Sukkot  15 Tishrei 5763, 21 September 2002

Shabbat Shalom: Shabbat - Sukkot

By Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel - Since the first day of the Festival of Sukkot falls out on the Sabbath, we do not bring the four species (citron, palm branch, myrtle and willow), raise them and wave them in all six directions, in thanksgiving to the Almighty for the vegetation of the holy land of Israel on the celebration of the ingathering of the produce of our fields (Leviticus 23: 39,40). This is similar to the Festival of Rosh Hashana which also fell out on the Sabbath, and we did not sound the shofar despite the Biblical command, "a day of the shaky, staccato sound (t'ruah) shall (Rosh Hashana) be for you " (Numbers 29:1). In both of these instances, we do not perform a positive commandment ordained by the Bible as a major expression of the Festival: the ram's horn reminds us - and G-d - of the binding of Isaac as well as of the manifold instances of Jewish sacrifice throughout the generations on the basis of which we plead for Divine Mercy on the Day of Judgements and the four species establish Sukkot as the Festival of the nation of Israel in the Land of Israel, a foretaste of the redemption to come. Why should the Festival's confluence with the Sabbath prevent our performance of two central positive commandments?

The usual explanation given is the one presented in the Talmud: "It is as Rabbah decreed. Since everyone is obligated to hear the shofar, and not everyone is conversant with the proper manner of blowing the shofar, an individual may go to an expert to learn how to blow properly , and he will come to carry the shofar four cubits on the Sabbath day (when carrying is prohibited). And the same decree applies to the four species." (B.T. Rosh Hashana 29b).

This explanation is difficult to understand. It is hardly logical to assume that merely because of the possibility that one may come to carry on the Sabbath, the Rabbis saw fit to nullify two Biblical commands - and rather central commands at that, which fairly well define their respective holidays! And most Jewish communities have (and had) eiruvim, which render the prohibition against transporting objects from domain to domain or four cubits in the "public domain" inoperative in any case. So why suspend the shofar and the four species on a Festival which falls out on the Sabbath?

I believe that a question and answer of the early commentator on the Siddur, the Avudraham, as well as an insight of the Holy Zohar will provide an interesting illumination for our practice. The Avudraham queries as to why we make a blessing "shehekhyanu" (thanking the Almighty for allowing us to have lived and reached this occasion) on each of the Festivals, but not on the weekly Sabbath day. After all, the Sabbath is even more sacred than the Festivals, and the Sabbath too comes around cyclically, every seven days. Moreover, I would add, when a Festival falls out on the Sabbath day, our liturgy ordains that we add an additional word to the Amidah, be'ahava, which means "with love". Apparently, our Sages felt that the Sabbath expresses an even greater love than do the Festivals; does it not then follow that the Sabbath deserves a "Shehekhiyanu" blessing no less than the Festivals. And what is the nature of the Sabbat gift of a special love? Does not our law ordain that we chant the Song of Songs, consummate love song between the Almighty and Israel, specifically on the Festival of Passover? Apparently, the Festivals also express the love relationship!

The Avudraham answers the first question by enunciating the principle that although it is true that we recite the "Shehekhyanu" blessing at the advent of every Festival which returns cyclically, the cycle must be more than thirty days in duration. Hence, we neither recite "Shehekhyanu" on the Festival of the New Moon (Rosh Hodesh, which comes every 29 or 30 days) nor - obviously - on the Sabbath, which comes every eighth day. The reason he gives is quite compelling: if a festival appears again within a 30 day period, its advent is not anxiously anticipated, it becomes part of the natural rhythm of life, and so it does not engender the excitement necessary for a shehekhyanu.

This insight opens the door for the magnificent interpretation of the Holy Zohar, which compares the feelings of the Jew for a Festival with the feelings of an engaged couple, and the feelings of the Jew for the Sabbath to the feelings of a married couple. On the one hand, an engaged couple can hardly wait to see each other, and - especially if they live somewhat of a distance away from each other -their dates are marked with tense excitement and high-rise anticipation. More often than not, the would-be groom will usually bring gifts for his bride as a visible sign of his affection. A married couple, on the other hand, will usually not get excited at each encounter, because they spend so much time together. They generally do not exchange gifts except on very rare and special occasions - because each constantly gives the other his/her most precious possession, him/herself. The married couple, although they do not always look that way, have a much deeper relationship and a much more profound love than the engaged pair. The married couple have indeed become as one being, as the Torah says, -therefore shall all individuals leave his/her father and mother, cleave unto his/her spouse, and become one flesh. -We don't get excited about seeing ourselves and we generally don't give ourselves gifts; but lack of excitement and gifts notwithstanding, a successfully married couple are so intertwined that it is inconceivable for the one to live without the other. Hence, although the married couple may not recite the Shehekhyanu of excited anticipation at their meeting, they do add the extra word 'be'ahava,' with love, because their love is far deeper than the infatuation of engaged couples.

On this basis, the holy Zohar explains the lack of shofar and four species on a Festival which falls out on the Sabbath. The shofar and the four species are our gifts to G-d when we see Him as our Divine lover, as our supernal fiancee, on the Sabbath we give the Almighty the greatest gift imaginable, our very selves, in our commitment to the Creator of the world who has taken Israel as His spouse, as it were, with the marriage contract of Torah. Given this more profound love relationship, the gifts of shofar and four species become superfluous.

Shabbat Shalom, Hag Sameach, and husbands, still give your wives gifts in honor of the Festival, The Zohar notwithstanding!

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