Each of the שְׁלֹשֶׁת הָרְגָלִים have their own "seasonal bread". The special bread for Pesach is obviously – matza. The special bread for Shavuot is the Shtei HaLechem, a special korban of two loaves made from the newly harvested wheat.
Sukkot also has its own seasonal bread. No, it is not pita, the ubiquitous bread everyone eats while out on tiyulim during Chol HaMoed. The special bread of Sukkot is none other than … the Lechem HaPanim.
Lechem HaPanim? Sukkot? Lechem HaPanim was made every week in the Beit HaMikdash, not only on Sukkot. So, what does the Lechem HaPanim have to do with Sukkot specifically?
No other bread more embodies Sukkot than the Lechem HaPanim, as we will soon see.
On Sukkot there are numerous mitzvot – Sukkah, the אַרְבַּעַת הַמִּינִים, Simcha (זְמַן שִׂמְחָתֵנוּ).
Let us examine each of these in turn and we will discover that they apply equally to Sukkot as to the Lechem HaPanim.
Firstly, the mitzva of Sukkah. The ideal Sukkah has four walls and סְכָךְ above. Incredibly, the Lechem HaPanim on the Shulchan are "sitting in a Sukkah!". The two stacks of breads are flanked by four "snipim", uprights, that support them from the sides.
On top of the Lechem HaPanim is סְכָךְ ! You don't believe me? Look at the passuk. The Lechem HaPanim are covered from above by half pipes called מְנַקִּיֹּת, as it says in the passuk וּמְנַקִּיֹּתָיו אֲשֶׁר יֻסַּךְ בָּהֵן ... (שמות כה, כט). Rashi on that passuk says שֶׁהָיוּ עָלָיו כְּמִין סְכָךְ.
Why do the Lechem HaPanim sit on the Shulchan, like we sit … in a Sukkah? (true the materials to make the walls and the סְכָךְ are different, but the configuration is identical).
The reason is because the Sukkah and the Lechem HaPanim achieve the same purpose. By us leaving the comfort of our homes, going outside to sit in a ramshackle Sukkah and placing our bitachon in HKB"H, we are מַמְתִּיק אֶת הַדִּין, we move HKB"H from מִדַּת הַדִּין to מִדַּת הָרַחֲמִים. Similarly, the Lechem HaPanim on the Shulchan, symbolizing our bitachon that HKB"H is the Provider of all our parnasa, is מַמְתִּיק אֶת הַדִּין.
The next mitzva is אַרְבַּעַת הַמִּינִים. What does the Lechem HaPanim have to do with the אַרְבַּעַת הַמִּינִים? Each loaf of Lechem HaPanim is made from 2 isaron measures of solet. שְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים in gematria is "אֶתְרוֹג לוּלָב הֲדַס וַעֲרָבָה". However, that is not all.
The Arava resembles a mouth – so too does the Lechem HaPanim resemble a smiling mouth. The Hadasim resemble eyes – so too do the two bowls of Levonah resemble eyes. The Lulav resembles the spine – so to do the upright "snipim" flanking the Lechem HaPanim resemble vertebrae of a spine.
The Etrog resembles the heart – so too does the Shulchan represent the "heart" of the Korban Lechem HaPanim, it is like the tree that bears the "fruit" (the loaves of bread) and comes to atone for the עֵץ הַדַּעַת. According to one opinion the עֵץ הַדַּעַת was an Etrog.
But it does not end there. The אַרְבַּעַת הַמִּינִים symbolize the different groups in Am Yisrael, all held together in one "bundle", representing unity. Similarly, the 12 loaves of Lechem HaPanim, symbolizing the Twelve Tribes, all sit together in perfect unity on the Shulchan.
The next mitzva is Simcha. Just as Sukkot is called זְמַן שִׂמְחָתֵנוּ, so too is the Lechem HaPanim the embodiment of Simcha. Each loaf of Lechem HaPanim is shaped like a smiling mouth. The primary underlying lesson of the Lechem HaPanim is אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ.
This last mitzva is worth exploring more in depth, because from the Lechem HaPanim we can learn exactly what type of Simcha we need to exhibit on Sukkot in order to fulfil the mitzva.
The Shulchan's dimensions are 1 amah wide, by 2 amot long, by 1½ amot high. Why is the height a fractional (incomplete) measurement, while the others are integers (complete)? Meir Panim says that this comes to teach us that in our business dealings we need to be completely and "integrally" honest (the gematria of שֻׁלְחָן is "צֶדֶק צֶדֶק" - the length and width).
