Succot - 5787

Succot - 5787

Rabbi Hal Miller

  I have certainly built for You an abode, a foundation for Your dwelling forever. [Malachim I 8:13]

Our verse comes from the second day Haftorah reading and is spoken by Shlomo Hamelech, King Solomon. Why would we be reading about a zvul, a permanent abode, on Succot, the holiday where we make for ourselves a very temporary dwelling? The Hebrew at the end here, machon lishivtcha olamim (a foundation for Your dwelling forever), is also found in Shemot [15:17] and refers to the Temple in both places. The word zvul can be translated as celestial abode, heavenly palace or similar. How does this tie to the succah?

In Bereishit [30:20], Leah states to the universe in general, hapa'am yizvl'eini ishi, "this time my husband will make his permanent home with me". She then names her sixth son Zevulun from the same word. Thus zvul appears to refer to a permanent abode anywhere, not just in the heavens. The Mishnah in Succot [2:9] reads, "All seven days a man is obligated to make his succah his permanent home, and to make his house his temporary home" but it uses a different word for "permanent home", in this case keva, which we recognize from the common phrase makom kevuah, our regular place in shul. Keva means fixed or permanent. It seems that both words refer to a permanent abode. While certainly similar they must have some difference.

As a practical matter, what does permanent abode mean in reference to the succah? The Shulchan Aruch [639:1] lists some things that one must do in the succah that would normally be done in one's regular home such as learning Torah, eating and drinking, to which Rama adds sleeping and lounging. They note that regular cookware and cushioned seats should be brought out, and that in general the succah is to be treated as home, with the house being merely for storage. In case someone is suffering, which they explain as actual suffering where one would leave his normal house to seek assistance, one may leave the succah. For this week, the succah is home as if there was no other house. We should not look at the succah as a temporary dwelling except so far as length of time, but should treat it as a permanent home, if merely for the week.

Sfas Emes relates commentary from many sources that the succah serves as a reminder to the wilderness in the exodus from Egypt. Some say this refers to the Clouds of Glory by which God surrounded and protected Israel, others say it refers to the portable dwellings the Jews used during those forty years. Either way, the succah was a way to isolate Israel from the rest of the world in order to wean them from bad influences and allow them to purify themselves. He says that the succah today serves those same purposes. In addition, the succah, where all Jews sit together regardless of background or level of learning, is a sign of achdut, the unity of the nation. This makes it a "taste of the world to come".

Sfas Emes also makes an argument relevant to our questions in that the succah is a reminder of the Temple. He cites Shemot [25:8], "Build for Me a Sanctuary​ and I will dwell in your midst", and Succah [9a], "the Heavenly Name is bound with the succah". This directly ties the succahs in our back yards to the Temple of God's eternal abode.

Perhaps we can separate between zvul and keva, the two words for permanent abode, yet use them for purposes of analogy. The Mishnah directs us to use our succah as a keva, and the Haftorah describes the construction of a zvul. We can look at keva as applying to us, and zvul as applying to Heaven. The crossover point, Leah's comment and naming of her son, is a link between God and us via the Patriarchs and Matriarchs who are of very elevated holiness. When we dwell in a succah, we are bringing ourselves close to God.