There is a famous allegory mentioned by Chazal[1] comparing the relationship
between the nation of Israel
and God to that between a bride and bridegroom.
The Sfas Emes elaborates and relates it to Succos. The Exodus is considered the marriage as the
pasuk states, “אֲנִי
ה' מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם: הַמּוֹצִיא אֶתְכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם .../I am God who
sanctifies you, who takes you out of the land of Egypt
A Jewish marriage transaction, though, comprises two
parts. The first part is the marriage/kidushin
by which the husband makes his wife dedicated to him alone. The second part is the chupah by which
he takes her into his home. The canopy –
chupah – under which a couple marries, symbolizes the husband’s act of
taking his wife into his home. When the
nation of Israel left Egypt ,
God took us to live in huts in the desert, “... בַסֻּכּוֹת הוֹשַׁבְתִּי אֶת-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּהוֹצִיאִי
אוֹתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם .../… I settled the children of Israel in huts when I took them out of the land of Egypt
That God separated us from among the nations to be dedicated
to Him alone causes vulnerability.
Separateness draws attention. The
huts of the desert symbolize God’s protection over us. He separated us from the nations and made us
unique. But He also provided us
protection. We find another pasuk which
hints at this as well, “ ... וּלְמִקְנֵהוּ עָשָׂה סֻכֹּת .../… and for his
livestock he made huts …” (Breishis 33:17) This pasuk is referring to Yaakov Avinu
however it alludes to God. The word for
livestock has the same root as the word for acquisition. The pasuk can therefore be translated as, “…
and for His acquisition He made huts …”, implying the nation of Israel whom God “acquired” by taking us out of Egypt
and over whom He spread his protective canopy.
Along the same lines we say in Ma’ariv, “הַפּוֹרֵס סוּכַּת שָׁלוֹם עָלֵינוּ/He
spreads a canopy of peace on us.” The
word poreis/spread, also implies a portion (as in אֲכִילַת פְּרַס/eating a piece.)
hinting, as well, that God separated us.
Clearly God chose us to be His nation from among the
nations. The pasuk states explicitly, “ ... חֵלֶק ה' עַמּוֹ
.../… God’s portion is His people …” (Devarim 32:9) The Sfas Emes asks, though, that since God is
the ultimate completeness, why would He choose only a portion? A portion seems to contradict wholeness. Should God not have chosen all the nations?
When we think about this, though, we realize that the
question really does not start. The
reason is that wherever God reveals Himself, there is completeness. Where does God reveal Himself? Where does He dwell, as it were? The prophet Yeshayah stated, that God dwells
specifically with “broken vessels”, “אֶשְׁכּוֹן וְאֶת־דַּכָּא וּשְׁפַל־רוּח/I will dwell with the
despondent and lowly of spirit.” (Yeshayah 57:15) These are the righteous whose hearts are
broken in their service to God. The
Zohar[2] explains that although they
are “broken vessels” they are really more complete than any other place. God Himself, chooses to dwell with the
righteous and makes them whole. This is
a deeper meaning of, “הַפּוֹרֵס
סוּכַּת שָׁלוֹם עָלֵינוּ/He spreads a canopy of peace on us.” As we’ve said, poreis/spread, also
means a portion. Shalom/Peace has
the same root as the word for whole – shalem. This brachah, then, is saying that God
separated us from the nations of the world but then protected us with His
canopy of peace, making us whole.
It is our duty to spread an awareness of God to the rest of
world. God structured the physical world
so that there is a spiritual life force inherent in every creation. This spiritual life force, actually a
revelation of God in a sense, is a point of completeness within the physical. So too, the nation of Israel is the point of wholeness among all the
nations.
This idea relates particularly well to the holiday of
Succos. Chazal[3] teach us that Succos is for
the nations of the world as well as for us.
Seventy cows, representing the seventy nations, were sacrificed. The water libation, unique to Succos,
represents the nations of the world as well.[4] The point of this is that Godly abundance
comes to the nations through us, the nation of Israel . It is our duty not to keep God, as it were,
to ourselves. Rather we are required to
request that the kingdom
of God
Succos, then, is a culmination of the process by which God
established the nation of Israel
as the point from which completeness and abundance spreads to the rest of the
world. It is also the beginning of the
process of spreading the abundance to the rest of the world. Succos represents the culmination of the
“marriage” between the nation of Israel
and God, God’s protection and making us whole.
It also represents our spreading an awareness of God and His abundance
to the entire world. May we merit being
God’s channel.
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