Succos - 003 The Deeper Reality

Motzei Yom Kippur – The Rectification of Adam’s Sin

The Sages state in the Midrash that on Motzei Yom Kippur, after Hashem has forgiven the Jewish people from sin, a Heavenly voice calls out, “Go eat, in joy, your bread, for Hashem has already desired your deeds” - for your prayers have been heard.”[1]

A deeper understanding of these words of the Midrash is that Motzei Yom Kippur is the time where the sin of Adam is atoned. Adam sinned with eating from the Eitz HaDa’as (the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil), where he was told “do not eat”, and on Motzei Yom Kippur, Hashem commands us specifically to eat, which hints to us that not only has Hashem forgiven us for our current sins, but He has forgiven us even for the primordial sin of Creation, the root of all sin. Thus, the fasting and prayer on Yom Kippur rectifies the sin of eating from the Eitz HaDa’as.

The sin of Adam damaged the entire fabric of Creation, including the very psyche of man. Ever since the first sin, which involved eating from the Eitz HaDa’as, man’s own power of da’as [the mental and cerebral faculties; the mind] have become distorted, to the point that sometimes he has da’as and sometimes he does not have da’as.

Da’as Is a Levush\Garment

It would seem that this was a punishment given to mankind. But the deeper way to understand it is that it is the key to rectifying the sin. As the Sages state, “From the wound itself comes the recovery.”[2]

Da’as is only needed in order to combine the mental faculties of chochmah and binah. But when there is no need for this union of the mental faculties, there is no need for da’as. In the more inner dimension of Creation, da’as is not the intrinsic essence of man. It is but a levush - a “garment”.

If da’as would be the essence of man’s soul, it would never fluctuate and change. But because da’as can change – as we see from the fact that there are times where man has da’as and times where he loses his da’as – it must be that da’as is not the essence of a person.

The sin with eating from the Eitz HaDa’as was about da’as. Adam thought da’as was his reality, and he thought that reality is entirely a pursuit of knowledge, of da’as. This perspective was what led him to partake of the Eitz HaDa’as. The way that Adam’s sin is rectified is through revealing the perspective that da’as is not the essence of reality. Da’as is subject to changes, thus it is only regarded as a “garment” (levush) and not as something intrinsic.

The sin of Adam was essentially caused by the fact that Adam thought of da’as as the intrinsic and ever-constant reality. The way that the sin is rectified is when man perceives da’as as being nothing but a garment, and not as an intrinsic point of reality. Garments are changed and removed; “the garment one dons in the morning is not the garment one dons at night.”[3] When something is not intrinsic and it is rather a garment, it is not subject to change. The key to rectifying the sin of Adam is to reveal the perspective that da’as is not the intrinsic reality; it is a garment.

This was the rectification of Adam’s sin: “Go eat your bread joyously, for Hashem is already satisfied with Your actions.” The words “go eat your bread” are saying that after Yom Kippur, a person can reveal this point: that da’as is a levush\garment, and not the intrinsic reality.

Sukkah – A Mitzvah That Depends on Da’as

Immediately after Yom Kippur, we build the sukkah. It is stated in Shulchan Aruch[4] that one should begin to build the sukkah on Motzei Yom Kippur. The simple understanding of this is so that we should immediately do a mitzvah after Yom Kippur so that we don’t lose the holiness we just gained. But the deeper meaning of this halachah is because the mitzvah of sukkah is given to us “So that the generations will know that in huts I settled the children of Israel”, and the Bach explains that the mitzvah of sukkah requires one to have da’as (awareness) to the reason of the mitzvah of sukkah.[5]

Whereas other mitzvos do not require one to know the reason for the mitzvah in order to fulfill the mitzvah, the mitzvah of sukkah requires one to be aware of its reason, according to the Bach. Thus, sukkah requires da’as. The mitzvah of sukkah is a mitzvah where da’as is an essential part of the mitzvah. When it comes to other mitzvos, even if is not aware of the reason for the mitzvah, he still fulfills the mitzvah, because he has still performed the will of Hashem; but with sukkah, one must have da’as – he must know the reason for sukkah, in order to fulfill this mitzvah.

