Commento su Levitico 23:43

כי בסכות הושבתי THAT I MADE [THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL] ABIDE IN BOOTHS — This does not mean literally “booths” but, “the clouds of Glory" by which they were sheltered (cf. Onkelos; Sifra, Emor, Chapter 17 11; Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:35:1; Sukkah 11b).

THAT I MADE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL TO ABIDE IN BOOTHS. “This means the clouds of Glory” [which surrounded the camp of the Israelites during their stay in the wilderness]. This is Rashi’s language. And in my opinion this is the correct interpretation [even] according to the literal sense of Scripture, for He commanded that the generations should know all the great deeds of the Eternal which He did wondrously with them, that He made them dwell in the clouds of His Glory like in a booth, similar to what is said, And the Eternal will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory shall be a canopy. And there shall be a ‘succah’ (pavilion) for a shadow in the day-time from the heat etc.⁴⁹³Isaiah 4:5-6. And since Scripture has already explained that the cloud of the Eternal was upon them by day⁴⁹⁴Exodus 40:38. and the pillar of fire by night,⁴⁹⁵Ibid., 13:22. He just says here, that I made the children of Israel to abide in booths, [without explaining what kind of booths, but meaning] “I made them booths out of the clouds of My Glory to protect them.” Thus He commanded that at the beginning of the summer season we are to remember the exodus from Egypt by [calling] its month [the first of the months],⁴⁹⁶See Ramban in Exodus 12:2 (Vol. II, pp. 16-7). and by observing its festival [of Passover], and He further commanded the remembrance of the continuous miracle which was done for them throughout the days of their stay in the wilderness, at the beginning of the winter season. And according to the opinion of the Sage who says⁴⁹⁷This is Rabbi Akiba (Succah 11 b).That the succoth were “clouds of Glory” [mentioned above] is the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer (ibid.). that they made themselves booths in the literal sense, [we must explain that the reason why this commandment is to be observed at the onset of the winter season], is because they began to make them at the beginning of the winter, on account of the cold, as is customary in camps, and therefore He commanded [that we also make] them at that time. The sense of the remembrance is that they should know and remember that they were in the wilderness, and did not live in homes, and they found no city of habitation⁴⁹⁸Psalms 107:4. for forty years, but G-d was with them and they lacked nothing.⁴⁹⁹See Deuteronomy 2:7.

אני ה' אלוקיכם, the meaning of the statement, repeated again and again, is that the reason that G’d requests these symbolic deeds from us is that by performing them we insure that He will not ever turn His benevolent eyes away from us.

למען ידעו דורותיכם, the plain meaning of the text is in agreement with the view expressed in Sukkah 11 according to which the word סוכה is to be understood literally. The meaning of the verse then would be: “construct for yourselves the festival of huts when you gather in your grain and grape harvest (Deuteronomy 16,13) You are to do this at the time you gather in the produce of the earth and your houses are filled with all the good things the earth produces such a grain, grape, wine and oil (olives). This is to be done in order that you will remember” כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל, in the desert for a period of 40 years when they neither owned land nor found themselves in a cultivated part of the earth. Remembering all this you will have ample reason to be grateful to the One Who has provided you with all of your present wealth and comfort. You must not fall into the trap of thinking that all this success is due to your own efforts. We find a similar thought expressed in Deuteronomy 8,2-3 “you shall remember all the way which the Lord your G’d has led you for these last 40 years…and He fed you the manna, etc.” Why do I command you to do all this? For the Lord your G’d brings you to a good …and you will eat and be satisfied, etc. As a result your heart may become haughty and you will credit yourself with all this as your own achievement. (Deuteronomy 8 7-18) In order that this will not happen and to show that the Israelites G’d’s part in their success they will move out of their solid houses as a reminder to the time when they had not been blessed with any of these benefits which they enjoy ever since inheriting the land of their forefathers. They acknowledge that it is G’d Who provides the Jewish people with the ability and valor.

כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל, “for I had made the Children of Israel dwell in huts, etc.” Rashi understands this verse as a reference to the clouds of glory that enveloped the Israelites during their march through the desert. Nachmanides writes that the reason why the Torah did not need to spell out what these huts were is that we have already been told of the phenomenon of the clouds of glory that enveloped the Israelites during almost the whole of their journey to the land of Canaan (until the death of Aaron). The meaning of the words is therefore quite clear. Concerning the opinion of some commentators that the word סוכות, huts, is to be understood literally, we must assume that at the beginning of the first winter in the desert the Israelites gathered materials that enabled them to construct these huts. Seeing that this had been so, G’d now commanded the Israelites to incorporate something they had made themselves but with the assistance of Hashem, Who had provided the building materials in the desert, to become part of their memorabilia. There are also some scholars who explain the reason why G’d saw fit to issue this command at this time, as if He had commanded this already in the summer, immediately after Moses received the Ten Commandments, fulfilling the commandment would have been viewed as self-interest, the sun being too hot, and shade being something urgently needed. Building huts at the time of autumn, approaching winter, and leaving more comfortable quarters in favour of a flimsy shelter, proved that the people who do this are motivated by one consideration only, i.e. to fulfill G’d’s commandment. Remembering the miracles G’d performed for the Israelites in the desert by moving into flimsy huts for a week is definitely a powerful means of identifying with our ancestors.

