יִמְצָאֵהוּ בְּאֶרֶץ מִדְבָּר וּבְתֹהוּ יְלֵל יְשִׁמֹן יְסֹבְבֶנְהוּ יְבוֹנְנֵהוּ יִצְּרֶנְהוּ כְּאִישׁוֹן עֵינוֹ. (דברים לב, י)
עֲלֵה אֶל הַר הָעֲבָרִים הַזֶּה הַר נְבוֹ אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ מוֹאָב אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי יְרֵחוֹ וּרְאֵה אֶת אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לַאֲחֻזָּה. (שם, מט)
The question I would like to answer in this shiur is "In whose merit do we celebrate Sukkot – Moshe's or Aharon's?"
This is actually related to a famous machloket in the Gemara (Sukkot 11b) between R’ Akiva and R’ Eliezer. כִּי בַסֻּכּוֹת הוֹשַׁבְתִּי אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּהוֹצִיאִי אוֹתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם (ויקרא כג, מג). According to R' Akiva, it is referring to actual sukkot, temporary dwellings. According to R' Eliezer, it is referring to the עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד that surrounded Am Yisrael in the Midbar.
The Tur (אורח חיים, תרכה) is posek le'halacha according to the shita of R' Eliezer, that it is in memory of the עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד and goes on to explain the reason why we celebrate Sukkot in Tishrei and not in Nisan, when we actually went out of Egypt. It is because Nisan is the beginning of the summer and people commonly sit in sukkot to escape the blazing sun during this time, so it is not distinctive that they are doing so to commemorate יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם. However, Tishrei is when the rainy season begins and not everyone is sitting in sukkot, in fact most people are indoors. So, by commemorating Sukkot in Tishrei, we are emphasizing that we are doing so specifically because HKB"H commanded us to.
From the above, it is quite clear that we celebrate Sukkot in merit of Aharon – the עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד in the Midbar were in merit of Aharon (the Mann was in Moshe's merit and the well was in Miriam's merit).
Until now, everything is clear. There is, however, one nagging inconsistency in all of this. Just prior to Sukkot, in parshat Haazinu, we read about Moshe ascending Har Nevo, preceding his death. On Simchat Torah immediately following Sukkot, in VeZot HaBracha the final parsha of the Torah, we read of Moshe's burial.
Why do we specifically read about the death of Moshe before and after Sukkot? It is almost as if the death of Moshe "envelops" Sukkot, like the עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד. What does Moshe have to do with Sukkot? Obviously, he does in some way, otherwise this proximity and structure would not exist.
In this shiur we will be exploring the shita of the Ari z"l, the Sfat Emet and R' Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin, who, each in their unique way, expound a similar principle, which appears for the first time in the Zohar. In so doing, we will hopefully acquire a unique insight into many related topics – the essence of Sukkot, the Mashiach and the Beit HaMikdash.
From a literary perspective, Moshe's story is the classic tragedy. The charismatic leader and redeemer of his people, who at the climax of the tale, never quite manages to make it to the final destination. If the Torah were a "fairy tale" (lehavdil elef havdalot), a more "appropriate" happy ending would have been. "Moses leads the Children of Israel over the Jordan river into the Promised Land, they all fade into the sunset and live happily ever after".
In reality, the hero of our story tragically dies at the gates of Eretz Yisrael and the continuation of the story does not follow the pattern of the classic "happy end". Instead, it develops into a 3298-year saga of ups and downs that continues to this very day.
In the shiur from two weeks ago (Nitzavim 2025), we explored the idea that Mashiach is not an individual, but rather an "organism". For HKB"H to send the Mashiach and bring about the Geulah, it is not sufficient for the Mashiach (the individual) to appear, it is also necessary for the entire organism (Am Yisrael) to be in the required state of readiness.
According to the shita of the Ari z"l (שער הפסוקים, בהעלותך, סימן יב), the Sfat Emet (פרשת חקת) and R' Tzadok HaKohen (רסיסי לילה, נ"ח), which are all based on a principle brought by the Zohar (חלק כט, ואתחנן) … the Mashiach and the Geulah will only commence, when atonement is achieved for the sin of the moon on the 4th day of Creation.
As we all know, on the 4th day HKB"H created the sun and the moon. The moon complained that it was not fitting that there be two luminaries of equal intensity in Heaven. This was the source, the origin of all machloket in the world. As a result, HKB"H told the moon to diminish itself.