Thus, the concept of “Go eat your bread joyously” on Motzei Yom Kippur, and the halachah of building the sukkah immediately after Yom Kippur, is the essence of Sukkos. It is based on the fact that there is a revelation of da’as immediately after Yom Kippur which ushers in Sukkos. “Go eat your bread” refers to the Torah, which is called “bread”.[6] In other words, “Go eat your bread” – go and connect to your da’as, for the spiritual light of “So that the generations will know” has begun to shine, a mitzvah which entails da’as; and this is the referring to the rectified kind of da’as.

The sukkah is a garment that envelopes the entire body. There are other[7] mitzvos as well which serve as garments, such as the garments of the Kohen, and tzitzis, and tefillin. But those garments only cover the person partially. Only the mitzvah of sukkah covers the entire body.

This “garment” is essentially the fact that sukkah is given to us “So that the generations will know”, which is the concept of da’as. Thus, da’as envelopes the entire person. From this we see that da’as is not the intrinsic essence of the person, and it is rather a garment that envelopes the person.

Thus, the mitzvah of sukkah reveals the holy and rectified kind of da’as.

Holy and Unholy Da’as

What is the deep way to understand the difference between the holy, rectified kind of daas, and the evil kind of daas?

Holy daas is when the daas reveals how the essence of reality is attachment with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. This inner essence of reality is not merely the “garment” over reality [but reality itself]. Hashem made for Himself ten “garments”,[8] and daas is the “garment”, so to speak, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu dons. By contrast, daas on the side of evil is when a person thinks that his “I” is his reality, and that his reality is his daas. When one perceives his daas as the definition of his reality, he thinks that his reality is defined by his daas, and this is evil daas.

When one clarifies that his daas is but a garment, this is the holy kind of daas. The mitzvah of sukkah, which reveals holy daas, “So that the generations will know”, is revealing how daas is the “garment” that envelopes the entire soul. For the truth is that daas envelopes everything; it is just not the actual essence of reality itself. Thus, daas is not everything there is to reality, in spite of the fact that it fills all of reality. It is rather the “garment” (levush) that surrounds everything.

This is the holy, rectified power of daas that is manifest on Motzei Yom Kippur. Of Motzei Yom Kippur, it is said, “Go eat your bread in joy” – which, on a deeper level, means to go “eat” of daas, and daas implies intimate connection; when there is intimate connection, there is daas. That is the holy kind of daas, and it is where the preparation for the festival of Succos begins.

The Essence of Man Is Integration With Hashem

Regarding the mitzvah to take the Four Species on Succos, the Torah writes, “And you shall take for yourselves, on the first day”. The Sages expound “the first day” to mean the first day of making an accounting for sin.”[9] This reveals the inner dimension where there is no sin.

If Yom Kippur could not help to fix the sin of Adam, and all it could do was to fix the sins of man on a private level, what is this “first day” of accounting for sin, being that the sin of Adam still continues to exist on Yom Kippur and on Motzei Yom Kippur? It must be, then, that it is because the light where there is no sin is allowed to shine, and therefore, from that deeper dimension, the sin of Adam has already been atoned. So the inner meaning of “And you shall take it for yourselves, on the first day” is that when there is the true “yourselves”, it can then be the first day of accounting for sin.

“Daas” is the “I” itself of the person. When a person thinks that his “I” is his reality, then he really perceives his own reality as a reality of sin [for within daas, it is possible to be tempted to sin]. One must know that his very reality is to be integrated (miskalel) in Hashem, and that’s it. “Daas” is a garment, and the “I” of a person is a “garment” of Hashem, so to speak, which Hashem clothes Himself in. But the reality itself [of the person] is not his “I”. The reality [of a person] is: the existential reality of Hashem! It is just that there is a “garment”, the “I”, which wraps around this reality; specifically, that “garment” is one’s daas.

The truth is, that the entire concept of “and take it for yourselves” can only exist because a person views his “I” as his very reality, and that is what places him in a realm of sin; hence it allows for “the first day” of accounting for sin….[10]

“Take It For Yourselves” – The Connection Between Action and Sin

Earlier, we explained that the succah is the concept of holy daas. Where does sin come in? [Why is Succos called the “first day” of accounting for sin”?]