כי בסכות הושבתי את בני ישראל, “for I have let the Children of Israel dwell in huts, etc.” Some of our sages understand the word סכות literally, i.e. booths, huts, whereas others understand it allegorically, meaning that the protective clouds of G’d acted for them as if they were dwelling in secure huts. According to the view of those who understand the word literally we have to assume that the people constructed the huts for themselves (as they certainly did not take prefabricated huts with them out of Egypt). As a remembrance of the Israelites having dwelled in real huts the Torah would command us to re-enact history and build these huts for ourselves on the Sukkot festival. The message of the commandment would be to bring home to us the devotion of the Israelites to G’d seeing they had to travel for 40 years in the desert with their wives and children, erecting and dismantling their huts each time they journeyed, etc. This would also be what the prophet Yoel 2,20 had in mind when he described the condition of the desert as “a parched and desolate land;” the Torah (Numbers 20,5) speaks of the desert as “not a place fit for planting seed where either fig trees or grapevines could grow.” The prophet Jeremiah 2,31, quoting G’d asks the rhetorical question: “have I been like a desert to Israel or a land of deep gloom?” What the prophet meant was that G’d used the barrenness of the desert to remind the Israelites of how He had not allowed them to feel deprived by the fact that they were traversing such unfriendly territory. He had provided for them all the comforts of life which their natural habitat could not provide for them. If one accepts the view of the people who believe that the Israelites had dwelled in actual huts one must suppose that they had had regular commercial contact with traders from far off who had brought to them the various necessities of life including plants, etc.
If one accepts the view of the second group of sages that the Israelites’ “huts” consisted of these protective clouds of the Lord known as ענני הכבוד in our literature, the reason may be that the Israelites were described on occasion as traveling at night under the light and protection of the pillar of fire. According to Deut. 16,14 we must imagine the camps as surrounded on all sides by miraculous manifestations of the attribute of כבוד. It is most likely the correct meaning of our verse that the manifestations of G’d’s clouds and pillars are referred to here as “huts,” and that the word ‘huts’ is employed by the Torah to describe protective cover. The words: “when I took the Jewish people out of Egypt,” i.e. immediately, lends weight to the opinion that the word is used in an allegorical sense. This would be compatible with the words of Isaiah 4,5: “the Lord will create over the whole shrine and meeting place of Mount Zion a cloud by day and smoke with a glow of flaming fire by night. Indeed over all the glory shall be hung a canopy which will serve as a hut for shade by day and as a shelter for protection against drenching rain.” The “hut” the prophet speaks of is clearly reminiscent of the ענני כבוד and the kind of illumination for the righteous in the future. Concerning this development in the future David said in Psalms 27,5: “He will shelter me in His hut (סכה) on an evil day, etc.”

"So that they should know, etc." (Lev 23:43) In order that they will not despair from the good life since they do not have a holding of the inheritance or natural happiness. In any case, "they would know" from the mitzvah of Sukkah that it was given [to them] to remember their dwelling in Sukkot when [God] brought them out [of Egypt] (cf Lev 23:43)... And behold, "I am the Lord Your God" (Lev 23:43): Your Leader and Protector forever and there is nothing blocking from the One who is Blessed to bestow goodness and blessing even from those who don't hold an inheritance. And it is also important to understand the language of "the citizen."

So that your generations will know that in Sukkos. The clouds of glory began to appear above the people of Israel in Sukkos, as it says (Shemos 12:37): “The children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Sukkos.” In the Mechilta (12), Rabbi Akiva says: “Sukkos refers solely to the clouds of glory.” It seems that this is why Scripture wrote בסכות with the ו (מלא — full spelling); it teaches us about the place where the clouds of glory first appeared, for the name of the place is always spelled in the full form with the ו — סכות. This is why the cantillation mark over the words כי בסכות is a רביעי, which is a stop, even though it might have been more appropriate to use a מהפך to connect the phrase “that in the sukkos” with the phrase “I caused Bnei Yisroel to dwell” [if it were referring to the booths and not the place]. The commentaries discuss why we were commanded on the 15th of the seventh month, which is the beginning of the cold, rainy season, to leave our permanent dwelling places and stay in a temporary abode. This teaches us that Hashem intended that each Jew should recognize that the honor of his lofty spiritual soul is above the heavens. Its permanent dwelling place is there, and it only came into this world to have a temporary dwelling. The phrase “so that your generations will know” fits well with this explanation, because according to the other explanations it should have said, “so your generations will remember.” The Vilna Gaon answers the question raised by commentators: Why do we celebrate Sukkos in Tishrei? Since it corresponds to the clouds of glory it should be celebrated in Nissan when they were given! The answer is that after they made the Golden Calf the clouds of glory departed, and the clouds returned on the morrow of Yom Kippur, when “Moshe called the whole community of the children of Israel to assemble” (Shemos 35:1). That is why we celebrate Sukkos on the 15th of Tishrei.