יום כיפור is the ULTIMATE TIME of תשובה for the Jewish people. The רמב''ם says it is the זמן תשובה for every יחיד and the רבים (every single Jew personally as well as the Jews as a whole). He goes further and says that since it is the Jews last chance for תשובה we have a חיוב to beg and ask for סליכה and מחילה.

                Why is that? Why is it our חיוב to do תשובה? We should be able to decide whether we are sorry for our actions or not! The reason for this חיוב is as follows, during the rest of the year it is up to every person to make their own relationship with ה', in their own special and unique way. However, on יום כיפור, ה' is coming down to us. ה' forces us to realize that we are all connected to Him.

                Rav Aharon Kutler brings an example; you are sitting down by yourself and notice that there is a man walking towards you with his hand outstretched to shake yours, he is coming to greet you. This isn’t just a regular man however, it is the king! What would you do? Yes you have the ability to ignore him and go about your business, most of us though appreciate the fact that we have our lives and would like to continue living it. If you chose to ignore the king it would be a terrible insult and you would pay for it accordingly. It’s the same thing here. ה' is coming down TO US and showing us that we have a relationship with Him, whether we like or not, whether we believe it or deny it. The only thing we need to do for forgiveness is say, yes ה', אנחנו חטאנו, we have sinned, and acknowledge that fact. Yes we have sinned terribly and we may feel like we don’t deserve it but ה' is coming with His hand outstretched to show us that we don’t have to try that hard for us to have this relationship.

Have an Easy and Truly Meaningful Fast

Yoni Spigelman 
With Help From Rav Moshe Beigelman