Two of
the giants of the Mishna, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva differ in their
understanding of what the sukka commemorates. Rabbi Eliezer states that
the sukka is the reminder that during the forty years of wandering in
the desert, the Children of Israel were protected by “clouds of glory”. Rabbi
Akiva’s opinion is that the sukka memorializes the huts the Israelites
built in the desert.
According
to Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion, the sukka commemorates God’s protection of
His people, and we can easily understand the mitzva. But, according to
Rabbi Akiva, Aruch haShulḥan asks why the Torah instructed us to sit in sukkot
for seven days. After all, what is being commemorated is what the Israelites
themselves did, not God’s intervention.
The
answer, says the Aruch haShulḥan, is that the mitzva commemorates
the fact that the People of Israel had the faith to follow God into the desert,
a place not suited for human habitation.
As Jeremiah (2:2) said in God’s name:
Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem saying:
thus says the Lord: I remember for you the affection of your youth, the love of
your espousal; how you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not
sown.
In
essence, according to Rabbi Akiva, God commanded us to pat ourselves on the shoulder
for having followed Him.
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