Potchin bekavod achsanya - This is the first time I have ever been away from my family for Sukkot and I was very sad to leave them for yom tov. But thanks to the Rabbi and to your congregation for your hachnasot orchim - this is one sukkot I will never forget.
We are in the days of Sukkot and the question begs to be asked - why do we sit in a sukkah - why do we leave the comfort and warmth of our homes to sit in a rickety hut?
The torah tells us - basukot teshvu shivat yamim lemaan yedu dorotechem ki besukot hoshavti et benei yeisrael - You should sit in sukkot in order for all generations to remember that Hashem took us out of mitzraim in sukkot.
But what exactly are we commemorating? The gemara offers 2 opinions - The first opinion says that Sukkot represent the ananey hakavod - we know that when we left mitrayim there were six clouds - one on each side and top and bottom, plus one cloud leading us. The other opinion says no - we are commemorating Sukkot mamash - each family had their own Sukkot and we sit in Sukkot today to commemorate those Sukkot.
In either case - whether it is clouds or huts, we see that they provided very flimsy protection - so the real protection came from Hashem. So Sukkot is a commemoration of Hashem's protection.
But what exactly is a commemoration? The goyim have a concept of commemoration - Abraham Lincoln's birthday is Feb 12 and Washington's birthday is Feb 22, so they commemorate both with President's Day - which they make at a convenient time in between. Or Martin Luther King - Ish Tzaddik haya bedorotav - so they want to commemorate his birthday so they choose a convenient day near his birthday.
In Judaism we don't have that flexibility - because the day we celebrate is invested with a certain kedusha - a power - that cycles back every year on that day.
So every year on the tenth of tishrei we celebrate Yom Kippur because that day has the power to pray for teshuva. And every year on Pesach we have the power to pray for redemption from our personal slavery. And similarly on Sukkot we have the power to pray for Hashem's protection.
For the past 3 years we have been experiencing a terrible recession - some call it a depression. The Obama administration announced this week that the recession is over but I find that a very suspicious announcement 6 weeks before interim elections. And I don't see any evidence of it - unemployment is still raging and real estate values are at an all time low.
So what can we do? The answer is that we can use these days of Sukkot to pray for heavenly protection. But that is not enough - we also have to make some small gesture. We know that when Hashem selected Moshe Rabenu to be the savior of Israel he gave him one test - he revealed himself in the burning bush and Moshe had to just turn to contemplate the bush. That was the gesture Hashem required and he made Moshe the savior.
So what gesture can we do? Well, we just finished Yom Kippur and we read the Viduy Hagadol. Why not go through the Viduy Hagadol Aleph through Taf of the Lavim or Aleph through Taf of the Assey's and find something that you are not doing and make a kabala to start that.
Or I can offer some suggestions - why not get a copy of the Mishna Berurah or Mesilat Yesharim - the Path of the Just by Rabbi Moshe Hayim Luzzato - and put it in your tefilin case. Then read a half a page every day. I guarantee you it will be life altering.
I once read a story about Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Herman - Someone came to him who was besides himself with anguish - he said Rabbi - I am running the same store as my father, but I am smarter and more sophisticated than my father, my prices are better I run the store better, and yet he was very successful and I am barely surviving. The Rabbi asked him - what do you do when there are no customers in the store - he answered - well I do paper work - I have a business to run and it is not just about the customers. The Rabbi then asked him - what did your father do when there were no customers? He learned his Torah. Aha the Rabbi answered - now I understand - when the Satan saw your father learning he had to send in customers to stop him. But with you the Satan is perfectly happy with you the way you are.
So learning Torah is one gesture. Or I have another one.
This Rabbi Ezran is not just a Rabbi. If you ask me he is of the Gedolei hador.
He left his family and his thriving community in Los Angeles to build your community. But he is not just your Rabbi - he cooks for you - he buys your lulavim for you. I looked at some of the etrogim he bought and each one is perfect. I know it takes me one hour to find one good etrog and here he has bought perfect etrogim for an entire community. You know he didn't just ask the etrog man for a bunch of etrogim - rather he picked each one carefully so that his congregation would have the best.
Yet I have been here for the last 3 nights for Mincha and each night this Rabbi had to pray without a minyan because there were only 8 or 9 people. And the pity is that just 15 minutes later the minyan came - but mincha time is before sunset and so the minyan was lost. Why not make a kabalah to come to shul 15 minutes earlier so that this Rabbi can have his minyan?
Let us use these precious remaining days of Sukkot to pray for protection from Hashem and to renew our commitment to Torah and Mitzvot. Let our children see that our commitment to Torah is not negotiable.
And in return let Hashem shower us with protection and parnasah, good health and happiness for ourselves, our families, our community and all of klal yisrael Amen.
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