Succos - Yes But Do You Still Love Me? The Embrace of the Sukkah After Yom Kippur

3:05 Chaver, when Mashiach finally comes, when this process that's been happening since the very first moments of creation culminates Let's remember the Talmud Mashiach that we were here davening for him in this period of Sukkos Which is the period of Harachamunu, Yakamunu, and Sukkos davenanayfalus. The sukkah of David Melchizedek Mashiach, David Melchizedek's palace, the Beis Hamikdash It's in a state right now where it's not revealed; it's in a fallen state. But we came together to daven in his city To daven for his palace That Beis Hashem it should be rebuilt. I think sometimes Yidden think that we're getting together to sing To share words of Taira. We don't realize that every word of Taira and every song. It's all tefillah. It's all davening. And every single tefillah, at its core It's really just yearning for Mashiach to come. It's yearning for Hashem to be revealed in this world.

4:07 And tonight is not just dama f'abrenin As we're sitting here on erev Sukkot We should just remember to be a little intentional. That tonight we're here to daven for Mashiach. I want to share with you an amazing Vilna Gaon. Many of you may be aware of this gra. It's an amazing gra. The gra asks the Kasha, well-known Kasha that many ask. We know that in many places it's written that the sukkah is an expression of the Ananei Akva that we had when we were in the Midbar. Rambam writes in Derech Hashem BeFerish, but in many places. It's known that the sukkah that we're sitting in is really just the ananei akavod. So the girl asked the kashif, "If that's the case Then Sukkot should be Pesach time. It should be in the spring. After we left Mitzrayim and we entered into the ananei akavod. There should have been a yomtiv. Maybe it should have been on Shavuos time.

5:11 Maybe after Shavuos a little bit Where we celebrated the ananei akavod. It's unusual. It's almost It feels a little random. To have Sukkot right after Yom Kippur. And the Gra answers very beautifully that we're not celebrating Stam the Ananei Akvod But after Klal Yisrael sinned by the Chet HaEgel The Ananei Akvod withdrew. And what we're here commemorating and celebrating on Sukkot is the renewal. Of the Ananei Akvod Not the Stamen Ananei Akvod. Not every miracle that Hakadosh Baruch Hu does for us gets a yomtiv. But the nace that the Ananei Akvod came back after that first Yom Kippur That's the Ananei Akvod that we're celebrating. And if that's the case, then there's an obvious kasha on the draw. Why? Why do we commemorate the Ananei Akvod? Of post Yom Kippur, after we were forgiven, why do we celebrate those Ananei Akvod and not the original Ananei Akvod?

6:23 After all The original Ananei Akvod were the Ananei Akvod that were given to us in our state of being pristine. Before anything went wrong in the relationship. Why would we celebrate the Ananei Akvod that, in a certain way, remind us of the Chet HaEgel Especially after we were so careful? On Yom Kippur, do not do anything that would remind Hakadosh Baruch Hu of the Chet HaEgel. Chaver, I want to share with you a hergish that I had. You're young. I don't know that there's any married chaver in the crowd tonight. But I want to share with you something that happens in marriage. And it's normal And it's healthy. A couple begins their marriage. In a state where everything is beautiful. There's a honeymoon period. The honeymoon period lasts for a certain amount of time. And then a couple has their first machleikas Their first vikuach Their first argument, the first feeling that things are not going to be perfect in the relationship.

7:35 And the couple finds their way back to each other. It's normal. They have that awkward conversation. They apologize to each other. But even after the apology And even after each one took ownership over their part in the relationship There's something a little bit awkward in the relationship. There's something a little bit tense. It's how we sit down to dinner after our first fight. How do we get back into the rhythm of our relationship? Every relationship has a rhythm to it. Every relationship has a cadence to it. How do we get back after we've fallen? We said our apologies. We forgave each other. But there's a question at the core of our forgiveness. We forgave each other, but how do we start again? The avodah of starting again is the hardest thing in the world. Anyone who's ever been in this moment with a friend knows that there's a moment, an opportunity to sit down and have that first awkward meal.

8:46 To have the first five minutes of that awkward conversation The first walk that we took with each other, where it was just natural and we got back to being with each other in just the way that it always was. And there's something exceptionally precious about a moment like that. Because in that moment, what you learn is not only that you're forgivable. To forgive someone is not so hard. We've all forgiven people in our lives. We've all had moments where we told people, "it was an accident. It was a mistake." But then, if we're being honest, many of us have had moments where After the forgiveness, the relationship was in a state of disrepair, and we weren't able to come back to each other, and the relationship became more distant. We forgave each other. We just didn't know how to start again. We didn't know how to move past the pain in a way that allowed us to have a normal conversation, take a walk, or sit down.

