Rabbi Daniel: Thoughts on Torah

Dear friends,

Mishna 1:2 of Masechet Sukkah says:

הָעוֹשֶׂה סֻכָּתוֹ תַחַת הָאִילָן, כְּאִלּוּ עֲשָׂאָהּ בְּתוֹךְ הַבָּיִת. 

With regard to one who establishes his sukkah beneath a tree, it is as though he established it inside the house and it is unfit.

Our commentators explain that while the tree is still attached to the 

ground it cannot be used for skhakh, the roofing of the sukkah.  Skhakh must come from a natural source, but it must be detached from the ground.  

It is interesting that the need for the sukkah to be a temporary structure extends to the roofing.  Natural substances are the requirement for the skhakh but they can't be permanent while the structure itself is temporary.  This happens in life often when we bifurcate two parts of something that really are

intrinsically linked.   Can you think of an example?  Maimonides says that while people often separate the needs and service of the body and soul they ought not to be separated.  What is true for one, is true for the other.  

Join us for BYO-Lunch in the Sukkah tomorrow (Tuesday) after services.  Fish or dairy please.   

Chag Sameach, 
Rabbi Daniel