Following that, we have the sun, which radiates its own intrinsic light and the moon which does not have any intrinsic light. The light of the moon is merely a reflection of the light of the sun. Unlike the sun which is continually and fully radiant, the moon, the lunar cycle, is a fluctuating combination of alternating light and shadow. During the day the moon is eclipsed by the sun's radiance and can barely be seen.
In the organism that is Mashiach, the individual, the redeemer, is likened to the sun and the remainder of the organism, Am Yisrael, are likened to the moon ( סנהדרין מב, א; סוכה כט, א; בראשית רבה ו, ג; שיר השירים רבה ו, י).
Let us take Moshe as an example. Moshe resembled a sun פְּנֵי מֹשֶׁה כִּפְנֵי חַמָּה (ספרי, במדבר כז, כ). The Gemara (Sota 13a) says that when Moshe was born, the house of Amram and Yocheved was filled with light. Not regular light, but a Heavenly, spiritual light, a hint of things to come. Later in his life, after Moshe descends from Har Sinai with the second set of Luchot, his face shone with a Heavenly light, קָרַן עוֹר פָּנָיו (שמות לד, כט). A light so intense that Am Yisrael could not gaze upon him unless he was wearing a veil to filter it.
When Am Yisrael stood at Har Sinai, they achieved atonement for the sin of the moon (the essence of which was machloket), for a brief moment. By standing as one unified organism כְּאִישׁ אֶחָד בְּלֵב אֶחָד and declaring נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמַע, Am Yisrael restored the deficient light of the moon, פְּגִימַת הַלְּבָנָה, to its original, brilliant state in Creation and thereby caused the Geulah to commence. The organism of Mashiach (Moshe and Am Yisrael) was complete. The world was "reset" to its original state when HKB"H created it, before any sin occurred. At this point Am Yisrael resembled angels אֲנִי אָמַרְתִּי אֱלֹהִים (מלאכים, רש"י) אַתֶּם וּבְנֵי עֶלְיוֹן כֻּלְּכֶם (תהילים פב, ו).
This epiphany lasted only for a short time, however, because Am Yisrael were not yet ready to sustain such an intensity (תורת חיים שמות ח"ב, עמ' שצב, ב). The "vessel" was not yet resilient enough to contain such Heavenly, spiritual light. The sin of the egel, followed by the sin of the meraglim, at their core involved machloket and de facto "reawakened" the sin of the moon, thereby delaying the commencement of the Geulah.
Moshe, who was up on Har Sinai during the sin of the egel and was not part of the sin of meraglim, remained the same brilliant "sun" he was born as, until the day he died, לֹא כָהֲתָה עֵינוֹ וְלֹא נָס לֵחֹה (דברים לד, ז). Moshe was not fully "human", he is called אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים (דברים לג, א), which means that he was half man, half angel (דברים רבה פרשה יא סימן ד). Moshe existed in a different plane, totally removed from this physical world. This is why Moshe separated from Tzipporah. This is why Moshe could survive on Har Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights without food or water. This is how he could stroll in Heaven amongst the angels when he ascended to receive the Torah (Shabbat 88b). This is why Moshe's "gift" to Am Yisrael is the Mann, a spiritual food, the food of the angels.
Am Yisrael, after the sins of the egel and the meraglim, remained incomplete and had to achieve tikkun - to restore the light of the moon to its original state. The only place this tikkun can occur is in Eretz Yisrael.
Like Am Yisrael, who are compared to the moon, Eretz Yisrael operates predominantly according to the moon. The cycle of life in Eretz Yisrael revolves around the lunar cycle - the months, the chagim, the agricultural rhythms, … it is all based on the moon. Am Yisrael, in Eretz Yisrael are able to do tikkun for the sin of the moon – it is the only reality and infrastructure where this is possible.
This, says the Ari z"l, is why Moshe could not enter Eretz Yisrael. Moshe was the sun and Eretz Yisrael with Am Yisrael in their diminished stature, are like the moon. If Moshe would have entered Eretz Yisrael then, he would have eclipsed Eretz Yisrael, like the sun eclipses the moon during daylight hours. If Am Yisrael would not have sinned with the egel and the meraglim, the organism of Mashiach would have been complete and in this state, Moshe would have been able to enter Eretz Yisrael and the Geulah would have been eternal. Instead, Am Yisrael, in their diminished state, required a leader in a diminished state to lead them into Eretz Yisrael, Yehoshua, פְּנֵי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ כִּפְנֵי לְבָנָה (ספרי, במדבר כז, כ).