9:45 We didn't know how to do it, so the relationship memela. As much as we forgave each other, we went to our separate corners. The Rebbeinu Sholom says to us, "Chavra" I forgave you on Yom Kippur. Total kapara. Everything is back the way it was. The Rebbeinu Sholom says, "I took away any stain." The question is not whether the Rebbeinu Sholom forgives us. That's for sure. The Rebbeinu Sholom forgave us a hundred percent. The Rebbeinu Sholom is a father who's obsessed with his children. When your parents, you're going to learn. A father would do anything for his kids. There's nothing that a father wouldn't forgive if it meant having a relationship with his child. But there's an awkward moment at the end of Yom Kippur. The reality is we might still be holding on to our averas. The Rebbeinu Sholom forgave us, but we might still be holding on, not in the sense that we don't believe in Hakadosh Baruch Hu's ability to be meichel us.

10:43 We're holding on in the sense I don't know how to have that first shachris. I don't know how to open up that block tomorrow with a feeling of tahara because I felt dirty for so long. And the vaydu of Yom Kippur is to feel innocent, and I do in a certain way. I do feel innocent. I know the Rebbeinu Sholom has forgiven me. But to start again. To come to Hakadosh Baruch Hu's house, to sit with him To be mitayel in the sukkah To eat, to drink, to sleep, to live with the Rebbeinu Sholom. That's much, much, much harder than to believe in Hakadosh Baruch Hu's forgiveness. To pick the relationship back up is the hardest thing in the world. The beauty of sukkahs is that the Rebbeinu Sholom says, "Let's have that first awkward conversation." And don't worry The Rebbeinu Sholom says your family Family can always find its way back to each other.

11:42 Family could find its way back to each other because there is nothing more precious than family, and nothing more painful than when family fights. That's why we have the Yushpizen with us in the sukkah. Yushpizen don't randomly come to the sukkah. They come when family gets together. The Rebbeinu Sholom is saying, 'You're not in the sukkah alone. Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov—everybody's in the sukkah together.' It's our sukkah, the Rebbeinu Sholom says. I want to share with you a ma'isa. Could be some of you heard this ma'isa before, but if you haven't heard this ma'isa, it's not just a ma'isa. It's a perspective. It's a worldview. It's a hashkafa. It's a lifestyle. There was a big tzaddik who lived in Yerushalayim many years ago. His name was Rav aryeh levine, zeichet zadik vekadosh levrachah. If you haven't had the opportunity to read the book about Rav Aryeh Levine, a Zadik in our time, it's required reading.

12:40 Every single Yid is obligated to learn Chumash, Nach, Mishnayis, Halacha and Gemara. Every Yid is obligated to read this book about Rav Aryeh Levine. It's an unbelievable sefer. There's a Meisa with Rav Aryeh Levine that there was a boy in his neighborhood who started to wander from classic observance. At some point, he took off his yarmulke and was walking in the streets of Yerushalayim. And he saw Rav Arye Levine And Rav Arye Levine was walking towards him. This kid He grew up in Rav Arye Levine's community. Rav Arye Levine was at his bris. Rav Arye Levine was at his bar mitzvah and he was unbelievably embarrassed to see the tzaddik. Without a yarmulke, he was unbelievably embarrassed, and so he attempted to hide from the tzaddik. And he quickly started to walk away. Avi Leibin saw him and started walking after him. He wanted to say shalom aleichem. The kid started going faster, and Avi Leibin started running, and finally he caught up to him.

13:45 And he said to the kid that I hurt you in some way. Said that I hurt you. I'm so sorry. You were running away from me. If I did something wrong, please give me the opportunity to apologize. Because Rav Aryeh Levine couldn't imagine why this child would run away from him And this kid looked at Rav Aryeh Levine and he said, "No, Chas Sholom, Rebbe, you didn't do anything to hurt me." Rav Aryeh Levine was a very gentle person. He said, "Rebbe, I was running away because I was embarrassed for you to see me without a kippa. I was embarrassed for you to see me without a yarmulke." Rav Aryeh Levine smiled at him, a sad smile, and he looked at him. He said, "I'm not very tall." Rav Aryeh Levin was physically very short. Spiritually, he was a giant, but physically, he was very short. And Rav Aryeh Levin looked at this boy and he said I'm a very short person. I'm not tall enough to see what's on top of your head.

14:38 But I'm just the right size to see what's going on in your heart. There are some yidden that are running away. They're running away from us. They're running away because they don't want us to see them. They're running away because they're embarrassed. They're running away because I don't want you to see me being a human being. I don't want you to see me doing this avera. And they're running away because they're afraid of the way we might see them. They're running away because they think we're looking at their yarmulke. And family is not looking at yarmulkas And the Rebbeinu Sholom is not looking at our yarmulkas. The Rebbeinu Shalom cares deeply about every single mitzvah because that's how we participate in the relationship. But the rules of the relationship are never more important than the people that participate in the relationship. And yes, every one of us is a human being, and we stood on Yom Kippur and we said Chatosi Avisi Pashati, and Roshon the Rambam asisi kach v'kach.

