הסגולות הנסתרות של מצוות הסוכה | הרב יחזקאל עוזר

May you merit many pleasant and good years. May it be His will that the merit of the Torah words we say bring a complete recovery to Eyal ben Esther, a complete recovery to Mordechai ben Miriam; may He heal them, heal them completely, along with all other sick people of His people Israel. Oh, gentlemen, you can see the light on your faces. The day after Yom Kippur, praised be His name forever. Oh, you can see the light on your faces.

completely, along with all other sick people of His people Israel. Oh, gentlemen, you can see the light on your faces. The day after Yom Kippur, praised be His name forever. Oh, you can see the light on your faces.

Yesterday, gentlemen, we stood, praised be His name forever, in the Ne'ilah prayer and we shouted seven times, "The Lord is God," and I called out to the Lord... And as our Sages told us: Gentlemen, at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, a heavenly voice goes out from the heavens and says: "Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already accepted your deeds." Gentlemen, at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, this is the day that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses our Teacher: "I have forgiven, as you have spoken." The Holy One, blessed be He, praised be His name forever, forgives and pardons and removes all transgressions. As we said yesterday: A King who pardons and forgives our iniquities and the iniquities of His people Israel, He removes our sins every single year. But gentlemen, just because you forgive a person—someone came, hurt you, did something to you, you forgave him, yes, you sent him forgiveness—it doesn't mean now that you will be his friend, that you will want to be near him, that you will go and sit with him to drink a cup of coffee. Just because I forgave you—I forgave, but are we friends now? Are we drinking together now? Listen, no, it doesn't work. We, gentlemen, do not suffice with the forgiveness of the Holy One, blessed be He. Forgiveness is a great thing, but we don't only want forgiveness. We want the shining of a face. We want to be in the proximity of the Holy One, blessed be He. We want to be together with Him. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, you want to know that My forgiveness for you is a perfect forgiveness, it is a complete forgiveness. Not only do I forgive you, but you will now make a Sukkah, gentlemen, and I will sit and be with you throughout all these eight days of the holiday of Sukkot; we will be together. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, make Me a Sukkah and you and I will sit together in the Sukkah all these days to show you that not only have I forgiven you, but I desire your company. I want to be with you all these days. You know, gentlemen, there are many reasons according to the mystical tradition for the matter of the commandment of the Sukkah. The genius Rabbi Kluger comes and writes a wondrous thing, a wondrous reason for the matter of the Sukkah commandment, for this reason of the Sukkah commandment. According to the Gemara, there is a Gemara in Tractate Ta'anit, page 24, side B, where the Gemara brings a story. The Gemara says, there was one Jewish man, his evil inclination overwhelmed him, he went and sinned with a Cuthean woman, with a Gentile woman. He went and was with a Gentile woman. They came to Rava. Rava was the court, he heard this. Rava says, fine. He was with a Gentile woman, let's lash him. They give him lashes, they strike him. The Gemara says the matter arrived, they publicized it. The matter reached King Shapur the King.

Kippur, a heavenly voice goes out from the heavens and says: "Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already accepted your deeds." Gentlemen, at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, this is the

Shapur the King hears that Rava went and lashed someone. Why? Because he cohabited with a Cuthean woman. The Gemara says that King Shapur came to cause Rava grief. He wanted to distress him, starting to send him all sorts of officials, all sorts of things, to mess with him. His mother said to him, his mother was a righteous woman—his mother was named Ifra Hormiz, she was righteous—she said to him, "Do not mess with these Jews, leave them alone, don't meddle with them." He said to her, "Why?" "What is so special about them? What is this?" She says, "Whatever they ask of the Holy One, Blessed be He, whatever they ask of their God, He does for them." He said to her, "What?" "Like what, for instance?" "What, for example, do they ask for and He does for them?" "What?" "If there is... if there is no rain, if they need rain, they pray for rain and it rains." He says to her, her son says to her—he was less of a believer than her—he says to her: "What is the wisdom in that?" "When do they ask for rain?" "In Shevat, in Tevet, in the months when rain is needed, so what is the wonder?" He says: "Let’s see them ask now, let’s see them ask for rain now." "It was in the month of Tammuz; now let them ask for rain and we'll see if it rains, that would be the wisdom." "What is the wisdom?" "To ask for rain in the winter." "In the winter it would rain, eventually it rained." "It rained." "Let’s see them now in the month of Tammuz." Ifra Hormiz sends, she sends a messenger to Rava. She tells him, "Listen, focus in your prayer so that it will rain." "Why is my son, King Shapur, testing you?" Rava says, Rava prays, the Gemara says, Rava prays for rain and it does not rain. Rava comes and says to the Holy One, Blessed be He, he says to Him the verse, he says to Him: "O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, the work You did in their days, in days of old." He says, "Master of the Universe, we have heard many stories about You, we have heard—peace be upon you, may the Name hear you—we have heard many stories about You, Master of the Universe, but show us something from those stories as well." The Gemara says, the heavens grew dark and it began to rain in the month of Tammuz until all the reservoirs overflowed. All the reservoirs had already spilled over. All the reservoirs overflowed their banks. Behold, the prayer of Rava was accepted. He proved that He can bring rain even in the month of Tammuz. The Gemara says, at night when Rava went to sleep, his father came to him in a dream. His father says to him, "Listen, quickly, quickly, urgently, get up from your bed." "Sleep somewhere else, go sleep elsewhere." "Why is there a man who burdens the Holy One, Blessed be He, so much?" "You have burdened the Holy One, Blessed be He, to change all the laws of nature." "What, it rains in Tammuz?" "You have done something that is against nature." "Change your bed quickly." "Do not sleep in your bed." Rava, of course, listens to his father, and goes and moves his bed. He says in the morning he wakes up, gentlemen, and sees his entire bed. What was it? Torn to shreds by knives and swords. Meaning, the "externals" were so jealous of what he did, the harmful ones were so jealous of him that they came to his bed and what did they do? They tore the whole bed to pieces. He says, and that is why he changed his bed. Listen to his father, he changed his bed. What are these connections, but the Holy One, Blessed is He... what are you doing? Beautiful, true, but these are powers of concealment. Actually, they are "fixing" things, supposedly for the honor of the Holy One, Blessed is He. Who asked them? Truthfully, you're right, but that is the... that is their role in the world. Each one has their role. He says, "And therefore, Raba... now listen, Rabbi Yitrumah, says Rabbi Kluger." Rabbi Kluger says, "We came, gentlemen, on Yom Kippur and forced the Holy One, Blessed is He, to change nature." We came and repented, and we forced the Holy One, Blessed is He. Not only did the Holy One, Blessed is He, forgive and pardon us, but we caused Him to act against all of nature. "The Holy Zohar says, the Holy Zohar says in Tikunei Zohar, that not only does the Holy One, Blessed is He, forgive, but the Holy One, Blessed is He, forces the Satan on Yom Kippur to take all the sins onto his own head. He leaves him with nothing. That is what the Zohar says. The Zohar says in Tikunei Zohar, part 3, page 64, side A, it says the Holy One, Blessed is He, forces him. Not only do I forgive them, but what shall we do with all the sins now? You take this." And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities. "Unto a land of separation." He says, he takes it al

