We have very a important reframe, as we get ready for the holiday of Succot, and sit out in our Succahs.
The Pesikta D’Rav Kahana, one of the early Midrashim asks a famous question, What is the reason that we sit in the Succah after Yom Kippur?
If sitting in the Succah is to remember Yetziat Mitzrayim, then why do it at this time of the year? Yetziat Mitzrayim occurred in Nissan, in the spring. So why are we sitting now? The famous answer is that we want do it in a way that will be recognizable, that we're doing it for the purpose of the Mitzvah - If we were sitting in the Succah when everyone else goes outside in the summertime, it wouldn't be recognizable.
So therefore, we do it at this time of the year, when it's quite clear that it's for the purpose of the mitzva. But the Pesikta D’Rav Kahana gives another reason we want do it after Yom Kippur. Because it says that Galut is Mehaper. Sometimes a person has a sin, and the way for him to get Kapara is by going into exile. The earliest source of this is Kayin. He was sent into exile. The Rambam says Galut causes one to become humble, and humility is a cause of forgiving one’s sins.
So here we are. And for all we know, it was decreed that we would be thrown out of our homes. Sometimes when people hear that, they think it sounds farfetched. But those that live in Fort Myers, Florida were shown that reality. Beautiful homes were totally destroyed.
They were literally thrown out of their homes. So things like that, has v’shalom, could happen.
Of course, although it’s a tremendous kapara, we aren’t wishing it upon anybody. But God, in His love and His mercy for the Jewish people gives us a Galut of sorts. There's a concept called Miksat Nefesh K’kol Nefesh/ a little bit of the soul is like the whole soul.
A little bit of Galut is like the entire Galut. When leave our homes for our Succah, that's an exile. We're not in our homes anymore, we're not on the porch, we don't have our regular luxuries and comforts of home. And that's why it says one is supposed to make his Succah into his Keva/his main thing, and his regular home
Arai/temporary, because we're really doing ourselves a favor by going out to the Succah. It's a cleansing process. That's our reframe. Don't look at the Succah as a difficulty, as something that's hard. Look at it as a cleansing process. Look at as a wonderful opportunity to get forgiven for our sins, by sitting out in the Succah. It's Galut. No one wants to be have real Galut.
Again, people that lived in Ukraine, experienced real Galut lo Alenu. They were taken out their homes and had to go on to new places and new horizons. We don't want that either. So therefore, look at the Succah as a wonderful opportunity to get an easy kapara.
But again, as the Rambam tells us, the main point of Galut is the aspect of humility, that you are humbling yourself.
In the days of old, great rabbis such as the Gaon of Vilna, the Chida, the Or HaChaim HaKadosh would go into self- imposed exile. There were no publicized photos in those days, so they weren’t easily recognized. They wanted to escape the honor and respect they received in their own towns, so they traveled to new towns where they might be treated like beggars. That was their way of getting atonement.
Once, when he was in his thirties, one of Rabbi Ades’ friends came to him in the summer Ben Hazmanim, asking if he wanted to go into Galut. At the time, Rabbi Ades and his friend both had young children at home. Rabbi Ades told him, “You're not looking for Galut, you're looking for a picnic. You just want to escape from your wife and children.”
Galut can be in your own home, because it's all is about humbling yourself. We all need this very important reframe technique, understanding situations that are hard, and reframing them.
And one last reframe: Many years ago, we went on our first Torah Center trip to Eretz Yisrael. It was a very memorable event.
We went to Meron, to the Arizal’s mikveh, and to Sfat on Lag B’Omer day, ..and we went to Rabbi Ades’ house straight from Sfat. We got there just as a sun was setting. He asked us what we had done that day, and as we went through our day, he commented a lot of the things that we did. He said, “When a person goes to the Arizal’s mikveh, it's very cold. How do you handle it? The answer, he said, is that it says there's a promise from the Arizal that you do teshuva before you die, so you brace yourself and you jump in.”
Rabbi Ades said, “Every time you walk into your house, you should think you're walking into the Arizal’s Mikveh. You walk into your house, with the challenges of the children..after a long day. But if you imagine that you're walking into the Arizal’s mikveh, it might be cold and icy, but you know, it brings kapara.” And that's the reframe you have to have.
So Succot has a wonderful reframe, walking into your house has a wonderful reframe, and the bottom line of all them is to humble yourself to the people around you. And that brings Kapara.
Have a wonderful day.