It is because until Succos, there are no physical mitzvos to perform, so a person can connect to the reality of “Ain Od Milvado” (“there is nothing besides for Hashem”), the point where there is no reality of the “I” and where daas is just a garment. But when Succos arrives and there are now physical acts of mitzvos to perform, there is a certain test upon man, as follows.

Before the sin of Adam, the world of “action” was above the reach of impure forces, and after the sin, the world of “action” became lowered into the forces of impurity, until where it is today.[11] From Yom Kippur until Succos, the perception that“daas is a garment” is shining, but it does not reach the realm of “action”, so there are no mitzvos during those days to express this concept. When Succos arrives, where “you shall take it for yourselves”, there is “yourselves” – which is rooted in sin.

Thus there is a deep point contained in this verse of the Torah, “you shall take it for yourselves.” The verse is saying that the very reality of sin is called “yourselves” (lachem), and therefore, it is the “first day” to account for sin! The succah comes to rectify this, because the concept of succah is so that a person can reveal the inner dimension where there is no sin.

The Depth Behind The Custom of the Arizal To Shake Four Species In The Succah

It is well-known in the name of the Arizal that it is proper for a person to shake the four species in the succah.[12] There are several reasons to explain this, but with regards to our discussion here, it has to do with what we explained, that taking the four species for “yourselves” is really stemming from sin. In order to fix that sin, the four species should be taken in the succah.

In other words, one needs to reveal that the succah is but a “garment”. [By taking the four species in the succah, it shows that] “to take it for “yourselves” is not reflecting reality itself, but the “garment” of reality. When one perceives his “I”, or “yourselves” (lachem) as being the reality, that itself is sin. This very perspective was also behind the sin with the Eitz HaDaas, where man viewed daas, or his “I”, as reality.

But when one is aware that “for yourselves” is but a garment, and not reality itself, he reveals the perspective that reality is not one’s daas. By taking the four species [for “yourselves”] in the succah, one reveals that daas [which is the “I” and which is called “yourselves”] is but a garment, and not the reality itself.

Thus, before Succos, where there is no mitzvah to shake the four species, although it can also be revealed then that daas is but a garment, this point is not able to be shined into our own reality, and therefore during that time, there is no connection to sin. But when Succos arrives, this perspective is shined into our reality, which is the realm of action that has appeared after the sin; on one hand, it is the “first day” of “accounting for sin”, because it is within the realm of action after the sin, but on the other hand, the higher perspective is also shining during this time – the perspective that daas is but a garment.

The Depth Behind The Custom In Jerusalem of Old To Hold The Lulav The Entire Day

Along the above lines, we can explain the depth behind what the Gemara says that there was a custom in Jerusalem for the people to hold a lulav in their hands the entire day,[13] wherever they went, and at all times. Simply, this was out of endearment of the mitzvah. But the deeper understanding of this can be understood with a different approach, as follows.

The realm of action is represented by the hands [which perform action]. The custom in Jerusalem to take the lulav wherever one went was to show that the entire realm of action, which is represented by the hands, can be rectified through taking the lulav on Succos. The hands, which perform action, is precisely where we take the four species “for yourselves”. But when we take the four species in the succah, it is revealing the perspective that there is really no reality of “yourselves”, and no “hands.” Holding the lulav in their hands all day, at all times, was to show that the hands of man are “yourselves”, meaning that “yourselves” is only the external layer of man, and not the inner essence of man. The hands connect the physical body outward to the rest of the world.

When we understand that “yourselves” and the hands come from the same root, we can then perceive that daas is only the external reality, and it is not the actual reality of the person. The actual reality of a person is the fact that he is integrated with Hashem, and his “I” is but a garment over this reality. Thus, the “I” of a person is reflective of the hand.

By shaking the lulav in all six directions, it is to reveal the perspective that our reality itself is not daas. Rather, our very reality is to be integrated (miskalel) in Hashem. The concept of the Four Species, represented by the hands which take them, is but a garment of this reality, and not the reality itself. This was what the people of Jerusalem wanted to ingrain in their hearts, by holding the lulav in their hands the entire day.