15:42 We were mefarat. We were honest. We were authentic. We stood in front of the Rebbeinu Shlom and we said, "Yes, we're human beings. We're not wearing our yarmulkes." And the Rebbeinu Shlom is looking at us and going, 'I know you're not wearing your yarmulkes, but I'm just the right size to see into your hearts.' The Rebbeinu Shlom is looking at every one of us and he knows what's really in our hearts. And it's okay to be complex, and it's okay to be confused, and it's okay to feel complicated. It's okay to feel like I have a part of me sometimes that wants to go in this direction, in that direction, and sometimes I go to this place, and sometimes I end up in Eretz Yisrael, and I end up in a lot of different places in my life. And sometimes it's hard to remember who's the real you underneath all of the noise. But a yid has to remember that the way the Rebbeinu Sholom looks at us as he says, 'I know what's in your heart. Come home.'

16:32 Come home. Let's have that first awkward meal. Let's have that first conversation. Let's be accustomed to sitting with each other. That's the biggest avoda of a yid in this generation. The biggest avoda of a yid in this generation is not to sit there and beat yourself up over all the averes that you've done. The avoda of a yid is to know how to sit with the Rebbeinu Shlom and be honest. That's the hardest thing for a yid to do. And it starts with family. It starts the way we see each other. It starts the way that we look at each other when we're in the streets and when we're in the dorms and when we're in the beis medrash. There's a famous line in yeshivas that at this stage of your life A yid needs to be very careful about his eyes. He has to guard his eyes.

17:18 What does he have to guard his eyes from? He has to guard his eyes from looking at other people. He has to guard his eyes from looking at that guy who's finishing mesechtos and that guy who's davening for an hour and that guy who's being so machped on lashon hara. You have to guard your eyes. Stay in your lane. Do your thing. And it's for sure 100% true. But we also have to have our eyes wide open. We have to look at Yidden, we have to look at every other guy in Yeshiva, we have to look at every other Yidden in Klal Yisrael, and we have to see them as precious and beautiful. We have to see through all of the noise and see what's really going on in their hearts. We have to see them with compassion so that they may see themselves with compassion. So for yourself, you keep your eyes closed. You follow your path in Avodas Hashem. But for another Yidden, keep your eyes wide open.

18:07 And look at them with tenderness and kindness, because that's a voice they don't necessarily have access to within themselves. The sukkah fell. The sukkah fell not because the sukkah wasn't strong. The sukkah was strong enough. The sukkah fell because it stopped being a sukkah where every single yid was welcome. That's what the Gemara in Sukkah says. A sukkah is a place where every single yid is roy to sit in that sukkah. That's why we're able to sit in everybody else's sukkah. We can borrow each other's sukkahs because every sukkah belongs to every yid because every one of us belongs to each other. The sukkah doesn't fall because it's a diras haray. The sukkah falls because yidden weren't sitting together in the sukkah. And if we're here in the churva of Yerushalayim and we're attempting to bemakim the sukkah staven hanayfalis. Then this year's Sukkah has to be different. It can't be the same Sukkah that we ever sat in. It has to be a new Sukkah. It has to be a post-Yom Kippur Sukkah.

19:13 The Gra teaches us the most unbelievable mussar in the world. The Ananei Akvod that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us when we left Mitzrayim. It was the Ananei Akvod of 'You're my precious children. I want to protect you in the Midbar.' But the Ananei Akvod that He gave us after the Chet Egal was. You did the single worst avera in the world, and I still want you in my home, and I still want to envelop you in the hug of the sukkah. Smoyloy tachas leroyshi, the yemini tchabkani. Now the Rebbe says that the yemini tchabkani means that the Rebbeinu Shlom is giving us a hug with his hand. The sukkah is the Rebbeinu Shlom's hand. One sukkah, two sukkah, three sukkah. The three walls of the sukkah are represented by the three aspects of a person's arm. The Rebbeinu Shlom is giving us the biggest hug in the world. He's saying, please, yidden, come back. And if the Rebbeinu Sholom is saying that to us, then it's our responsibility to turn our sukkah into a hug.

20:04 And to only look at each other in a way that's the eyes of David HaMelech is Yafei Naim. The Alexander Rebbe says it doesn't mean that he had blue eyes; it means he had beautiful eyes. He knew how to see Yidden. That was the gift of David HaMelech's mashiach, as he knows how to see us. My bracha for all of us As we sit here moments away from sukkahs Is that we should be zeicheh. To sit together in the sukkah All types of yidden—svardim and Ashkenazim, Mizrachdim, Litvaks, Chassidim, Dati Lumi, Charedi—doesn't matter where you find yourself politically. A yid is a yid, and we have to learn to sit in the same sukkah. We have to learn to sit at the same tish. And maybe we'll have the awkward conversations. Maybe we'll talk about the things that bother us about the way that we're showing up in the world, but we can have those conversations because we love each other so much. And if we can do that, because we're echoing the love that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has for every single yid Then Blessed Hashem, this year The Kar of Mamish, we're going to be zayecha to sit in the sukkah of David Malchus and Meshichu.