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Cheshvan 7 5781 | Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
The Courage not to Conform
Covenant & Conversation Lech Lecha
Cheshvan 7 5780 | Rabbi Daniel Kirsch
At the Shabbat Table Isolated Chance
The man didn't stay in quarantine, the police came to look for him. What did his wife do?
The Coronavirus Pandemic
Cheshvan 7 5780 | Rabbi Dov Berl Wein
A Tale of Two Weddings
Wedding and Sheva Berachot
Cheshvan 3 5781 | Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Eating Meat
Why was Noach - and all people thereafter - allowed to eat meat?
Noach Kashrut
Cheshvan 3 5781 | Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Color My World
Noach

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Prayer in Trying Times
If one receives Torah without possessing humility there is a chance that after receiving it he will forget that a great yoke rests upon him to exert himself on behalf of the Torah, to grow and develop in Torah.
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The trait of modesty, so imbedded in the Nation of Israel, has served as the foundation for all the giant spiritual advances achieved by the Jews throughout history. This is why the Torah laid so strong an emphasis on maintaining modesty and sanctity.
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(condensed from Ein Ayah, Berachot 9:243) Modesty Distancing Dangers
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Chapter Twenty Six The Bedtime Shema
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Beit Midrash Shabbat and Holidays Jewish Holidays

Sukkot

To the special page about Sukkot

More on the topic of

Arba'at Haminim General Halachot The Spirit of the Holiday Chol Hamo'ed Hakhel and Nisuch Hamayim The Essence of Sukkot The Sukkah Hosha'ana Rabba

Tishrei 23 5781 | Rabbi Ari Shvat
Taste the Tree Like the Fruit- Sukkot as a Microcosm of Eretz Yisrael
Rav Kook points out that just as most of the tree is roots, trunk, branches and leaves, despite the fact that the goal is the fruit, similarly most of life is preparations (e.g. eating, dress, work, cooking, raising children), and often one doesn't even achieve his goal. Does that mean that he wasted his life?! The basic question is, if most of life is "tree", and I want to have meaning in life, I have no choice but to find a way to have "taste" in the tree, not just in the fruit. This was the original plan in Eden, and is meant to be the ideal lifestyle, as expressed in the Etrog where the tree tastes like her fruit. Eretz Yisrael is likened to Sukkot, where even the secular/mundane/"tree" has meaning/taste/holiness, and it's all a mitzva.
The Essence of Sukkot The Torah Perspective
38 min
Tishrei 21 5781 | Rabbi Ari Shvat
Sukkot, Emunah & Cherophobia: Solving the Fears of Happiness
Sukkot is the climax of agricultural success, but also brings with it the anxiety & nervousness regarding the upcoming season. The Sukkah represents the clouds which precede the rainy season, & are the time when God judges us regarding rain. Cherophobia is a common problem where happiness & accomplishment are accompanied by fear: After I've achieved my goals, there's a feeling of emptiness- What do I do now?!". Also, we ask like Kohelet, "Why am I still not happy?!". There's also the fear that I may lose or someone will take away what I've achieved. Also the fear "what if people reveal that I'm really not so talented?". Sukkot are termed in kabbala: "The Shade of Emuna", that only God has absolute success, & only He can provide security regarding past & future.
The Essence of Sukkot
43 min
Tishrei 13 5781 | Rabbi Daniel Kirsch
At the Shabbat Table House Call
Arba'at Haminim
Tishrei 12 5781 | Rabbi Stewart Weiss
When Shabbat & Sukkot Coincide
Arba'at Haminim
Tishrei 12 5781 | Rabbi Stewart Weiss
The Strength of a Sukka
The Essence of Sukkot
Tishrei 12 5781 | Rabbi Dov Berl Wein
Succot
The Essence of Sukkot
Tishrei 12 5781 | Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli zt"l
“… And Joy for Those with Straight Hearts”
Parashat Hashavua The Spirit of the Holiday
Tishrei 11 5779 | Rabbi Stewart Weiss
All Wrapped Up in Mitzvot
The Sukkah Ha'azinu
Tishrei 8 5780 | Rabbi Daniel Mann
The Time and Place for Netilat Lulav
Is it better to do netilat lulav in the sukka before one goes to shul or during tefilla (before Hallel)?
Bemare Habazak - Rabbis Questions Arba'at Haminim
Tishrei 8 5780 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
How to Live in the Sukkah
The Sukkah
Tishrei 14 5779 | Rabbi Daniel Kirsch
Undercover Mitzva
General Halachot
Tishrei 14 5779 | Rabbi Stewart Weiss
MOVERS & SHAKERS
The Essence of Sukkot
Tishrei 11 5779 | Rabbi Daniel Mann
Beginning Another Time Around
Sukkot is a complex time of the year. Within the holiday season, it is at the end of the season of the regalim, which starts with Pesach, in the first month of the Jewish calendar (Tishrei is the seventh, not the first month). In the agricultural year, which is so central to the calendar and the holidays, as described by the Torah (see Shemot 34:22), Sukkot is at (/near) the end of the harvest season, i.e., the end of the agricultural year. Therefore, at least if one has an optimistic perspective, this is a time of celebration, and we call it “z’man simchatenu.” This is a stark contrast to the mood of the recent Yamim Nora’im, which focus on fear and trepidation. Many explain Sukkot as a natural return to a more optimistic tone after hopefully succeeding in the spiritual “heavy lifting” of Yom Kippur.
Parashat Hashavua The Essence of Sukkot
Tishrei 11 5779 | Rabbi Daniel Mann
Tying Up the Arba Minim on Yom Tov
Last year, I forgot to prepare the arba’a minim before Yom Tov and just put them in the koysheklach without tying anything. If this happens again, what can and should I do to prepare them on Yom Tov?
Bemare Habazak - Rabbis Questions Arba'at Haminim
Tishrei 13 5778 | Rabbi Daniel Mann
Sukkot and Shabbat – What Type of Happiness?
The Vilna Gaon famously pointed out that there are two mitzvot that one fulfills with his whole body – living in Israel and living in a sukka. Of course this can be a cute physical observation, that there is no specific part of the body to which the mitzva applies. However, it is more likely that the intention is that these mitzvot apply to one’s whole persona.
Parashat Hashavua The Essence of Sukkot
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
THE COMING OF THE CUBS AND THE MESSIAH
The Essence of Sukkot
Tishrei 8 5777 | Rabbi Yossef Carmel
Sukkot - Commemorating What?
“They shall live in the sukkot for seven days; every citizen in Israel shall live in the sukkot. So that your generations will know that in the sukkot I had Bnei Yisrael live when I took them out of the Land of Egypt; I am Hashem, your G-d” (Vayikra 23:42-43). In the midrash (Sifra, Emor 12) we find three explanations for this mitzva. There is an opinion that the sukka is to be made from the four species which are waved on Sukkot, which implies that it is essentially part of one unit with the mitzva of the four species. It is difficult, though, to divorce the mitzva from the historical context to which the p’sukim refer explicitly.
Sukkot Parashat Hashavua
Tishrei 8 5777 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
Sukkah Walls
Sukkot
Tishrei 12 5776 | Rabbi Eliezer Melamed
Together in the Sukkah
The mitzvah of joy on Sukkot includes not only family members, but also the poor and lonely. A primer for the holiday.
Revivim The Sukkah
5775 | Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Rimon
The Commandment of Hakel
Sukkot