Our Essence Is Above Thought

The halachah is that a mourner is prohibited from learning Torah.[14] The depth behind this is because Torah learning is a connection [to Hashem] through one’s [mental faculty of] daas. Of the daas contained in the Eitz HaDaas, it is written, “On the day you eat from it, you shall die”.[15] There is a rule, “From the wound itself, comes the recovery”, and therefore, daas is rectified when the mourner withholds from Torah study. That is also why on Tisha B’Av, when it is forbidden to learn Torah, Mashiach is born.[16] When daas becomes nullified, this is the light of the redemption, where the essence of reality is revealed.

When daas is nullified, it is not just a temporary absence of daas, but a revelation that daas is not the essence of reality. If it would be the essence of reality, it wouldn’t be able to become nullified. A mourner must nullify his daas, through withholding from Torah study. This reveals that daas is not reality, but a garment of reality.

When it becomes revealed that daas is not reality itself, but a garment of reality, this is how daas (represented by the sin of man with the Eitz HaDaas) is rectified. If daas would be reality itself, it would be endangering to the life of the mourner if he wouldn’t study Torah, and then Torah study would override the mourning. But since the laws of mourning override Torah study, it is a sign that daas is not the essence of reality itself – rather, it is a garment of reality.

The deeper root of the Torah is really above the plane of daas. This does not mean that there is a point where a person is severed from the Torah, chas v’shalom. There are always 613 mitzvos to keep. Rather, this deep point refers to a perspective where we view the Torah from a point above the daas contained in the Torah. In other words, a person needs to connect to the “light” of the Torah, to the “ayin” aspect of the Torah, which is above the realm of daas. That is the inner connection to Torah, above the external garment that is the way of daas.

There are three garments to the soul – action, speech, and thought. After the sin, the highest garment of the soul, which is thought, is perceived by man to be his very essence. But the truth is that thought is a garment of the soul, not the essence of the soul. The essence of the soul is integration (hiskalelus) in Hashem. That is the soul itself, and there are no “garments” of action, speech, or thought that can hold onto it.

Before the sin, man perceived his essence as an existence that was integrated with Hashem. After the sin, man began to perceive his power of thought as being his essence, failing to see it as a garment of the soul. But before the sin, Adam knew that thought, speech and action were but garments of the soul. Man’s inner task of self-rectification, then, is to perceive his power of thought as his external layer, and not attribute it as his very essence.

Silencing of the Thoughts

If a person cannot disconnect for a moment from his ability of thinking, it means that he perceives his thinking as his very essence. He remains on the level of after the sin, not only in the dimension of time, but also in the inner dimension, of his own soul.

But when one reaches the point of “And my soul is silent”[17] – when he can silence his thinking – he can then reach the point of connection to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. He can then integrate his existence with Hashem’s, for he has separated himself from the point after the sin, where a person perceived his daas as his very essence. When thought is silenced, it reveals how thought is not the actual essence of the soul of man, and it is but a garment of the soul.

As long as a person cannot separate from thought, he is in a personal exile. Only when he can separate from thought can he reveal how thought is not his actual essence. If thought would be the very essence of a person, then as soon as thought would be silenced, a person would die and cease to exist. But when a person reveals how he can remain existent even after he separates from his thoughts, he reveals new meaning to his reality. He reveals that his very reality, as a created being, is to be integrated into Hashem.

When Daas Is Nullified, “Ain Od Milvado” Is Revealed

This is the secret behind the statement of our Sages, “All of the festivals will cease in the future, except for Purim.”[18] This does not mean that the other festivals will no longer exist. Rather, they will turn into “garments” of reality, with the exception of Purim, for Purim is the revelation of the plane beyond daas. In that point, it is revealed that the essence of the soul is not thought.

This is also the depth behind intoxication on Purim, where “one is obligated to become inebriated on Purim until he does not know”[19] – the goal is to arrive at the point where one’s daas is nullified. When thought is nullified, the essence of reality is revealed – which is, “Ain Od Milvado” (there is nothing else other than Hashem).

