The Lubavitcher Rebbes

Topsy-Turvy Sukkah

he hallmark of a true sage

of the mesorah (tradition) is
the radical embracement of a
paradox. On the one hand, the talmid
chacham is completely beholden to
the Torah received from previous
generations. But simultaneously,
he has the ability and obligation to
breathe new life into these ancient
sources by offering innovative
interpretations and novel theories.1
It is the proper balance between
these two poles that allows the talmid
chacham to stay true to the timeless
mesorah while making the eternal
Torah timely and relevant to the
people of his generation.
This description is perfectly apt for
Rav Menachem Mendel Schneerson,
the seventh Rebbe of Chabad
(henceforth the Rebbe). His
adherence to the Torah of previous
generations in general, and to the
teachings of his predecessors in
particular, is well known. He was
a master of both nigleh and nistar,2
with, of course, a particular expertise
in the voluminous discourses of
his predecessors. Every maamar
(Chassidic discourse) he delivered
began with a citation and analysis of
a previous Rebbes Torah, and it was
these ideas that created the contours
of his thought. However, through
a rigorous textual and conceptual
analysis of these earlier teachings he
was able to develop a sophisticated
and comprehensive thought system
of his own, which is striking in its

Rabbi Yosef Bronstein

Judaic Studies Faculty, Isaac Breuer College and
Stern College for Women
innovativeness.3 It was this new/
old philosophy that fueled Chabads
singular activities in the second half of
the twentieth century.
The Rebbes approach to the mitzvah
of sukkah is a prime example of his
interpretive method and philosophy.
In this essay, I will summarize what
I understand to be his central thesis
regarding the nature of the sukkah and
contextualize it within the broader
framework of his thought.
A Transient World
Masechet Sukkah opens with a debate
regarding the status of a sukkah that
is higher than twenty amot. Rava
explains that the debate depends on
if a sukkah is a permanent dwelling,
and therefore even a structure of this
height is suitable for the mitzvah,
or a temporary dwelling, and
therefore such a tall structure is
disqualified.4 The fact that we follow
the latter opinion is often used as the
foundation of a homily regarding the
take-away message of the sukkah. For
example, here are the words of Rav
Yehonatan Eibeschitz:

) .(
.
Behold, the Torah counselled us that
on Sukkot, which is the end of the days
of repentance, we should accept upon
ourselves an exile, so that the entire world
will be in our eyes like nothing and like a
shadow. And therefore they said (Sukkah
2a) leave your permanent dwelling
and stay in a temporary dwelling to
teach that we are strangers on this world
without any permanence . . . 5
According to Rav Yehonatan
Eibeschitz and others,6 the temporary
nature of the sukkah represents the
fleetingness of this world. Living in a
sukkah for a week engrains within us
that we are mere travelers, temporarily
lodging in the hallway of this world
while on a journey to the palace of the
next world.
The Nullification of the World

On the surface, there is much in

Chabad thought that would confirm
this conclusion. One of the central
tenets of Chabad philosophy is
acosmism a belief in the illusory
nature of the world. When our eyes
observe the world that surrounds us
9

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series Sukkot 5777

and perceive a physical reality teeming

with diversity, we are in fact being fed
an illusion. In truth, nothing exists
other than God ain od milvado in
the most literal sense possible. If we
had spiritual eyes we would be able to
see through the faade of reality and
recognize the hidden true nature of
the cosmos simple divinity. 7
And while other Kabbalistic schools
exhorted their students to not dwell
on this radical idea,8 Rav Shneur
Zalman of Liadi, the founder of
Chabad Chassidut, did just the
opposite. Throughout Tanya he
encourages his readers to contemplate
the nothingness of our world and even
the complete dissolution of the self
into the light of the simple unity of
Hashem.9 This contemplative service,
known as bittul, is identified by the
Alter Rebbe as the general principle
underpinning all of Torah and mitzvot:



.
And this is the basis of the entire Torah,
that there be the annihilation of being
(yesh) into nothingness (ayin), and all the
three things on which the world stands,
that is Torah, worship, and charity, are all
aspects of the annihilation of being into
nothingness.10
In the context of Sukkot, such a
philosophy would seemingly lead
one to Rav Yehonatan Eibeschitzs
understanding of the sukkahs
symbolism. If the goal of our service
is to pierce the illusion of reality and
see nothing other than Hashem, then
the sukkah stands as a reminder that
nothing in this world is as permanent,
or even as ontologically stable, as it
seems.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe on the Four