In our parsha HKB"H repeats why Moshe was not allowed into Eretz Yisrael, עַל אֲשֶׁר מְעַלְתֶּם בִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּמֵי מְרִיבַת קָדֵשׁ (דברים לב, נא). We mistakenly think that it was Moshe's "sin" at Mei Meriva that prevented him from entering Eretz Yisrael, but this is not the reason, say the Ari z"l and Sfat Emet. It is because of Mei Meriva – discord and machloket within Am Yisrael, their diminished stature, like the moon, that did not make Moshe's entering Eretz Yisrael together with them possible. This is what Moshe is referring to when he says גַּם בִּי הִתְאַנַּף ה' בִּגְלַלְכֶם לֵאמֹר גַּם אַתָּה לֹא תָבֹא שָׁם (דברים א, לז), it is not something I did, it is because you, Am Yisrael, are incomplete – you do not compete the organism that is Mashiach and in this state I cannot enter Eretz Yisrael.
The purpose of the ongoing 3298-year saga is to do tikkun, to bring Am Yisrael to a state where we complete the Mashiach organism.
A vital component of this tikkun is the chag of Sukkot.
An interesting characteristic of Sukkot is that it is focused around "shade" and "shadow". We are all familiar with the halacha (אורח חיים תרלא, סימן א) that סְכָךְ in the sukkah has to provide more shade than sunlight, צִלָּתָהּ מְרֻבָּה מֵחַמָּתָהּ. The Zohar HaKadosh (חלק ג, קג, א) refers to the sukkah as צִלָא דִּמְהֵימְנוּתָא, or in Hebrew צֵל הָאֱמוּנָה, the "shadow of faith".
What is the significance of shade and shadow - specifically in relation to Sukkot? To understand this, we need to define what a shadow is.
Optically speaking, a shadow, in essence, is a copy/facsimile of an object. When you shine a source of light on an object, this creates a shadow. The size and location of the shadow depend on the position of the light source relative to the object. For example, in the early morning and late afternoon when the sun tends toward the horizon, our shadow is more elongated. At noon, when the sun is directly above us, we have practically no shadow.
A shadow has no intrinsic essence - it is a "reflection" of an object. Not a clear reflection, like that in a mirror, but a pale, "distorted" reflection, a silhouette of the object. There are no details in the shadow, just outlines. This enables us to make shadows of animals, birds and other objects with our hands and fingers, because in the shadow you do not see the interior detail, just the outline.
There are two additional interesting characteristics of shadows. They are all connected to the object at the base. When you look at your shadow, it is connected to you at your feet, not your head (unless you are standing on your head). Whenever you move, your shadow moves with you, "mimicking" your movements.
David HaMelech says that HKB"H is like our shadow. Actually, in reality, it is the opposite way round. We are like HKB"H's shadow, a pale reflection, a silhouette of the infinity that is HKB"H. We are created בְּצֶלֶם אֱ-לֹקִים, in the image of HKB"H, but not exactly like Him, not with the same detail. So, what does David HaMelech mean?
Perek קכא in Tehillim is the perek that talks about shadows (also about the sun and the moon). We are all familiar with it, all the more so now that we recite it numerous times a day when we daven for the safety of the soldiers and hostages.
שִׁיר לַמַּעֲלוֹת אֶשָּׂא עֵינַי אֶל הֶהָרִים מֵאַיִן יָבֹא עֶזְרִי. עֶזְרִי מֵעִם ה' עֹשֵׂה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ. אַל יִתֵּן לַמּוֹט רַגְלֶךָ אַל יָנוּם שֹׁמְרֶךָ. הִנֵּה לֹא יָנוּם וְלֹא יִישָׁן שׁוֹמֵר יִשְׂרָאֵל. ה' שֹׁמְרֶךָ ה' צִלְּךָ עַל יַד יְמִינֶךָ. יוֹמָם הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לֹא יַכֶּכָּה וְיָרֵחַ בַּלָּיְלָה. ה' יִשְׁמָרְךָ מִכָּל רָע יִשְׁמֹר אֶת נַפְשֶׁךָ. ה' יִשְׁמָר צֵאתְךָ וּבוֹאֶךָ מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם.
When David HaMelech says ה' שֹׁמְרֶךָ ה' צִלְּךָ עַל יַד יְמִינֶךָ, HKB"H is your shadow … on your right hand, he is referring to the characteristic of shadows that they "mimic" your actions. The passuk is saying that HKB"H "mimics" whatever you do. As you behave towards Him, so He behaves toward you - but always on the right hand, the sfira of chessed, מִדַּת הָרַחֲמִים. In other words, HKB"H basically treats you like you treat Him, but not exactly – HKB"H is more biased in His reaction towards you, leaning to mercy and not מִדַּת הַדִּין. If HKB"H treated us exactly as we treated Him, we would not survive for one millisecond.