As is well-known, the exile of Egypt was an exile of our daas, hence the redemption from Egypt was a redemption to our daas.[20] The redemption of daas is when there is a revelation that daas is but a garment, and it is not the essence. In the Egyptian exile, the people were in a state of katnus mochin (smallness of mind), and in the redemption from Egypt, they graduated to a state of gadlus mochin (expanded mind), an expansion of their daas, where they could reveal that their daas is only a garment.

How To Relate To Our Daas As A “Garment” And Not As Our Essence

If a person identifies his daas as his very essence, then when he is in a state of katnus mochin (smallness of mind), he will feel deficient, lost, and broken, for a part of his “I” is concealed from him. But when one recognizes that his daas does not define his essence, and he views daas as a garment, he can view his katnus mochin as nothing but a garment that is sometimes worn, and sometimes removed. Sometimes he will recognize that he is “wearing” katnus mochin, and sometimes he will be “wearing” gadlus mochin. But he is aware that his actual essence is not his daas.

As a result of this, a person will have a constant attachment to Hashem, in whatever state of mind he is in. His actual essence is integrated with Hashem, and only in the garments of his soul are there differing levels, which are disparate and not integrated with the reality of Hashem. But in the point of his very essence, he is never detached from Hashem.

This is the light that shines [on Succos]. “Go eat, in joy, your bread, for Hashem has already desired your deeds” means that there is a return to before the sin, to the essence of man, where daas is but a garment, and where man recognizes that his being is integrated with Hashem and taking hold of Him.

Returning To Our Essence

So, to conclude, the avodah of man, from the point of his inner essence, is to return the point of before the sin. Returning to before the sin means to return to a perception where the reality is nothing but Ain Od Milvado. Anything else is a garment that wraps around reality, and hence all of those garments are never consistent, just as garments are worn and removed.

When one perceives the reality in this way, he can never part from Hashem. Just as a person even after the sin cannot part from his own “I”, so can a person never part from being integrated with Hashem. One cannot part from this perspective, because it is reality itself, and we cannot part from reality.

After the sin, a person cannot run away from his own “I”, because he perceives his “I” to be his very reality. In the point before the sin, where a person was above his “I” and he viewed his “I” as nothing but a garment, he viewed the reality as nothing but Ain Od Milvado, integration with Hashem; where it is impossible to part from Hashem. Just as a part cannot separate from himself, so is it impossible for him to become separate from Hashem. This perspective is the light that is shined [on Succos].

Sleeping In The Succah: Integrating With Hashem

There is a halachah to sleep in the succah.[21] We may ask: Why is there a need to sleep in the succah? After all, the Torah says that the mitzvah of succah is “So that the generations will know” of the miracle of the Cloud of Glory protecting us in the desert, but when a person is asleep, he has no daas, so he has no awareness to the miracle. Therefore, why do we sleep in the succah?

There is an amazing insight here. When a person sleeps in the succah, it is a revelation of the point where there is no daas, because he has no daas while he is asleep. If he has no daas, he is miskalel (integrated) with Hashem. The succah becomes his very daas!

Sleeping in the succah is essentially that a person reveals how without daas, he is integrated with Hashem, and his entire daas is the succah; and that there is no other daas. By contrast, when a person is awake, the succah to him is an outer wrapping, which reveals a simpler revelation, that daas is but a garment. But when a person sleeps and his daas leaves him, his “I” is now the succah – and there is nothing else to his “I” more than this. The “I” of a person is his daas, so when his daas is removed, he becomes integrated with Hashem, and then his I becomes the succah.

In the same way that a person has daas and this is part of his “I”, that is how a person sleeps in the succah – meaning, the succah becomes the “garment” of his soul. Sleeping in the succah is thus the revelation of perceiving one’s daas as a garment; the succah becomes a garment of the soul. While asleep, a person’s essence becomes integrated with Hashem, and the succah becomes his garment.

The Happiness of Simchas Torah – Reaching Our True Essence

This light continues to shine until Simchas Torah [where it becomes complete]. What is the connection between Simchas Torah and Succos? Why does Simchas Torah come at the end of the days of Succos? Let us explore the depth of this.

