David’s Fallen Sukkah
17 Tishrei 5772 / 15 October 2011
Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg
Harachaman hu yakim lanu et sukkat David hanofelet (from Birkat Hamazon)
Long ago, primeval waters covered the whole world. There were waters upon waters. Still, God poured more waters into them, even after they were full – He pressed down upon them and made them gather into one great sea, known as Okeanos. The great sea stands on the Lower Waters. And the Lower Waters stand on the shore of the Waters of Ocean, and appear as but a small well there. And the Waters of Ocean stand on the shore of the Waters of Creation. And the Waters of Creation stand on the shore of the Weeping Waters. And the Weeping Waters stand on the shore of the Abyss. And the Abyss stands ontohu, chaos, and tohustands on vohu, void. And all of this is suspended from the arm of God (Schwartz, The Mythology of Judaism, p. 103, based on Ber. Rab. 13:6 ).
And amidst the swirling of seas, nestled beneath the Lower Waters, lies Leviathan whose fins support the Great Sea. And it appears to us that Leviathan is but a small fish in that sea – but a small fish, he is not (Bava Batra 74–75).
Harachaman hu yakim lanu et sukkat David hanofelet
Rabbah said in the name of R. Yohanan: The Holy One of Blessing will, in the future, make a banquet for the righteous from the flesh of Leviathan. And the righteous, too, will sit in a sukkah made from the skin of Leviathan. As it is said (Bava Batra 74-75):
sukkot?”(Job 40:31)
But some are not worthy to receive a personalized Leviathan sukkah. Nonetheless, God is great and even the less righteous will not be sent away empty-handed. One may yet merit to take home a lovely Leviathan hat, or a necklace, or perhaps a keychain.
And when all have received their due,the remainder of the skin will be spread, by the Kadosh Baruch Hu, upon the very walls of Yerushalayim, andthe splendor from this great sukkah will shine from one end of the world to the other (Bava Batra 74b–75a).
Harachaman hu yakim lanu et sukkat David hanofelet
On Sukkot, our ancestors would make pilgrimage from distant cities and far-off lands to the great city of Jerusalem. There, as on Pesach and Shavuot, they would ascend to the Temple mount and the entire community would offer its prayers and sacrifices (98 lambs and 70 bullocks) to the Holy One. They would carry with them the arbah minim, the four species:lulav, hadas, aravah, and etrog and they would shout in exultation and joy, on this day of greatest gladness.
“And you shall rejoice in your festival … and you shall be oh so joyous!” (Deut. 16:14–15)
And they would return from the days of rejoicing and they would dwell in sukkot, making feast with their families and friends and enjoying the night air until sleep took them. Each new day would bring prayer, study, song and dance – the whimsical play of adults who have left fine dining rooms and rediscovered their romantic fascination with the fort or the treehouse.
Meanwhile, as the kabbalists say, “as above, so below.” And as below the simcha of Sukkot carries on, God, too, has a full day in store. The Holy One spends the morning studying Torah. The next three hours are spent feeding all of creation from the greatest beasts to the most irritating flea. The third portion of the day, the Almighty is occupied with judging the world, oscillating between the seats of din and rachamim, judgment and mercy, and doling out compassion even when the stricter seat is called for. And finally, God spends the waning hours of the afternoon playing with Leviathan (Avodah Zara 3b) For we are told:
“Leviathan, whom you formed to play with” (Ps. 104:26).
Harachaman hu yakim lanu et sukkat David hanofelet
Leviathan, the great sea monster, who along with the mythical creatures Behemoth and Ziz, is testament to God’s might. When Job cannot understand the world, pain, loss, confusion and despair, the Holy One speaks out of the tempest:
Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations? (38:4)
Who closed the sea behind doors when it gushed forth out of the womb? (38:8)
Can you hunt prey for the lion? (38:39)
Do you give the horse his strength? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? (39:15)
Can you draw out Leviathan by a fishhook? Can you press down his tongue by a rope…
Will you play with him like a bird? … (40:29)
And Job, at last, understands that the world is too complex for his comprehension. God can play, even, with the fiercest of beasts, and he knows not, even, that creature whose fins support the Lower Waters. And when Job understands this, he is rewarded, redeemed – all hubris forgiven.
What is the nature of play?
When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, the midrash teaches that they possessed scrolls that promised of the coming redemption. They played with these scrolls, regaling their children, hoping in darkness for the possibility of a better world (Shemot Rabbah 5:23). Was it the content of the scrolls or the fact that they played with them?
As above, so below.… Can play be redemptive?
Why do children love Sukkot? Is it the tangible, tactile, auditory, olfactory, fascination with yellow and every shade of green? Is it the chance to sing and dance, to march cheerfully around the room in gleeful procession? Is it the scent of warm food wafting through plastic, wood and metal, across property lines. The cool night air. Guests made to feel welcome in the autumn chill of God’s backyard? And when we play with our children, do we reminisce about our little hideaways – castles made of mattresses and blankets, treehouses, snow forts to protect us from the wind and perilous attack?
When we play in the Sukkah with our sisters and uncles and parents and friends, do we begin to understand the nature of the book in which we pleaded so hard for our names to be inscribed?
“On that day, I will set up again the fallen sukkah of David…” (Amos 9:11)
Harachaman hu yakim lanu et sukkat David hanofelet
David, whose descendants held the crown of Judah. David, whoses on Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem. David, whom God loved and whose many-times great grandchild is meant to redeem our fractured world. David, who danced and sang and composed songs of joy and beauty before the Lord.
But redemption is process, not product, and just as we are always drawing nearer to God, we are always in the process of being redeemed.
V’samachta
b’chagecha (andyou
shall rejoice in
your festival) – our part
V’hayitah ach
sameach (and you
shall be oh
so joyous) – God’s
part
As above, so below.
When all the population is gathered together in the golden streets of Jerusalem in the messianic era, where will they stand? … God will add to Yerushalayim a thousand gardens, a thousand palaces, and a thousand mansions, until the future city is three times the size of the present one. Then the Holy One will enlarge Jerusalem until it rises to the heavens (Schwartz, The Mythology of Judaism, p. 511, based on Bava Batra 75b and Song of Songs Rabbah 7:5).
And across this monstrous circumference, the Masterof the World will stretch forth the skin of Leviathan, his plaything. This final redemptive sukkah shining bright across the firmament, the supernal light reaching even unto the ver yends of the earth.
Harachaman hu yakim lanu et sukkat David hanofelet