yesterday: A King who pardons and forgives our iniquities and the iniquities of His people Israel, He removes our sins every single year. But gentlemen, just because you forgive a person—someone came, hurt you, did something to you, you forgave him, yes,

you sent him forgiveness—it doesn't mean now that you will be his friend, that you will want to be near him, that you will go and sit with him to drink a cup of coffee. Just because I forgave you—I forgave, but are we friends now

? Are we drinking together now? Listen, no, it doesn't work. We, gentlemen, do not suffice with the forgiveness of the Holy One, blessed be He. Forgiveness is a great thing, but we don't only want forgiveness. We want the shining of a

face. We want to be in the proximity of the Holy One, blessed be He. We want to be together with Him. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, you want to know that My forgiveness for you is a

perfect forgiveness, it is a complete forgiveness. Not only do I forgive you, but you will now make a Sukkah, gentlemen, and I will sit and be with you throughout all these eight days of the holiday of Sukkot; we will be

together. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, make Me a Sukkah and you and I will sit together in the Sukkah all these days to show you that not only have I forgiven you, but I desire your company. I want to be with you all

these days. You know, gentlemen, there are many reasons according to the mystical tradition for the matter of the commandment of the Sukkah. The genius Rabbi Kluger comes and writes a wondrous thing, a wondrous reason for the matter of the Sukkah

commandment, for this reason of the Sukkah commandment. According to the Gemara, there is a Gemara in Tractate Ta'anit, page 24, side B, where the Gemara brings a story. The Gemara says, there was one Jewish man, his evil inclination overwhelmed him, he went

and sinned with a Cuthean woman, with a Gentile woman. He went and was with a Gentile woman. They came to Rava. Rava was the court, he heard this. Rava says , fine. He was with a Gentile woman, let's lash him. They give him lashes,

they strike him. The Gemara says the matter arrived, they publicized it. The matter reached King Shapur the King.

Shapur the King hears that Rava went and lashed someone. Why? Because he cohabited with a Cuthean woman. The Gemara says that King Shapur came to cause Rava grief. He wanted to distress him, starting to send him all sorts of

officials, all sorts of things, to mess with him. His mother said to him, his mother was a righteous woman—his mother was named Ifra Hormiz, she was righteous—she said to him, "Do not mess with these Jews, leave them alone,

don't meddle with them." He said to her , "Why?""What is so special about them?

""What is this?" She says, "Whatever they ask of the Holy One, Blessed be He , whatever they ask of their God, He does for them." He said to her, "What?" "Like what, for instance?""What, for example, do they ask for and He does

for them?""What?""If there is...if there is no rain, if they need rain, they pray for rain and it rains." He says to her, her son says to her—he was less of a believer than her—he says to her: "What is the wisdom in

that?""When do they ask for rain?""In Shevat, in Tevet, in the months when rain is needed, so what is the wonder?" He says: "Let’s see them ask now, let’s see them ask for rain now.""It was in the month of Tammuz; now let

them ask for rain and we'll see if it rains, that would be the wisdom.""What is the wisdom?""To ask for rain in the winter.""In the winter it would rain, eventually it rained.""It rained."" Let’s see them now in the month of

Tammuz." Ifra Hormiz sends, she sends a messenger to Rava. She tells him, " Listen, focus in your prayer so that it will rain.""Why is my son, King Shapur, testing you?" Rava says, Rava prays, the Gemara says, Rava prays for rain

and it does not rain. Rava comes and says to the Holy One, Blessed be He, he says to Him the verse, he says to Him: "O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, the work You

did in their days, in days of old." He says, "Master of the Universe, we have heard many stories about You, we have heard—peace be upon you, may the Name hear you—we have heard many stories about You, Master of the Universe, but

show us something from those stories as well." The Gemara says, the heavens grew dark and it began to rain in the month of Tammuz until all the reservoirs overflowed. All the reservoirs had already spilled over.