Species
The midrash, Vayikra Rabbah 30:9, has a very cryptic
comment on the four species:
( )
( )
R. Menachem
( )
Mendel
( ) Schneersohn
. - 1902-1994
The fruit of a beautiful tree (etrog), this is The Holy
One Blessed be He as it states, (Tehillim 104) He is clothed in glory and
beauty. Branches of a date palm (lulav), this is The Holy One Blessed be He
as it states, (Tehillim 92) The righteous one flowers like a date. A branch
of a braided tree (hadasim), this is The Holy One Blessed be He as it states,
(Zechariah 1) He stands between the myrtles (hadasim). Willows of the
valley (aravot), this is The Holy One Blessed be He as it states, (Tehillim 68)
Who rides in the skies (aravot) with his name Y-ah.
What is the midrash trying to teach us by associating the four species with
God? R. Schneerson, Shaarei HaMoadim, Sukkot pp. 151-152, suggests
that one of the goals of the mitzvah of taking the four species is to bring
God into our lives through the performance of mitzvot. The midrash is
trying to convey the message that by taking the four species, we are actually
taking God into our lives.

Torah To Go Editors
Hashem Is Here, Hashem Is
There...
But this description of the
nullification of the world is only one
pole of the great paradox elucidated
in Tanya.11 Once the Alter Rebbe
understands the unity of Hashem to
mean that from Hashems perspective
nothing exists other than Him, this
simple sense of unity also grants great
significance to this world. Everything
that we perceive in our world is
permeated with divinity and can be
a conduit of experiencing Hashem.12
Our mitzvot and service are not only
intended to condemn this world to
nothingness, but also to draw divinity
into it.13 This pole will reach its peak in
the times of Mashiach when the world

10

will be purified to the degree that

human beings will be able to stand
without being nullified in their very
existence and perceive the Divine
light that will be revealed to them . . .
without any cloak.14
The Rebbes First Address
Hashems Garden
As early as his first maamar as the
leader of Chabad, the Rebbe outlined
what he saw as the mission of his
generation. He focused on a midrash15
that describes Ikar Shechinah as
originally occupying tachtonim.
When Adam ate from the Tree of
Knowledge, the Shechina ascended
to the first heaven, and with the next
six major human sins the Shechina

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series Sukkot 5777

continuously ascended until it reached

the seventh and highest heaven.
Then seven tzadikim, beginning
with Avraham, merited to lower
the Shechinah, level after level, until
Moshe, the seventh tzadik, merited to
bring the Shechina back to the land.
After dissecting the midrashs key
terms, the Rebbe concluded that Ikar
Shechina refers to the highest levels
of divinity and tachtonim refers to
this lowly world. In other words,
the ideal home for the Shechina is
not the higher spiritual worlds, but
our physical one. He then made the
striking assertion that would define
Chabad under his tenure:

within specifically our lowly world.16

Previous generations tended toward
a more spiritualized service, with the
goal to extricate [oneself] from the
straits of contraction ... and to rise ...
into the hidden world in which the
light of the Ein-Sof, the completely
hidden God, gleams and shines as it
were.17 According to the Rebbe, as we
approach the days of Mashiach, our
focus must shift from the heavens to
finally bringing the Ikar Shechina back
to its garden, to our lowly world.

To clarify this radical assertion, the

Rebbe cited the above-mentioned
eschatological prediction of the Alter
Rebbe that when Mashiach comes,
, the physical world will no longer hide
, the presence of Hashem but we will
, , be able to perceive reality in its true
. form and see Hashem everywhere. It
We are now very near the approaching
is the mission of the last generation
footsteps of Mashiach, ndeed, we are at
to demonstrate the divinity of the
the conclusion of this period, and our
tachtonim of all that seems lowly
spiritual task is to complete the process
and secular.
of drawing down the Shechinah
The charge to cultivate a dirah bemoreover, the essence of the Shechinah

Previous generations of yeshiva students were

taught to stay in the Beit Midrash because
the Shechina was still in the seven heavens.
However, in order for our generation to
complete its mission, the Rebbe felt that
we must begin to see the entire world in
the messianic light. Now is the time to take
the spiritual energies amassed in previous
generations to go everywhere from secular
college campuses to Katmandu in order
to demonstrate that even such places are a
wellspring of divinity.
11

tachtonim engendered a conscious

revolution in many poles of religious
thought and practice.18 Focusing on
the tachtonim created an inverse
hierarchy in which items, activities
and places that were previously
considered more overtly spiritual
became secondary to specifically the
more physical and seemingly secular.
The example that is relevant for our
discussion is the changed perspective
on how the world outside of the
four cubits of halacha should be
perceived.
If previous generations of yeshiva
students were taught to stay in the
Beit Midrash, far from the dangers of
the outside world, this was because
the Shechina was still in the seven
heavens. However, in order for our
generation to complete its mission,
the Rebbe felt that we must begin to
see the entire world in the messianic
light as Hashems garden and
home.19 Therefore, now is the time to
take the spiritual energies amassed in
previous generations to go everywhere
from secular college campuses to
Katmandu in order to demonstrate
that even such places are, in truth, a
wellspring of divinity.20
The Rebbes Temporary/
Permanent Sukkah
With this background, let us briefly
look at the Rebbes conception of the
sukkah as a temporary dwelling.21
While he shared Rav Yehonatan
Eibeschitzs sukkah-world analogy,
his take away message had a different
spin. The Rebbe noted that in light
of our ruling that the structure of the
sukkah is temporary, it is striking
that we find the exact opposite
language regarding how we are
supposed to behave in the sukkah.
The Mishna22 says that all seven days