However, when we accumulate wealth (the height), this is an incomplete measure, because we are required to be שָׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקֵנוּ, with what we have, even though it is incomplete. In other words, the Simcha of the Lechem HaPanim is not totally complete.
Let us now examine Sukkot. There is no chag more conducive to Simcha than Sukkot. On Pesach we are under stress because HKB"H judges us on the grain produce. Similarly, on Shavuot, HKB"H judges us on the fruits of the trees.
On Sukkot, however, there is no stress. We have already harvested all the grains (barley in spring, wheat and flax in summer). We have already harvested all the fruit of the trees (and preserved them for the winter by drying, pickling, etc.)
Our pantries and storehouses are filled to the brim. We have worked hard the entire year - harvesting grains, picking fruits and just prior to Sukkot - planting seeds for the next year's crop and pruning the trees. From Sukkot to Pesach there is no work to be done. We can put our feet up and rest easy.
If HKB"H wanted to make our Simcha complete, He could say "You have worked hard. Your sins have been cleansed on Yom Kippur - you are all now complete tzaddikim. I will reward you with a perfect chag.
Enjoy the fruits of your labor in the comfort of your homes, your comfortable living rooms, your comfortable beds, your comfortable dining room suite, air conditioning on a hot day, shelter if it rains, etc. You deserve it!"
But davka on Sukkot, instead of that HKB"H says "You are feeling pretty good about yourselves right now, but I want you to leave the comfort of your home and go live outside for seven days. No lounge suites, no Sealy Posturepedic mattresses, no comfortable dining room chairs and table, no aircon and holes in the roof that the rain can fall through.
I want you to sit on shaky plastic chairs, crunched up altogether, with your mother in law's elbow in your ribs, with the sun blasting down on the walls of the Sukkah giving you a free sauna, with mosquitos, flies and bees buzzing over your food, and biting you at night while you sleep. I do not want you to have (what you consider) perfect Simcha!"
HKB"H says "I want you to be in the Sukkah for seven days, just like the Lechem HaPanim is on the Shulchan for seven days. Just before Shabbat, the Kohanim go into the Heichal and remove the pipes from on top of the Lechem HaPanim in the Heichal on the Shulchan – they remove the "סְכָךְ".
On Shabbat day the Lechem HaPanim are switched with fresh loaves, which are also placed on the Shulchan without the pipes, without the "סְכָךְ". Only after Shabbat goes out, do the Kohanim go back into the Heichal and put the pipes back on the breads and the breads sit the entire week on the Shulchan under the "סְכָךְ".
Meir Panim says - this is what the passuk means וּשְׂפוּנֵי טְמוּנֵי חוֹל (דברים לג, יט) in Moshe's blessing to Zevulun in parshat וְזֹאת הַבְּרָכָה. The loaves of Lechem HaPanim are shaped like ships סְפִינָה רוֹקֶדֶת, "dancing" ships (שְׂפוּנֵי), "buried" (טְמוּנֵי) under the pipes, the "סְכָךְ", during the days of the week (חוֹל).
There is a reason it is called a סְפִינָה רוֹקֶדֶת. The ship is "dancing", because it is not in calm waters, it is in stormy seas. Physically, the Lechem HaPanim are in "perilous waters" during the week. They are exposed to the elements and the laws of nature. However, miraculously, they emerge at the tails end intact. They defy nature and at the end of the week are as fresh and warm as a week ago, when they were baked.
How is this possible? It is because of Shabbat. On Shabbat, when the cycle begins, there is bracha. The bracha of Shabbat permeates the Lechem HaPanim and protects it for the entire week until the next Shabbat, as it says in the Zohar כָּל בִּרְכָּאן דִּלְעֵילָא וְתָתָא בְּיוֹמָא שְׁבִיעָאָה תַּלְיָן (זֹהר, ח"ב פ"ח ע"א).
Similarly on Sukkot. Just prior to Sukkot we have "Shabbat", in other words Yom Kippur, which is called שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן (ויקרא כג, לב). On Yom Kippur we receive a bracha and are cleansed of our sins, so that we enter Sukkot squeaky clean and pure.
It is this bracha that sustains us the seven days of Sukkot, out in the middle of the elements, exposed to the laws of nature, so that we emerge at the end (Simchat Torah) as clean and pure as when we entered so that we can celebrate the Torah the right way.
If we think only of the physical, then the Sukkah is not a "perfect" Simcha. If HKB"H wanted us to have perfect physical Simcha, he would have left us indoors for the duration of Sukkot. HKB"H is teaching us – there is no perfect physical Simcha! The Simcha of this physical world is, by definition, incomplete, unperfect and fleeting. Similarly, with the Lechem HaPanim, HKB"H is teaching us that there is no perfect physical wealth, it is never complete.