All the reservoirs overflowed their banks. Behold, the prayer of Rava was accepted. He proved that He can bring rain even in the month of Tammuz. The Gemara says, at night when Rava went to sleep, his father came to him in a

dream. His father says to him, "Listen, quickly, quickly, urgently, get up from your bed.""Sleep somewhere else, go sleep elsewhere.""Why is there a man who burdens the Holy One, Blessed be He , so much?""You have burdened the Holy One, Blessed be He, to change all the

laws of nature.""What, it rains in Tammuz?""You have done something that is against nature.""Change your bed quickly.""Do not sleep in your bed." Rava, of course, listens to his father, and goes and moves his bed. He says in the morning he wakes up, gentlemen, and

sees his entire bed. What was it? Torn to shreds by knives and swords. Meaning , the "externals" were so jealous of what he did, the harmful ones were so jealous of him that they came to his bed and what did they do? They tore the

whole bed to pieces. He says, and that is why he changed his bed. Listen to his father, he changed his bed. What are these connections, but the Holy One , Blessed is He...what are you doing?

Beautiful, true, but these are powers of concealment. Actually, they are " fixing" things, supposedly for the honor of the Holy One, Blessed is He.

Who asked them? Truthfully, you're right, but that is the...that is their role in the world.

Each one has their role. He says, "And therefore, Raba...now listen, Rabbi Yitrumah, says Rabbi Kluger." Rabbi Kluger says, "We came, gentlemen, on Yom Kippur and forced the Holy One, Blessed is He, to change nature." We came and repented, and we

forced the Holy One, Blessed is He. Not only did the Holy One, Blessed is He, forgive and pardon us, but we caused Him to act against all of nature. "The Holy Zohar says, the Holy Zohar says in Tikunei Zohar, that not only does the

Holy One, Blessed is He, forgive, but the Holy One, Blessed is He, forces the Satan on Yom Kippur to take all the sins onto his own head. He leaves him with nothing. That is what the Zohar says. The Zohar says in Tikunei Zohar,

part 3, page 64, side A, it says the Holy One, Blessed is He, forces him.

Not only do I forgive them, but what shall we do with all the sins now? You take this." And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities. "Unto a land of separation. He says, he takes it all upon his own head. He says, they

are so jealous of us. Rabbi Kluger says, the Holy One, Blessed is He, says:" Listen, change your bed and go outside. "Why? They can harm you.

Because they are so jealous of you, they can harm you. He says," Change your place and go outside, so that the harmful ones will not be able to find you and harm you. "Rabbi Kluger says, since they are jealous of us, we

must go outside now and go and be in the Sukkah. Why? Because what is the Sukkah? The Sukkah, as Rabbeinu the Arizal writes in Sha'ar HaKavanot, the whole essence of the Sukkah is an encircling light [that protects] from

the externals. They have no control over it. They have no ability to control. He says, we are running away from their jealousy, where to? To the holy Sukkah, to be there so that they cannot harm us after the Holy One,

Blessed is He, changed nature for us. And one must know, gentlemen, the whole essence of the Sukkah is the sweetening of the rigors. We go to the Sukkah, gentlemen, we sweeten away from us all the rigors, all the judgments, and all

the harsh things. It says," All the native-born in Israel shall dwell in booths [Sukkot]. "Right? Why?" That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths. "He says, why does the Torah use the word" Ezrach "(native-born)?

The word" Ezrach "is not such a common word in the Torah. To say all the children of Israel shall dwell in booths, an obligation for everyone.

What is" Ezrach "? Rabbeinu the Arizal says, what is" Ezrach "? He says, if you take the word" Ezrach ", do the Gematria of the word" Ezrach ". How much is it in Gematria? How much is it?

200, 8, and 8, equals 216. What is 216? Gentlemen? It is the numerical value of " Gevurah "(severity/strength). It is said:" Every citizen in Israel shall dwell in Sukkoth. "" Ezrach "(citizen) has the same numerical value as" Gevurah. "He says," Know that by

sitting in the Sukkah, gentlemen, a person sweetens all the severities above his head. "Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz also writes that the Sukkah is a remedy for longevity. Why?" And if by reason of strength (Gevurot) 80 years, "the Sukkah is a remedy for longevity.

The Sukkah corresponds to Gevurah. He says," And it is also a remedy for length of days and years. "He says, gentlemen, by sitting in the Sukkah, a person sweetens all the severities above his head. The Chemdat Yamim writes, he says the Chemdat Yamim

writes," Make me know. "" In Your presence is fullness (sova) of joy, "it is written without a 'vav', read as 'sheva'(seven). He says one who is diligent in the Mitzvah of Sukkah merits seven canopies in the upper world, they make for him in heaven,

gentlemen, seven canopies in the upper worlds. 'Sova' is written without a ' vav', read as 'seven'. The Chemdat Yamim says that one who is diligent in the Mitzvah of Sukkah merits seven canopies in the upper worlds. Therefore , gentlemen, we must know the virtue of

this thing, the Sukkah. This thing, gentlemen, is a tremendous thing. Rabbeinu Chaim Palaggi writes, he says" Sukkat. "The word" Sukkat "—if you take the word" Sukkat, "what is its numerical value? 'Tav'—how much is that? 400, 'Samech' is 60, and 'Kaf' is

20, 480." Sukkat "has the numerical value of" Laledet. "Which is the spouse of the Samael. 'Lamed' is 30, 'Lamed' is 30, 'Yud' is 10, 'Tav' is 400, that is 480. He says it has the same value as" Sukkat. "Why? Because the power of

the Mitzvah of Sukkah is to nullify the power of that" certain woman, " gentlemen. Her power, gentlemen, to nullify—by the Sukkah a person nullifies it. Therefore, the Gra says, Rabbeinu the Vilna Gaon says: The Mishnah in Masechet Sukkah says, if it

rains on the holiday...the Mishnah says : If it rains on the holiday, it is a sign of a curse. Why? It is a parable of a servant who came to pour a cup for his master, and he poured a pitcher in

his face. He says: Rain on the holiday is a sign of a curse. Why? It is like a servant who came to pour a cup of wine for his master, and he poured a pitcher in his face. The Gra explains, he says:

Other Mitzvot—this is not said about them. Regarding other Mitzvot, it is not written like that, it is not written inversely; it is written about one who was forced. If a person intended to perform a Mitzvah and was forced and did not do it, Scripture

credits him as if he had done it. The opposite! It is written that this, indeed, has great merit. He says: Why here? He says, as we understood, because the matter of the Sukkah is to show that the Holy One, Blessed be He,

not only forgives us, but wants our closeness, wants us to sit with Him. He says: Consequently, you will understand that if, heaven forbid, it rains, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is saying:" Listen, I sent you everything, it's

fine, I am not in a quarrel with you, but I do not want your closeness; you sit there, I will sit here. "He says: Therefore, gentlemen, enough; regarding this specific mitzvah, he says: Know that if it rains during the holiday, it

is a sign of a curse. Because the Holy One, blessed be He, certainly has forgiven us, but we do not just want forgiveness, we want a display of favor ; we want the Holy One, blessed be He, to desire our closeness. He says:

Therefore, gentlemen, a person should know, a person should know that...he says: Therefore, also, pay attention to the parable—a servant who comes to pour a cup for his master. What does it mean to pour a cup for his master? His

master is sitting with a cup of wine, but in their time, the wine could not be drunk; what does he do? He pours into it, he mixes it with water for him . Right? After all, what is the meaning

of this matter of pouring the cup? What is wine? Gevurot (stern judgments), refined. And what does the water signify? It signifies the Chasadim ( loving-kindness); as we pour the cup, we intend to sweeten the Gevurot with Chasadim. He says, therefore, why does

the Mishnah use this specific parable? Why does it not use a parable of a servant who comes to put shoes on his master and he kicks him? Why? There are many examples. He says: to pour a cup for his master, because the essence of

the mitzvah of Sukkah, gentlemen, is like pouring the cup; it is to sweeten the Gevurot with Chasadim. The essence of the mitzvah of Sukkah, gentlemen, is to sweeten. For gentlemen, a person must know, everyone is working hard now

, thank God, praised be His name forever, building a Sukkah; the holy people of Israel are carrying poles and walls and all the things. He says, gentlemen, a person should know that when he enters the Sukkah, the holy

Zohar says—the language of the holy Zohar is this—the Zohar says:" At the time that a person sits in the shadow of faith, "when a person sits inside the Sukkah," the Divine Presence spreads Her wings over him from above.

"He is truly sitting in the shadow of faith, truly sitting with the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself. Gentlemen, a person must know that in the Sukkah, one sits with the Holy One, blessed be He, literally, as simple as that; the

Holy One, blessed be He, sits with him together. And therefore, the holy Zohar says—this is found in the Tikkunei Zohar, in Tikkun 50—the holy Zohar says, listen well:" Whoever is careful with the mitzvah of Sukkah, the Holy One, blessed be He, provides protection

for him in the worlds above, and protects him from all angels of destruction when he leaves this world and goes to the next world. "He says, gentlemen, whoever wants the protection of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is

explicit there in the Zohar, gentlemen, whoever looks, that it refers even to a person who is a sinner, even a person who is a sinner—it is explicit there in the Tikkunei Zohar—even a person who is a sinner, if he is careful with

the mitzvah of Sukkah, the Holy One, blessed be He, spreads His wings over him and protects him from all the angels of destruction at the time he goes from this world to the world to come. The Holy One, blessed be He, says

:" You made a Sukkah, I will protect you, as it were, with My own body. "" I am, as it were, protecting you with My own body and am with you together at the time you go from this world to the

world to come. "How great is the importance, gentlemen, that this Sukkah is not something to be taken lightly.

The Gemara says in Tractate Sukkah, page 9, side a:" The Gemara says, just as the Name of Heaven rests upon the Chagigah offering, so too the Name of Heaven rests upon the Sukkah. "Just like the Chagigah offering is holy and

you are forbidden to misappropriate it, and the Name of Heaven rests upon it, so too does the Name of Heaven rest upon the Sukkah, gentlemen, its importance.

Ah, its gematria is 91. What is 91? Havayah and Adnut, beautiful, as in the song" Sukkah and Heart. "God's name in its reading and its writing equals the count of Sukkah; its number rises in its reading as Adnut and in its writing

as Y-H-V-H, resulting in the count of Sukkah, very beautiful. Truth, true. Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, by Whose word all things came to be.

Amen. Therefore, gentlemen, the virtue of the Sukkah is a great and immense thing. A person knows, as the" Hesed LeAvraham " writes—perhaps the grandfather of the Hida—it is known what the Mishnah says. The Mishnah says a Sukkah that is

less than ten handbreadths high is invalid. If the Sukkah is less than ten handbreadths, what is the law of the Sukkah? It is invalid. According to the literal meaning, the Gemara asks why?

Because it is a foul dwelling; it is not a dwelling suitable for living. The " Hesed LeAvraham "says, perhaps the Gemara there says that the Divine Presence (Shechinah) never descends below ten handbreadths. He says, understand, the whole purpose of the

Sukkah is to be a place for the Shechinah, right? The whole purpose of the Sukkah. He says now understand why, according to the secret, why a Sukkah that is less than ten handbreadths is invalid? Why? Because the Shechinah

cannot enter there, because the Shechinah never descends below ten, and therefore it is invalid because the entire essence of the Sukkah is to be a dwelling for the Shechinah. And our teacher the Kaf HaChaim writes, our teacher the Kaf HaChaim writes in Siman

600, subsection 10, bringing in the name of the Rav Yafah LeLev: he who is careful with the mitzvah of Sukkah to do it properly, the Kaf HaChaim writes, is promised that there will be no strife within his home all that year.