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series Sukkot 5777

a person should make his sukkah

permanent (keva) and his house
temporary (arai), and Rashi explains
that ones main place of living for the
duration of Sukkot should be the
sukkah. This idea is underscored by
the Talmud Yerushalmis source for
this halakha:

of our world solely in terms of what

our eyes currently perceive. If we
understand the notion of Hashem
being revealed through each and every
aspect of this world and the mission
of creating a dirah be-tachtonim, then
we must begin to live our lives in a
permanent fashion. Every action
. and interaction in all four corners
. of the world can help reveal the true
divine nature of reality.
It is written: In sukkot you shall sit
(teishvu) and the phrase you shall sit This idea is applicable to the full
means nothing other than you shall
gamut of human experience. Even
dwell. As you must say [of this verse
a simple and temporary hut that is
concerning the settling of Eretz Yisrael]:
comprised of the leftovers of the
You shall possess it and you shall dwell
granary and harvest can become
in it (ve-ye-shavtem bah) (Devarim
a home for the Shechina.25 Being
23
11:31).
honest in business and mentioning
Gods name to colleagues helps
The dwelling in the Land of Israel
build the equivalent of the mishkan
certainly has a permanent aspect to
in the office.26 Helping a single not
it as that is where the Jewish people
will live for all of eternity. So while the yet observant Jew put on tefillin in
Alaska lets Hashem crack through
sukkah is structurally temporary, life
the surface of reality in yet another
should be lived there in a permanent
location. Fighting poverty in America
fashion.24
while inspiring the American public
The Rebbe said that the same
to lead moral lives filled with biblical
dichotomy is true of the world
values can reveal God in non-Jewish
around us. The world as we see it is
society in heretofore unimaginable
truly a transient place of little value,
proportions.27 These activities as
not worth our time and attention.
well as every other activity in our
But this is only accurate if we think
lives are all part of creating a dirah

12

be-tachtonim, the ultimate permanent

(keva) home.
Conclusion
While the Rebbe and his generation
were ultimately unsuccessful in
completing the dirah be-tachtonim, on
the 28th of Nissan 5751, less than a
year before his debilitating stroke, he
left marching orders for his followers:




.

...
.
What more can I to do to motivate the
entire Jewish people to clamor and cry
out, and thus actually bring about the
coming ofMashiach?All that has been
done until now has been to no avail. For
we are still in exile; moreover, we are
in an inner exile in regard to our own
service of God. All that I can possibly do
is to give the matter over to you . . . I have
done whatever I can; from now on, you
must do whatever you can.28
May we merit to complete this
mission.

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Endnotes
1 For a beautiful description of these two
poles, see the article of mori ve-rabbi Rabbi
Michael Rosensweig, Mesorah as a Halachic
Source and Sensibility printed in the
summer 2011 edition of Jewish Action. It is
available at https://www.ou.org/jewish_
action/05/2011/mesorah_as_halachic_
source_and_sensibility/
2 For a record regarding the Rebbes
profound scholarship, see Nechemia Polen,
The Rebbe: Life and Afterlife of Menachem
Mendel Schneerson by Samuel C. Heilman
and Menachem M. Friedman (review)
Modern Judaism 34:1 (2014), 127-129.
3 This adjective is taken from the writings
of Rav Feital Levin, one of the select cadre
charged with transcribing the Rebbes oral
discourses. In his book Heaven on Earth:
Reflections on the Theology of the Lubavitcher
Rebbe, Rabbi Menahem M. Schneerson
(Kehot, 2002), a summary of the Rebbes
comprehensive and consistent theological
system, Rav Levin writes the following in
his forward: It appears justified to maintain,
as this book does, that the general thrust of
the Rebbes theology, whilst firmly rooted
in classic Chasidic teachings, is strikingly
innovative. Indeed, even those relevant
perceptions that were expressed previously
are no longer isolated thoughts, but are
now incorporated into a total system. It is
important to note that Rav Levin reports that
the Rebbe read and edited this book before
approving it for publication, making it an
authoritative primary source for the Rebbes
philosophy.
4 Sukkah 2a and 7b.
5 Yaarot Devash, Derush 6 (Or HaSeifer,
1983), pg. 134.
6 See Shalmei Todah on Sukkot, pg. 20-22
that similar ideas were expressed by the
Chida, Gra, Kli Yakar and Rabbeinu Yonah.
7 Tanya, Likkutei Amarim, chapter 20-22
and the opening chapters of Shaar ha-Yichud
ve-haEmunah. A good illustration of this idea