There is only one kind of Simcha/wealth that is complete and lasting and that is a spiritual Simcha/wealth.
Why is Sukkot 5 days after Yom Kippur? Why do we not celebrate Sukkot in Nisan, in memory of the Sukkot that Am Yisrael dwelled in when they left Egypt? This is a question Chazal ask and the answer is that HKB"H planned it in Tishrei, because in Nisan (spring/summer) people go outside into Sukkot anyway to cool down from the heat (in the days before air conditioners).
Sitting in Sukkot in Nisan, people might think that it is because we want to keep cool. Placing Chag Sukkot in Tishrei, when it already begins to rain, it is obvious that we are doing it because HKB"H told us, and not because we want to keep cool.
However, the real reason why Sukkot is after Yom Kippur is because in order to appreciate the perfection of this perfect spiritual Simcha, we need to be completely clean and pure, which we are – only after Yom Kippur. The "neshama yeteira" of Yom Kippur accompanies us for the seven days out in the Sukkah, like after Shabbat it accompanies the Lechem HaPanim on the Shulchan during the week.
The lesson of Sukkot is that the Simcha is spiritual and not physical. If we focus on the spiritual – that we are sitting בְּצִלָּא דִּמְהֵימְנוּתָא, like we are in a Beit HaMikdash mamash, surrounded by HKB"H's Shechina and the Ushpizin, then mosquitos, shaky chairs and mother in-laws' elbows are a non-issue.
This brings us to Simchat Torah and how can we possibly celebrate Simchat Torah fully this year, in the aftermath of this past year?
What a test it is for us that HKB"H gave us this year on the same day, a joyous celebration of the Torah and the trauma of last year's Simchat Torah massacre. How does one deal with such a day?
The answer is above.
Many confuse Simcha with dancing, loud music and abandon. To be sure, that is one part of the Simcha. If you have ever been to a dati wedding, you have that in spades. Loud music (most times too loud), youngsters bouncing up and down (as if they had springs in their feet), spinning around furiously and never getting dizzy.
But at a wedding there is also another kind of Simcha, the kind you find davka at the chuppah. At the chuppah, it is much more subdued – music is low key, soft and emotional. The parents leading the chatan and kallah up to the chuppah, the kallah circling the chatan seven times.
I would like to suggest that the Simcha at the chuppah is of a much higher level than the subsequent Simcha on the dance floor. It is a more spiritual type of Simcha. I believe this is the kind of Simcha HKB"H intended that we have on Sukkot and on Simchat Torah, a Simcha that embodies גִּלּוּ בִּרְעָדָה.
On Sukkot, in the Beit HaMikdash the entertainment was not provided by the yeshiva bochrim and the loud band, it was provided by the Gedolei HaDor, like Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel juggling eight torches of fire, Abayei juggling eight eggs, without a single one ever breaking, etc. (Sukkah 53a). Davka the Gedolei HaDor, because only they knew the true meaning of spiritual Simcha and that is what Simchat Beit HaShoeva was – the greatest Simcha imaginable.
Modern Simchat Torah celebrations have deviated from that type of Simcha and more resemble the dance floor at a wedding.
I believe this year HKB"H is telling us to return to the Simcha of Simchat Beit HaShoeva, in the Mikdash - a less raucous Simcha, a more spiritual Simcha, the kind we experience in the Sukkah and the kind that pervaded on the Shulchan Lechem HaPanim. גִּלּוּ בִּרְעָדָה.
There is one more important lesson the Shulchan Lechem HaPanim teaches us about Sukkot, that relates to the atmosphere in the Sukkah.
The word שֻׁלְחָן in gematria is זֶה שָׁלוֹם. In order for Simcha to permeate the Shulchan (and the Sukkah) there must be peace. All twelve loaves of Lechem HaPanim (representing the Twelve Tribes) were huddled together on the Shulchan and there was perfect peace between them. No fighting in the Sukkah, no anger, no complaining, no resentment - only smiles.
In the haftara of Sukkot (Zecharia 14), we read about Gog and Magog and the era of Mashiach. Nothing could be more appropriate this year - it is like reading the daily news on CNN.
HKB"H gave a huge "klap" last Simchat Torah, but כָּל מָאן דְּעָבֵד רַחֲמָנָא לְטָב עָבֵד, everything HKB"H does is for our ultimate benefit. He lets us fall so that we will pick ourselves up and reach higher heights than we ever imagined we could reach. בבי"א.
Chag Sameach
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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