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Shabbat Succot | 5764

Succot | | 08/01/2004

There is no Gain Under the Sun

This year, as we read Megillat Kohelet on the first day of Sukkot, we can again ask ourselves: why is this megilla appropriate specifically on Sukkot, the festival where we are explicitly mandated to be happy (Devarim 16:14)? Kohelet is a sefer which appears to have a pessimistic outlook on almost every subject under the sun. Let us review just a few areas that Kohelet deems as worthless. “What is the gain for man with all of the toil that he toils under the sun?” (1:3).

P’ninat Mishpat

We saw last week that one can give a present on condition that it is later returned and that this system can be used to transfer a lulav back and forth so that a few people can fulfill their mitzva on the first day of Sukkot. This idea fits into the general framework of conditional transactions. Generally, such conditions must be formulated with a specific halachic formula. If not, the transaction takes hold unconditionally (Gittin 75a).

Moreshet Shaul

“All citizens in Israel shall sit in the sukkot in order that your generations shall know…” (Devarim 23: 42-43). Sitting in the sukka and understanding its significance serve as a certificate of citizenship in Israel. However, the lessons to apply from the sukka changeaccording to the generation, and, therefore, Chazal stressed different aspects of the sukka. One opinion describes the historical sukkot as actual booths, while another refers to “clouds of glory.”

Ask the Rabbi

Question: I am a resident of Israel and will be traveling abroad during Sukkot. On yom tov, I will be in a city with a Jewish community, but in a different neighborhood. Can I do Melacha (work) publicly outside the Jewish community on the second day (yom tov sheni)? (I assume that privately (b’tzina), there is no problem.)

This edition of Hemdat Yamim
Is dedicated to the memory of
R’ Meir ben Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld o.b.m.

A weekly divrei Torah leaflet: A Glimpse at the Parasha, Ask the Rabbi, From the writings of Harav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook, zt”l, Pninat Mishpat (Jewish Monetary Law).

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