The term used by the Zohar to describe the sukkah צִלָא דִּמְהֵימְנוּתָא, means that the Sukkah is a shadow of faith. To sit in the sukkah requires a degree of faith. We leave the comfort and security of our homes and move into a ramshackle, temporary structure that leaks, has flies, noise, that is hot/cold (depending where you are in the world), etc. We do so out of faith, that while we are there, HKB"H will protect us. The degree of faith we place in HKB"H when we move into the sukkah, is reflected/mimicked back to us by HKB"H, like a shadow. Depending whether we are uncomfortable, unhappy and constantly complaining in the sukkah, or … happy and at peace - the level of HKB"H's Shechina in our sukkah echoes that sentiment.
One interesting feature of a sukkah is that it has to have more shade than sunlight צִלָּתָהּ מְרֻבָּה מֵחַמָּתָהּ.
The halacha (אורח חיים תרלא, סימן א) actually describes two situations regarding the ratio of shade to sunlight. (A) there is more shade than sunlight (kosher סְכָךְ). (B) the sunlight and shade are equal in measure. In case B, the halacha makes a distinction according to the "height". If the shade and sunlight are equal - higher up (towards the roof of the sukkah), the סְכָךְ is passul. However, if the shade and sunlight are equal - down below (lower down from the roof) the סְכָךְ is kosher. The Shulchan Aruch explains why. Since sunlight has a tendency to disperse more than the shadow, if the sunlight and shade are equal higher up, the sunlight will disperse and when it reaches lower down, there will be more sunlight than shade. However, if the sunlight and shade are in equal measure lower down, that means that higher up there is more shade than sunlight and the סְכָךְ is kosher.
Notice a very interesting thing. We want to have more shadow than sunlight in our sukkah, because the sunlight eclipses the shadow and in a sukkah that is not a good thing. Why?
The reason is because a sukkah is tikkun for פְּגִימַת הַלְּבָנָה, the sin of the moon. The moon, in its diminished state, is typified by shadow. Similarly, the sukkah is typified by shadow - to echo the state of the moon. Just as Moshe, who is compared to sunlight, could not enter Eretz Yisrael when Am Yisrael were in their diminished state, because sunlight eclipses the moon, so too do we not want sunlight to eclipse the shadow in the sukkah, because in that state tikkun cannot be achieved. The tikkun can only be achieved when the light filling Am Yisrael and the sukkah comes from within and not from without!
Another interesting thing to note about the halachot of sukkah, is that a disproportionately large emphasis is placed on structure - dimensions and measurements. How many walls, how high each wall, the spacing between the floor and the wall, the spacing between the סְכָךְ and the wall, openings, etc. etc. The only other halachic sugya in Shulchan Aruch that resembles this "obsession" with "metrics" is תְּחוּמֵי שַׁבָּת.
When a person builds a house, the Torah and halacha do not tell you how high, how many walls, how many windows, doors, patios, slanted roof or flat roof, etc. However, when you build a sukkah, you have to adhere to a strict architectural regimen. Why?
The Mefarshim in parshat Noach ask, "Why are the psukkim so specific in the measurements of the ark? When Avraham built an Eshel in Be'er Sheva or purchased Me'arat HaMachpeila to bury Sarah, it does not state measurements of the inn or the cave!" The answer given is that when specific measurements for a structure are given in the Torah, it is referring to a Beit HaMikdash, like the detailed structure of the Mishkan and its utensils. A structure that houses the Shechina has to have very specific measurements. Noach's ark was a floating Beit HaMikdash.
Similarly, when such emphasis is placed on structure of the sukkah, it comes to teach us that the sukkah is a kind of a Beit HaMikdash. Just like the Shechina was present in the Beit HaMikdash, so too is the Shechina present in the sukkah (proportionally to our behavior in the sukkah, see צִלָא דִּמְהֵימְנוּתָא above).
Sometimes our shadow seems distant and disconnected from us, like in the early morning and late afternoon when the sun is low in the sky. However, at noonwhen the sun is directly overhead, our body and our shadow become one.
This is the Beit HaMikdash. It is an umbilical bond between us and the Shechina, with no disconnect. It is impossible to distinguish between the body and the shadow. How is this achieved? Through perfect unity. When Am Yisrael achieve perfect unity within themselves, they merit achieving perfect unity with HKB"H - like at Har Sinai. This is the tikkun for the sin of the moon, which was machloket.
