It's a cute
Sukkos
bentsching
thing.
We say it; it
seems like it
fits - but one
suspects that we
are essentially
clueless (an
admitted
projection) to
its actual
Sukkos
significance.
I refer to the
strange
recitation at
the very end of
the grace after
meals, where we
customarily
insert a special
request
throughout
Sukkos:
Harachaman hu
yakim lanu es
sukkas David
hanofeles-
May the Merciful
One raise up for
us the fallen
sukkah of David
What exactly is
that fallen
sukkah of David?
More pointedly,
of what
relevance (other
than the obvious
sukkah
word play), does
it have to our
Sukkos holiday?
It's a long
story - but here
is the short
version:
First, the
phrase Sukkas
David is
based on a verse
in Amos:
On that day will
I raise up the
fallen
Sukkah of David,
close up its
breaches, raise
up his ruins,
and build it as
in the days of
old[1];
Most
commentators (Targum,
Rashi, Maharal,
Malbim)
understand
David's fallen
Sukkah to be an
oblique
Messianic
reference to the
rejuvenated
Davidic dynasty.
A cryptic
Talmudic piece
calls the
messiah a bar
nafli, (son
of the fallen
one) while
recording a
fascinating
conversation:
R. Nahman
said to R.
Isaac: "Have you
heard when Bar
Nafli will
come?".
"Who is Bar
Nafli?", he
asked.
"Messiah", he
answered.
"Do you call the
Messiah Bar
Nafli?". "Yes",
he responded ,
..as it is
written, "on
that day I will
raise up
the fallen
Sukkah of David"
To Maharal, the
Davidic line
cast as a sukkah
and not as a
house, is a
crisp and
purposeful
formulation.
Precisely
because of its
flimsiness can
the sukkah be
rebuilt.
One builds
(boneh) a
fallen house
while one
resurrects (yakim)
a floored sukkah.
Since the
Messianic line
dare not start
afresh, the
Sukkah's
resurrection
symbolizes a
continuity and
loyalty to its
past. Much more
needs to be
stated here[2]
- but with this
we must suffice.
To R. Yosef Kara
however, David's
fallen sukkah
refers not to
David's
messianic
progeny, but
rather to his
house; more
precisely,
His
house, a veiled
reference to the
beis
hamikdash
(Temple). On
the holiday of
huts, we
petition God to
rebuild the big
Hut.
Two items need
clarification:
Why is the
Temple called a
sukkah and not a
house? More
pressing, why is
it David's
sukkah and not
Shlomo's
(Solomon) sukkah,
given that
Shlomo actually
built the
Temple.
Nor is the
Davidic
appellation for
the beis
hamikdash a
one time
phenomenon!
Consider the
opening of the
famous psalm
thirty:
Mizmor shir
chanukas habayis
l'david-A
Psalm dedication
song for the
house of
David
Even as Ibn Ezra
(somewhat
unsatisfyingly)
understands
David's house as
a reference to
David's personal
home, most
commentaries
take it to mean
the Temple.
Consider the
poignant notion
of Metzudas
David's that
this chapter of
tehillim
presents David's
special musical
composition, to
be sung at the
Temple
inauguration, an
event that David
never made and
yet so
desperately
wanted to
attend. In
spirit and in
song he was
there!
One final David
- Temple
connection: a
remarkable
Talmudic account
of King
Solomon's first
foray into the
mikdash.
For when
Solomon built
the Temple, he
desired to bring
the Ark into the
Holy of Holies,
whereupon the
gates stuck to
each other.
Solomon uttered
twenty-four
prayers, yet he
was not
answered. He
opened [his
mouth] and
exclaimed, Lift
up your heads,
O gates; and be
lifted up, you
everlasting
doors: And the
King of glory
shall come in.
.. yet he was
not answered.
But as soon as
he prayed, 'O
Lord God, turn
not away the
face of Your
anointed one,
remember the
good deeds of
David thy
servant,' he was
immediately
answered.
David's merit
alone opens up
the gates of the
Temple. My Rebbe
once put it all
together on the
basis of a most
moving Psalm,
132:
A Song of
Ascents. LORD,
remember unto
David all his
affliction; How
he swore unto
the LORD, and
vowed unto the
Mighty One of
Jacob:
'Surely I will
not come into
the tent of my
house, nor go up
into the bed
that is spread
for me; I will
not give sleep
to mine eyes,
nor slumber to
mine eyelids;
Until I find
out a place for
the LORD, a
dwelling-place
for the Mighty
One of Jacob.
David's
turbulent life
makes our crises
seem oasis-like.
Pursued by his
father-in-law;
children, and
enemies alike;
dogged by
allegations
impugning his
lineage; plunged
into depression
over the loss of
his sons;
witness to
internecine
familial strife,
the Batsheva
story, etc. -
David weathered
it all. Consider
that even at the
height of his
power, King
David needed to
politic with
heads of state,
wage war, govern
and levy taxes.
In short, he had
to deal with
stuff. Thus
Tehillim remains
the book for all
seasons - of our
lives.
Through it all,
King David
teaches us that
key to
menuchas
hanefesh
(serenity) is
making a place
for God in one's
life - wherever,
whenever; not
just a material
Temple, but more
subtly a
mikdash of
the mind[3].
David's ability
to see his
troubles and
myriad tasks as
places to find
Hashem, allowed
him to
constantly grow
- and yet
continue to pine
for God's more
pristine
presence.
What then is the
connection
between King
David and the
Temple? Home is
where the heart
is. And no
matter where
David was, his
heart was always
Temple bound.
In effect, King
David opens up
Temple gates,
composes its
inaugural song
and is the
Temple's
namesake, for
even as he is
physically
constrained from
building the
Temple, that is
where he always
was.
Sukkos - that
gateway between
the rarefied
purity of the
Rosh Hashana/Yom
Kippur world and
the mundane
ordinary of
everyday life -
reminds us: As
we cross the
portal, we dare
not allow our
minds and hearts
to forget the
extraordinary
holiness of
those awesome
days.
No wonder that
on the last day
of Sukkos, we
mystically
(think
ushpizin)
invite King
David in. Who
better to teach
us to never
sleep without
desiring, to not
surrender to
routine without
infusing within
it a yearning
for sanctity?
With Sukkos as
the gateway and
with King David
at our side, we
are ready to
confront our
world through
His world.
Let us take the
leap!
Chag
Sameach!
Asher Brander
(Slightly
revised from
last year)
[2]
Cf.
Malbim
who
explicates
the
verse to
be
referring
to three
stages
of
rebuilding.
The
house of
david is
the
kingdom
and the
sukkah
of david
refers
to the
nesi'im
who had
more
influence
than
power.
Thus it
shall
be at
the end
of days
that the
line
will
start as
nesi'im
and
eventually
progress
towards
kingship.
See also
R.
Hutner,
Ma'amarei
Pachad
Yitzchak
and
Maharal
Netzach
Yisrael.
[3]
Perhaps
this is
why it
is
called a
sukkah
of David
and not
a bayis
- for
the
latter
implies
greater
materialism