He says a promise, gentlemen, of the Kaf HaChaim, he says a sign for this is " You will hide them in a Sukkah "— what follows?" From the strife of tongues. "He says, know that you will hide in a Sukkah. The purpose of the

Sukkah is [to hide from] the strife of tongues. This, gentlemen, is what protects a person from strife within his house. He says this is the virtue of the Sukkah, gentlemen, so that a person knows it is a great and immense

virtue to prevent strife and arguments within a person's home throughout the entire year. And how wonderful, gentlemen, this is with the second mitzvah that we have on the festival of Sukkot. On the face of it, these are two unrelated mitzvot. Right? There is

the mitzvah of Sukkah and there is the mitzvah of the Four Species. On the face of it, there is no connection between the things. A Sukkah is a Sukkah and the Four Species are a separate matter. He says, gentlemen,

you should know regarding the Four Species. As is known what the Maran Beit Yosef writes, the Maran Beit Yosef writes, gentlemen, in Siman 600, bringing in the name of our teacher Menachem Recanati, who was one of our early sages. He says our teacher

Menachem Recanati, one day a guest from the lands of Ashkenaz arrived to see him on the festival of Sukkot, he stayed with him, with the Recanati. A certain wise man from Ashkenaz, he says , of course, he honored him with great

honor. He lodged him at night; that is how the Beit Yosef tells it, this is what Rabbi Yosef Karo brings: at night, Recanati dreams about that guest from Ashkenaz that he is writing the name Y-H-V-H, writing the name of the Holy

One, blessed be He. He says: He wrote the name, he wrote Y-H, and the last letter H he distanced from them, he wrote it with distance. He did not write Y-H-V-H, he wrote three letters.

He says: And in his sleep he rebuked him in the dream, he rebuked him, he said: How is he doing that? He rose and woke, and behold, it was a dream. He said to him: No, he did not understand

what he saw in the dream. He says, gentlemen, in the morning he saw him taking the Four Species. How did he take them? He took three of the species in one hand and the etrog in the other, he separated them. He says: Now he

understood what happened in the dream, he told him: Bind them together! Why? Because the Four Species allude to the four letters of the Tetragrammaton. And just as God forbid it is unthinkable to separate the letters of the Divine Name

, to create a division—one who separates an" Aluf "(master/God) will not see light—you cannot separate them, he says: the same applies to the Four Species. It is written, it is written about this, gentlemen, about this act, it is written in the book

Ravid HaZahav. Ravid HaZahav was a disciple of Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz. Listen to what he writes, gentlemen, it is fearful; I will read to you what he writes: I heard from the mouth of my master, my teacher, and my holy rabbi,

of blessed memory, regarding the four species in the lulav, that they correspond to the Divine Name, blessed be He. I am just reading to you what he writes: And a person takes it in his hand and acts with it, as it were,

according to his will. You take the Divine Name in your hands when you take the Four Species and act with it, as it were, according to your will; you take the Holy One, blessed be He, wherever you want. You can

influence salvations for yourself, you can influence things for yourself; one takes the Four Species, which allude to the Divine Name, in his hand and acts with it as he wills. The shaking of the Four Species, gentlemen, is a very,

very great time for an abundance of salvations. This is how the Rosh writes in Tractate Sukkah. The Rosh says in Tractate Sukkah: Why do we shake during " Ana Hashem Hoshia Na "? Yes, we shake during" Ana Hashem Hoshia Na. "He says,

this is not the beginning of a chapter nor the end of a chapter. Why? He says because the entire essence of the shaking is to weaken the power of the accuser, as Rav Bar Yaakov said, when he would shake, what would he say?"

Grit in the eyes of Satan "when he would shake. Since the entire essence of the shaking, gentlemen, is to weaken the power of the accusation, he says, therefore know that since this is the essence of the shaking, you shake

during" Ana Hashem Hoshia Na. "Why? You want to draw down salvations, you want" Ana Hashem Hoshia Na, "you shake at this time, gentlemen, to draw down salvations. You know, there are communities that have the custom, mainly among the people of Jerusalem,

they follow the custom during the Shacharit prayer of the holiday of Sukkot, even before the shaking, they hold the Four Species during the prayer out of love for the mitzvah. They hold them during prayer. There is a discussion about this among the

adjudicators; they do not recite a blessing, they do not fulfill the obligation, they only hold it, they do not intend to fulfill the obligation.

So they intend not to fulfill the obligation with it. However, there is a legal discussion here, because Maran the Shulchan Aruch writes that it is forbidden for a person to hold something in his hand during prayer.

Why? Because it distracts his focus. So , seemingly, if a person holds an object in his hand during prayer, there is a distraction of focus. The adjudicators write that there is no problem here. Why? Because it is love

for the mitzvah. A disciple of the Chatam Sofer writes, gentlemen, listen well to what he writes. He had a student named Rabbi Shimon Deutsch. He has a book called Imrei Shefer; he writes like this regarding this halachic discussion of whether it is

permitted to hold the Four Species. And so my master the genius, the Maharam, Rabbi Moshe Sofer, would act, and he would testify. This is what the Chatam Sofer says: That love for the mitzvah causes such great focus in prayer. The

cherishing of the mitzvah causes him such focus that he prays on the festival of Sukkot, while holding the lulav, with more intention than on Yom Kippur. He says: The focus of the mitzvah connection gave him such great focus, that it caused him to cherish

the mitzvah even more than what? More than Yom Kippur. If, gentlemen, a person can during Sukkot, gentlemen, a person can sweeten all the severities and all the judgments and all the bad things above his head. A person who is

careful with the mitzvah of the Sukkah and careful with the Four Species as we explained, uh, sleeping in the Sukkah, eating in the Sukkah, all these things.