The Beit HaMikdash is a beacon of unity. Every component and ritual in the Beit HaMikdash embodies unity. The twelve loaves of Lechem HaPanim on the Shulchan (Twelve Tribes). The eleven disparate ingredients in the Ketoret combining into one unified columnar pillar of smoke (atonement for the brothers selling Yosef). The Kohanim serving in the Azara resembling angels וְנותְנִים בְּאַהֲבָה רְשׁוּת זֶה לָזֶה לְהַקְדִּישׁ לְיוצְרָם בְּנַחַת רוּחַ. Am Yisrael paying pilgrimage as one, on the Shloshet HaRegalim etc.
Similarly, the sukkah is a beacon of unity, it is called a סֻכַּת שָׁלוֹם (זוהר ח"ג, רנו א). The אַרְבַּעַת הַמִּינִים are symbol of unity between all parts of Am Yisrael. The Sfat Emet (סוכות תרס"ב) says that the passuk כָּל הָאֶזְרָח בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשְׁבוּ בַּסֻּכֹּת (ויקרא כג, מ"ב) means that all strata of Am Yisrael are eligible to sit in the sukkah, in perfect unity, despite their differences. The Gemara and the halacha lema'aseh say that the sukkah resembles the עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד, which were in merit of Aharon who was a אוֹהֵב שָׁלוֹם וְרוֹדֵף שָׁלוֹם.
The Beit HaMikdash (may it be rebuilt בבי"א) and our private Beit HaMikdash, the sukkah, achieve tikkun for the sin of the moon, through unity – the antithesis of machloket, that caused the sin in the first place. This unity is the light that illuminates the sukkah from within. This is what the passuk means וְיַעֲקֹב נָסַע סֻכֹּתָה וַיִּבֶן לוֹ בָּיִת וּלְמִקְנֵהוּ עָשָׂה סֻכֹּת (בראשית לג, יז) – Yaakov built a Beit HaMikdash for Am Yisrael (as a nation) and sukkot (for each individual in Am Yisrael), to achieve tikkun on a national and private level.
When Am Yisrael achieve tikkun for the sin of the moon, by uniting as one in service of HKB"H, then the moon will be restored to its original brilliant light and the Geulah will commence and continue for eternity.
In that state, the sun will no longer eclipse the moon and Moshe will be able to enter Eretz Yisrael during תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים.
According to the Midrash (במדבר רבה פרשה יט, יג) HKB"H said to Moshe "If you enter Eretz Yisrael now (instead of Yehoshua), the entire generation, the 600,000 that died in the Midbar, will not be resurrected when the Mashiach arrives and there is תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים". Moshe chose to remain behind בְּעַרְבוֹת מוֹאָב with his flock. At the end of his life, Moshe achieved the 50th degree of טָהֳרָה and was buried on הַר נְבוֹ, or as the Mefarshim say, הַר שֶׁ-"נ"-בּוֹ. Although Moshe physically did not accompany Am Yisrael into Eretz Yisrael, the Torah that he brought down from Har Sinai did.
When the Geulah commences, the brilliant light of the moon will be restored and the light of the sun and the light of the moon will be equivalent. There will be perpetual light, יוֹמָא אֲרִיכְתָּא, and our shadows and bodies will be as one, we will be united with the Shechina as one.
Then Moshe will be able to enter Eretz Yisrael, because the "sun" will no longer eclipse the "moon" and the light in and out of the sukkah will be the same, with no shadow, בְּסֻכַּת עוֹרוֹ שֶׁל לִוְיָתָן. During תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים Moshe will lead all the מְתֵי מִדְבָּר back to Eretz Yisrael, together with all of Am Yisrael who died in galut ever since.
Meanwhile, Moshe himself remains behind in galut with the מְתֵי מִדְבָּר, waiting … waiting … until Am Yisrael complete tikkun for the moon on Sukkot. Moshe remains on the "periphery" (we read about him in the Torah before and after Sukkot), enveloping Sukkot like the עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד but not "entering" (except for a brief moment as one of the Ushpizin). The spirit that permeates the sukkah for the full duration of Sukkot is that of Aharon, אוֹהֵב שָׁלוֹם וְרוֹדֵף שָׁלוֹם, and the Torah of Moshe, not Moshe himself.
לֶעָתִיד לָבוֹא, both Moshe and Aharon will be the driving force in the סֻכַּת עוֹרוֹ שֶׁל לִוְיָתָן.
If you would like to dedicate a shiur in someone’s memory or for refuah, etc., please email machonlechemhapanim@gmail.com with the details.
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