Normally, we connect to the Torah through our daas. Through the pathway of daas, we receive the Torah. But on Succos, there is a point revealed where daas is seen as nothing but a garment, where a new path of connection to Torah is revealed. It reveals how we can connect to the Torah through a more inner point than daas.

That is what leads us to the great simchah (joy) that exists on Simchas Torah. The concept of simchah is when there is a clarification of what the reality of Torah truly is.

As long as a person remains on the level of after the sin and he relates to the Torah only through his daas, he is missing the inner point of connection to the Torah; he is missing the “light” that is the Torah. But through the rectifying light of Succos, a person can reveal how his daas is but a garment of his soul, and he can make the separation between his soul’s actual essence (his atzmiyus) and his soul’s garments (levushim); and, as a result, he can receive a new revelation of Torah. He can receive the “light” of the Torah, (which is also called the “ayin” aspect of the Torah).

And there is no greater simchah than this!

The Completion of The Torah – When We See How Our Comprehension In Torah Is Limited

This is why Simchas Torah is a celebration over the “completion of the Torah.” What does it mean to “complete” the Torah? When we understand that our comprehension of Torah is limited and it ends there, and we are aware that we have not yet grasped the actual essence of the Torah, this is exactly the simchah we can have over the Torah!

If we remain at the level of after the sin, we can only relate to the Torah through our daas, and our daas is limited. It is our “I”, and our “I” is narrowly confined. Our comprehension in Torah will then be limited to that level. But when we reveal the perspective that our understanding in Torah based on daas is but a garment of the Torah, and not the actual essence of the Torah, this is what can bring us great simchah, for it becomes revealed to us what the Torah truly is.

The joy on Simchas Torah is that we become truly aware of what the Torah is, and that our comprehension in it is limited. This is our “completion” of the Torah. It is when we realize that our comprehension in Torah, and the Torah itself, are separate from each other. Thus, the joy on Simchas Torah is not only about completing the Torah alone. It is because there is a revelation to us that our comprehension in Torah is the “completion” of Torah – our comprehension in Torah is limited, it has an end to it.

But to show that we do have a connection to the unlimited aspect of the Torah, we immediately begin the Torah anew. As soon as we finish reciting the final words of the Torah, “L’einei kol Yisrael”, we immediately recite the first word of the Torah, “Beraishis”. A new revelation of Torah becomes revealed to us.

Before completing the Torah on Simchas Torah, we thought that there is an end and completion to the Torah, and after Simchas Torah, a new point becomes revealed to us, whereby we see that there is no completion to the Torah. We show this by immediately starting the Torah anew, where we reveal that the Torah is really unlimited. That is the revelation of the “light” in the Torah.

Succos: The Revelation of Reality

When a person remains at the level where he views his “I” as his very essence, he is bound to limitations. But when a person is aware that his “I” is but a garment, and that his very essence is a being that is integrated with Hashem, he is grasping onto the Infinite (the Ein Sof).

Thus, the rectification that Succos provides is that it clarifies what the Torah truly is, its inner dimension, which is: Ain Od Milvado. At the same time, it shows us our own limited aspect. This is precisely the revelation on Simchas Torah, the completion of the Torah – where it is revealed that the end is a limitation, and a garment. At the same time, we return to the beginning, to reveal how the inner essence of the Torah is unlimited. That is the ultimate, completed level of comprehension we can reach.

This is what the Arizal meant when he writes that had Adam never sinned, everything would have been rectified on the first Shabbos.[22] Adam would have immediately become attached with Hashem, and he would have revealed that the “I” of man is but a garment, and that the actual reality is Ain Od Milvado. Now that we live after the sin, there is a need for us to have the days of Yomim Noraim, Succos, and Simchas Torah [in order to return to this deeper reality].

In Conclusion

To summarize and conclude, the purpose of all these days of Yomim Noraim, Succos, and Simchas Torah is to reveal that there is a reality of Ain Od Milvado, and that everything else is but a garment, which wraps around Hashem. The essence of a person [and reality] is Ain Od Milvado – an unlimited point, wrapped around by garments that are limited.

Awareness to this perspective is essentially a clarification of where each thing in Creation belongs, and there is no greater joy than this, which brings a person to the ultimate level of “simple attachment”[23] to Hashem.