is a story regarding the Alter Rebbe on his

deathbed (recorded at (www.likkuteitorah.
com/Tzav--for%20interim%20web%20
posting.htm):
...there is a well-known story relating that,
on his deathbed, the Alter Rebbe gestured
toward the ceiling and asked his grandson and
eventual successor, the Tzemach Tzedek, what
he saw there. I see wooden beams, replied
the Tzemach Tzedek. I see only Godliness,
his grandfather said.
8 Nefesh HaChaim 3:3,6.
9 See, for example, Tanya, Likutei Amarim,
chapter 33.
10 Torah Or, Parshat Noach, 11a. Translation
from Rachel Elior, The Paradoxical Ascent
to God: The Kabbalistic Theosophy of Habad
Hasidism, trans. Jefferey Green, (SUNY Press,
1992), 144. See there for a broader analysis of
this contemplative process.
11 Rachel Elior, The Paradoxical Ascent to
God, 131-138.
12 See, Tanya, Likutei Amarim chapter 41,
52. For a clear explanation of the matter
see Nissan Mindel, Rabbi Schneur Zalman
Volume 2: The Philosophy of Chabad (Kehot
Publication Society, 1974), 124-125.
13 Tanya, Likutei Amarim, chapter 36-37;
Liuktei Torah, Drushim le-Rosh ha-Shanah,
61a. For more sources and an analysis see Dov
Schwartz, Mahshevet Habad (University of
Bar Ilan Press, 2010), 118-119.
14 Tanya, Likutei Amaraim, chapter 36.
15 Midrash Rabbah, Shir ha-Shirim 5:5
16 Bati LeGani 5711, end of chapter 3.
English translation is from http://www.
chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/
aid/115098/jewish/Basi-Legani-5711Chapter-3.htm.
17 Halakhic Man, 61. This is Rav
Soloveitchiks description of the Alter Rebbes
explanation of the shofars sound. While for
Rav Soloveitchik the chassid (homo religiosus)
stands as a foil to halakhic man, the Rebbes
articulation of the final stages of Chassidut

brings them much closer together. This is

highlighted by the fact that Rav Soloveitchik
quotes the midrash of Ikar Shechina betachtonim as a source for halakhic mans thisworldly orientation (Halakhic Man, pg. 55)
the same midrash that the Rebbe made into
the cornerstone of his philosophy.
18 See Levin, Heaven on Earth, 6-27; Alon
Dahan, Goel Aharon: Mishnato ha-Meshihit
shel R. Menahem Mendel Schneerson (Contento
de Semrik, 2014), 38-62 for a summary.
Dahans book is based on his dissertation,
Dirah be-Tahtonim: Mishnato ha-Meshihit shel
R. Menahem Mendel Schneerson, (submitted
as a doctoral dissertation, Hebrew University
Press, 2006).
19 For a beautiful articulation of the Rebbes
positive view of our world in light of these
ideas, see his emphatic address from January
26 (10th of Shevat) 1972, available at http://
www.chabad.org/therebbe/livingtorah/
player_cdo/aid/253998/jewish/Its-aBeautiful-World.htm.
20 See, for example, Likutei Sichot volume
33, pg. 275; Inyanah shel Torat ha-Chasidut,
chapter 21; Rav Levin, Heaven on Earth, 128138.
21 See, Likkutei Sichot volume 9, pg. 91; Torat
Menachem 5713 volume 1, pg. 24.
22 Sukkah 28b.
23 Yerushalmi Sukkah 3:9. Translation is from
the Schottenstein Edition.
24 This dichotomy is sharpened according
to the approach of Rav Michael Rosensweig,
BeInyan Mitzvat Sukkah (Beit Yitzhak 30)
285-297, that the cheftza of the sukkah itself
needs to be treated as a keva home despite its
temporary structure.
25 See Torat Menachem cited above.
26 Torat Menachem 5750 volume 4, pg. 192.
27 See, for example, http://www.chabad.org/
therebbe/article_cdo/aid/558041/jewish/
Turning-Disappointment-into-Food-for-theHungry.htm.
28 Torat Menachem 5751 volume 3, pg. 119.

Find more shiurim and articles from Rabbi Yosef Bronstein at

http://www.yutorah.org/Rabbi-Yosef-Bronstein
13

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series Sukkot 5777