You know that in the book Reshit Chochmah, he brings down the Ramak, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero; he writes about him that he was very careful not to speak mundane matters in the Sukkah.

That is what the Reshit Chochmah writes . He says, and the Ramak would say: That the holiness of the Sukkah is greater than the holiness of a synagogue. He says: It is greater. Why?

Because a synagogue is Rabbinic, he says, the obligation to build a synagogue, the whole matter of prayer, according to most authorities—it is Rabbinic. But in a Sukkah, what is it?

Torah-level, the Reshit Chochmah says in the name of the Ramak: Know that the Ramak would say that the holiness of the Sukkah is greater than the holiness of a synagogue. And in truth, the Pele Yoetz, the Pele Yoetz writes under the

entry" Sukkah, "he writes that its holiness is like the holiness of a synagogue, that is how he writes. He says the same thing, and many struggled with it: How is it possible to permit mundane speech? After all, mundane

speech is forbidden in a synagogue, so how can it be permitted? He says, what is the answer to this? Why was it permitted? He says, it was permitted because of" dwell as you live, "and just as in a person's home he also

speaks of mundane matters, therefore it was permitted. Meaning, all the permission to speak mundane matters in the Sukkah is only because of" dwell as you live, "like a person's dwelling, but without that, gentlemen, it would be forbidden for a person to speak

mundane matters in the Sukkah. To understand how great the holiness of this thing is. At the end, at the end, on the last day of the holiday of Sukkot, on Hoshana Rabbah, we take five willow branches, right? Five willow

branches in hand, and what do we say? Chavet, Chavet. And beating, right? We beat them against the floor. Look, look in the prayer book, it is written there to have kavanah (intent) for the letters of what?" Man-tzapach, "right? The

final letters: Mem, Nun, Tzadik, Pe, Kaf final. A person should have kavanah for them. What is the matter of this" Man-tzapach "regarding the willow beating?

Uh. What is the matter of this for the willow beating? Why does one need to have kavanah for this? What, what is he doing with it?

It is not written in the prayer book, not the Kabbalists—it is written in the prayer book:" One shall have kavanah from the time of the willow beating, he shall have kavanah for ' Man-tzapach'. "See, gentlemen, we, God willing, on the holiday of Sukkot, will

finish the Hallel every day with a blessing, right? On Passover, we don't finish the Hallel every day with a blessing, but on Sukkot, in the Hallel, we will say this:" God is the Lord and He has given us light; bind the

festival offering with cords to the horns of the altar. "What is this? What is the meaning of the words?" God is the Lord and He has given us light "?

What? What is the literal meaning? God is the Lord and He has illuminated us.

Maybe you will say what" He has given us light "is? What is" God is the Lord and He has given us light "? So look, gentlemen, Rabbeinu Ha'Ari explains a truly wondrous thing. Rabbeinu Ha'Ari says regarding these final letters,

MNTZPKH—it is well known, as the Gemara in Megillah says, MNTZPKH, the seers said these are the final letters.

These letters, gentlemen, hint at the severities and the judgments. And why? Because a judgment is something that seals; it is the final thing. Therefore , the laws (Halachot) are also called" judgments "(dinim). Why is a law called a judgment? Because it is something

that seals, something after which there is nothing else. These letters, since they are the final letters, they hint at judgment. These MNTZPKH, gentlemen, hint at the judgments that exist in the world. Let’s do a Gematria for a moment of these letters, MNTZPKH. How

much is Mem? 40, Nun is 50, together 90 , plus Tzadi is 90, how much is that together? 180, and Pe and Final Pe is 80, plus Kaf is 280. MNTZPKH comes out to 280, this is called" Par Dinim "(the

fruit/sum of judgments). Par Dinim. Gentlemen, all the judgments that exist in the world, all the severities, all the difficult things, it comes, gentlemen, from these" Par Dinim. "In the language of Rabbeinu Ha'Ari, it is called" Par Dinim, "280 judgments, from

which all the judgments descend into the world. We have 10 severities, as is known. The 10 severities are divided: five on the right, meaning five in kindnesses (chasadim), and five on the left, five in severities. Now look, gentlemen, if we calculate 280, which

is Par Dinim, 280, and divide it by five, what will we get? 56. Beautiful. 280 divided by five, what will we get, what will we get? 56.

Therefore, gentlemen, in the verse" Vi-Yehi Noam, "we say it like this:" And let the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; and establish the work of our hands. "How many times

does the word" Noam "appear, how many times? Five times." Vi-Yehi Noam Hashem Elokeinu Aleinu, "right," U-Ma'aseh Yadeinu Konena Aleinu, "and" U-Ma'aseh Yadeinu Konenehu. "Five times the word" Noam. "Why? Because each" Noam "is 56.

Five times 56 comes out to 280. This is the" Par Dinim, "these are, gentlemen, 280 judgments. That is to say, all the judgments that descend into the world arrive as a result of these five" Noams . "And therefore, at the conclusion of

the Sabbath, we say this before we say" He who dwells in the secret place. "We say" Vi-Yehi Noam. "" Vi-Yehi Noam "is not part of" He who dwells in the secret place "; it is the end of the

psalm that precedes it. Why do we say" Vi-Yehi Noam "? You are now about to say" He who dwells in the secret place, "which is a song for protection against harmful spirits. You are going, essentially, to be saved from all harm.

You mention beforehand five times" And let the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us, establish the work of our hands upon us. "You say all this to then come and say the song of protection and to sweeten all these

judgments. How—wait, pardon me, how can a person now sweeten the judgments, gentlemen? A person who wants to sweeten the severities, to sweeten the judgments, how are they sweetened?

There is only one way to sweeten them, gentlemen: that you attach the Holy One , blessed be He, with you together.

When you attach the Holy One, blessed be He, you sweeten all the judgments from upon you. When you unify the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, and say ," Master of the World, You are with me

, "you sweeten thereby all the judgments. Therefore, pay attention: we said each one of these 280 judgments is 56," Noam, "right? How much is the word " Kel "in Gematria?

31. Lamed is 30, Aleph is 1. 31." Kel " is 31. How much is the Havayah (Y-H-V-H ) in Gematria?

26. 26 + 31, how much did we get? 7 1 more than these 50 from the 56, one more, gentlemen, from these 56, which are the five courts of judgment, as it says" El Hashem Vayaer Lanu. "" El

Hashem, "gentlemen," El "is 31," Hashem "is Havayah," Vayaer "—why to us? What is" lanu "? When you want, gentlemen, to illuminate these judgments, what do you say?" El Hashem Vayaer Lanu. "You take the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, gentlemen, and

connect it together, and it illuminates for us these—it illuminates them, gentlemen. Therefore, after you have done this for all the days and said" El Hashem Vayaer Lanu, "you take five willow branches, which allude to the five courts of judgment we mentioned,

strike them on the ground, and meditate on the letters" Manzapach, "which are the letters of judgment. Why? To weaken the power of all the severities, to weaken all the power of the judgments.

You meditate on this, why? Because after you have sweetened them, the Ben Ish Chai says, it is written in Psalms, " There is none that does good, not even one. "The Ben Ish Chai says, what is" There is none that does good, not

even one "? He says, a person has a debt (" chov "), he has some debt, he gets bitter, he gets angry, why is it like this? He says, do the math. How much is" chov "? Chet is 8, Vav is 6,

Bet is 2—that's 16. Add one to it, how much is it?" Tov "(good). He says," There is none that does good "—he doesn't calculate that the debt is actually" tov, "why?" Not even one "— he doesn't add the one." There is none

that does good, not even one. "If he would add the one, he would understand that the debt is actually what? It is good. When a person joins the Holy One, blessed be He, with him, gentlemen, he sweetens with this all the judgments

and all the difficult things. Therefore , gentlemen, you know the Prophets tell of Elisha the prophet, the student of Elijah the prophet, that when he arrived at the city of Jericho, after Elijah ascended to heaven, youths came out to meet him. And what did they say

to him?" Go up, baldhead. "" Go up, baldhead. "Yes. It says: Elisha the prophet turned to them and cursed them.

It says:" And two she-bears came out of the forest, "two bears came out of the forest and ate how many youths? 42 youths, that is how the Prophet tells it. It says: What is" two bears from the forest "? We said there are 280

units of judgment, right? How much is" ya'ar "(forest) in gematria? Resh, how much is that? 200, 280, what is" ya'ar "?" Ya'ar "is the 280 units of judgment . What came out of it? Bears (" dubim " ). Two bears. How much is" dubim "?

Let's do the math. How much is" dubim " ? Mem is 40, Yud is 10, Bet is 4—54, plus 2 is 56." Two bears, "gentlemen, the meaning is that two came out from these 56, from the forest, they came

out from the judgments. Therefore, the Gemara says," Neither bears nor forest. "It wasn't really bears and a forest.

Yes, there were neither bears nor a forest there. The forest alludes to the 280, to the units of judgment, and the bears—gentlemen—to the 56, to the two courts of judgment that came out of them. But by sitting in the Sukkah,

gentlemen, a person sweetens all the judgments from upon him. And therefore, gentlemen, before a person goes out for the duration of the year, before a person goes out, gentlemen, for the whole year, the Torah commands him. The Torah says: Listen, build a Sukkah and

sit with the Holy One, blessed be He, and sit under the Holy Shekhinah. You know, the holy Zohar writes, the holy Zohar writes, gentlemen, a frightening thing: The Zohar says, whoever sits under the shadow of faith—a person who is careful to sit in the Sukkah

under the shadow of faith—inherits freedom, freedom of the soul; there is no one as free as one who occupies himself with Torah. He inherits freedom for himself and for his children for all worlds—he says, he inherits freedom for himself and his children

forever. And whoever distances himself from the shadow of faith, says the holy Zohar, whoever removes himself— naturally, without necessity, without reason removes himself from the shadow of faith—inherits exile for himself and his children, may Heaven protect us , he inherits exile both for himself

and for his children. How can a person give up even a single moment in the presence of the Holy One, blessed be He ? There were great men of the world, gentlemen, there were great men of the world who, before they would enter the

Sukkah, before they would enter the Sukkah, would say: How can I enter this place? The Holy Shekhinah! They would kiss the walls of the Sukkah. The holy Baal Shem Tov, gentlemen, they tell of him that before he entered the Sukkah,

he would say: How can I enter the Sukkah? The Holy One, blessed be He, is here, and then he would sit and contemplate, saying: The answer is one: How can I enter? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded me to enter.

Truly, I have no right to enter such a place. He says: The only answer—how can I enter? Why? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded me to enter.

And consequently, gentlemen, we will also understand, Consequently, gentlemen, it will also be revealed to us why there is a special warning, gentlemen:" And you shall rejoice in your festivals and you shall be only happy. "Although in all the festivals

there is a matter of joy, but the main essence of the joy must be when? When must it be? During the festival of Sukkot. Why? What is the matter of the great joy in the festival of Sukkot? It

says, you are sitting with the Holy One , blessed be He, together in the Sukkah ; can you not be happy at every single moment? You are sitting with Him together. Think of a person who has a father, a father who is wealthy and

almighty, and he is sitting with him together—does he have anything to worry about? Ah, if he is worried next to his father—it is a shame and a disgrace! You are sitting next to Him, you are sitting with the Holy One,

blessed be He, together; what do you have to worry about? And know, gentlemen, know: Our Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra writes on the verse" And you shall rejoice in your festivals and you shall be only happy, "he writes like this:"

And you shall rejoice in your festival "—it is written," for the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be only happy. "He says" will bless you, "writes the Ibn Ezra, is in

the future tense, meaning you will be happy forever. These are his words: That you are happy in the Sukkah, he says" in order that He will bless you " —future tense, and you shall be only happy forever. The same thing is also

written by our Rabbi Isaac Abravanel in his commentary on the Torah. He says like this:" And you shall be only happy "—to promise him; there is a promise here to a person, gentlemen, that if he will rejoice and be glad on the

festival of Sukkot, he will be happy and good-hearted all year long. The Abarbanel says: A person who is happy and of good cheer in the Sukkah will be happy; but if you are sad at the beginning of the year, God forbid, a

person who sits in the Sukkah in sorrow , in sorrow you shall eat—that is how he writes, for such is the nature of reality: he who rejoices in his lot shall attain joy and gladness. He says: Know this, if you sit in the Sukkah

with joy, you draw that joy into the entire year. But if you sit in the Sukkah in sorrow, heaven forbid...it is known that the mothers. Throughout all the days of Sukkot, certainly. But he says, you know, the Vilna Gaon used to

say: People are so meticulous about the Four Species, yes? People are walking, look at what’s happening outside right now, you can’t even pass through outside because of all the people being meticulous, happy are Israel, checking the lulav, checking

the etrog, checking...the Gra would say : This year, all four species—what are they? Rabbinical, why the first day? We don't have a first day, it's Shabbat. The Sages decreed not to shake, so what do we have? Only Rabbinical. Still, the

people of Israel, but the commandment of joy on the holiday, gentlemen, every single moment is a positive commandment from the Torah. How careful a person needs to be, gentlemen, with this:" And you shall be solely joyful. "And the

Pele Yoetz writes, gentlemen, the Pele Yoetz writes—look at his phrasing— and He commanded us to rejoice with the joy of a commandment, and it is a good sign for the whole year as the students of the Arizal wrote. The Pele Yoetz

writes that anyone who is happy and of good cheer and is not at all sorrowful on this holy holiday. Listen, gentlemen , to the words of the Pele Yoetz. The students of the Ari z" l wrote that whoever is happy and of good cheer and

is not at all sorrowful on this holy holiday is guaranteed that a good year will arise for him and he will always be happy. He is guaranteed to have a good year. That a good year will arise for him and he will be forever happy.

And that is why Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev would say, this is what he writes in his book Kedushat Levi, he says, the Sages say, it is known from the Midrash Tanchuma, Parashat Emor, " And you shall take for yourselves on

the first day," the Midrash asks, what is this "on the first day"? It isn't the first day, it’s the 15th, what is the first day?

Or the first for the accounting of sins ; the first day of Sukkot is the first for the accounting of sins. Well, everyone asks why the first? Several days have passed since Yom Kippur.

No, happy are Israel, he says, why is the first day the first? The Kedushat Levi says, listen gentlemen, what he writes, the Kedushat Levi says: It is known that if a person repents out of fear, what do the transgressions become

? Unintentional sins, right? That’s what the Gemara says in Tractate Yoma, page 86, the transgressions become unintentional sins; in repentance out of love, what do they become?

Merits. He says: On the High Holy Days, a person does repentance, out of fear, and therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, does not count the sins. Why? They become unintentional sins; He doesn't want to count them. Even an

unintentional sin is problematic. What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He clears them, one by one. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I don't want to count the transgressions. But on Sukkot, gentlemen, when a person comes

and serves out of love—what? Transgressions become commandments. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I need to account for the sins you committed.

Why? For what did they become? They became mitzvot. He says: On the first day, the first of the accounting of sins, the Holy One, blessed be He, calculates them. Why? To give us a reward for them; they have become

mitzvot. Now here the Holy One, blessed be He, begins to calculate them. And that is why Maran the Rabbi, Rabbi Ovadia, said: And that is why he said that on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, we come and perform Tashlich. True, we

cast away all the sins, why? Because it is true that we repented, but it was a quick repentance, what? It turned into an unintentional sin. Unintentional, we want to cast it away, so pay attention, it is written: "And You will cast all

their sins into the depths of the sea." What is "their sins"? There is sin ( chet), iniquity (avon), and transgression (pesha). What is a sin?

Unintentional. Iniquity is intentional. Transgression is defiant. Although we repented, it became a sin, it became unintentional, we do not want it. What do we do? We throw it into the water.

Tashlich into the depths of the sea. He says, but on the holiday of Sukkot, we have a commandment: "And you shall draw water with joy from the springs of salvation." He says, we go and draw back all the sins that we committed.

Why? We need them now. Because now we are repenting out of love, and these sins become what? Mitzvot. We go and draw them back. "And you shall draw water with joy from the springs of salvation." We go and draw them back

because for them too, gentlemen, we are going to receive a reward. May the Holy One, blessed be He, grant us the merit that we may achieve, with the help of the Blessed Name, true joy on the holiday, to sit with the Holy One,

blessed be He, together in the shadow of faith. May we all be worthy of a good and blessed year in every way.

Amen, may it be His will. Am