Sukkos Torah - LessonPaths

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Sukkos Torah By Rabbi Dovid Cohen

Grade Level: Middle School Description: A collection of six English Divrei Torah related to the Yom Tov of Sukkos. The Divrei Torah are from a wide variety of sources and each one is around a page long. Available with a concise lesson plan as a non-editable PDF, or without the lesson plan as an editable DavkaWriter file. Goals/Objectives: Students will read inspirational messages related to the Yom Tov of Sukkos which they can share with their families. Instructions: 1. The teacher can choose one, or a selection, of Divrei Torah to read and discuss with his/her class. 2. OR the teacher can send the packet home as optional Yom Tov reading. 3. The teacher can encourage the students to share the Divrei Torah at their Yom Tov table.

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Succah, Heaven On Earth The Michtav Mei"Eliyahu says that anyone who thinks he can bring his life to the point of perfection and stay that way is kidding himself. Every person knows that all worldly pleasures come and go and cannot be sustained over the long term. Life is constantly evolving. The only pleasure that is eternal is torah and mitzvos. Our challenge in this world is too live in it without falling for it. To live a spiritual life in a physical world. Hashem puts our spiritual neshama in a physical body and sends it down to a physical world and instructs us to make sure the Neshama reign supreme despite this completely physical environment. After spending Yom Kippur ridding ourselves of mistaken attitudes and refocusing our goals heavenward we go into the Succah for seven days before going back into the world and testing ourselves once again. The succah is a bare physical existence and the best spiritual habitat we can carve out in this physical world. It has none of the standard luxuries that our earthly homes have which blur our spiritual vision. It has four walls and barely a roof overhead allowing you to always see the heavens above you, remember that someone is watching your every move, and keep in mind where you will spend eternity after this short life is over. These are the baby steps we need to take before jumping back into the "real world" convinced that this year will finally be different.

Rabbi Dovid Cohen

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On Succos Hashem Demands A Recount! The Medrash Tanchumah says that the first day of Succos is called "Rishon L'Cheshbon Avonos", the first day that Hashem starts to count our aveiros since we did Teshuva on Yom Kippur. What about the aveiros we commit in the days in between Yom Kippur and Succos? Do they not count? The gemara in Yuma (86b) says that when we do Teshuva out of fear "Zidonos Na'aseh K'Shgagos"; Hashem considers the aveiros we did intentionally as if we did it without intent and does not punish us. However when we do Teshuva out of love "Zidonos Na'aseh K'Zichuyos"; our aveiros turn into mitzvos. That is the power of Teshuva Mi'Ahava. Rav Levi Yitzchok MiBeridchev (Kedushas Levi) explains that on Yom Kippur we do Teshuva out of fear. We want to have a good year and know that our fate will be sealed on that day. Therefore Hashem ignores our aveiros and we are granted a good year. Succos on the other hand is a Yom Tov of Simcha and great joy. It is a time when we do Teshuva out of extreme love for Hashem. We sit in the Succah and enjoy Hashem's presence. Therefore all our old aveiros are now turned into mitzvos. Therefore explains the Kedushas Levi when Succos starts and we do Teshuva Mi'Ahava, Hashem takes out all the aveiros that he "threw away" after Yom Kippur when he forgave us and starts to count them again. Why? Because now that they turned into mitzvos Hashem wants to recount them in order to credit us for these "mitzvos".

Rabbi Dovid Cohen

s "x c Bummed Out About Your Esrog? Dream On! Says Rav Yehonoson Eibushitz The perfect beautiful clean esrog is way out of budget for most of us ordinary citizens. Should we feel bad? Yes but no says Rav Yehonoson Eibushitz. He explains his position with the famous story in the gemara about Rebbi Chanina Ben Dosa who was very poor until his wife begged him to plead to Hashem to send some money and gold leg came down from Shamayim. Afterward she had a dream that they sat in Gan Eden at a table with only two legs. What happened? Rav Yehonoson Eibushitz says that tzaddikim only want money so that they too can give tzedoka. They don't want to miss out on any mitzvos. This is why Rebbi Chanina's wife wanted money. The two legs she saw in her dream were two of the three pillar of the world; torah and avodah which they were mikayem to perfection and therefore had a table with golden legs. The third leg would have been gemilus chasadim which they were able to perform with their newfound wealth. The dream taught them that it is better not to have money. Why? Before they had money they dreamed about doing Chesed. Their intentions were perfectly lishma and 100% pure. For this they would have received the third leg in Gan Eden since they had no means to perform the mitzva their intentions substituted for their lack of action. Once they received their wealth and they were able to do the mitzva it could not have been perfect. They somehow would have fallen short in performance of the mitzva. They may not give one person as much as they should. They might have had passing haughty thoughts about doing the mitzva. People can never be perfect. Only in their dreams! Therefore if you cannot do the mitzva, yet in your heart you yearn for it in the worst way you are better off. So when the fellow sitting next to you in Shul is showing off his spanking clean and beautifully shaped 0 esrog, just smile and keep on dreaming for the day that you can have an esrog just like it. Hopefully for you it will never happen. And by hoping and praying year after year that next year will be your lucky year you will be far better off. Rabbi Dovid Cohen

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Hoshana Rabba: Quit Whining and Enjoy Succos On Rosh Hashana our fate for the upcoming year is written. On Yom Kippur our fate is sealed. Still that is not the end. It is the Malachim who have the task of carrying out our agenda throughout the year. They are given their assignments on Hoshana Rabba. Hashem carefully guards our "Petek" our signed fate from Yom Kippur until Hoshana Rabba. That means there is still hope to change it since it is still in Hashem's hands. Why the added delay? Is there something we can do after the gezeirah is signed? Yes of course! While Teshuva from yirah, from fear, can alter the gezeirah before it is signed, only Teshuva from Ahava, from an outpouring of love for Hashem from the depths of our hearts without any consideration for our fate, can break Hashem's heart kiviyachol. When Hashem sees His children leaving their homes to rejoice with Him in the succah and joyfully taking the arba minim without any consideration as to what will happen to them in the upcoming year, how can a loving and merciful father not rip up any bad decree and replace it with one that we will enjoy? This was the success of Purim. After our fate was sealed and we were delivered into the hands of Haman HaRasha we gave up and no longer cared about ourselves. We totally submitted to Hashem and loved Him without expectation of anything in return. This attitude had the power to repeal a signed decree. So before Hoshana Rabba don't beg Hashem to change your fate. Forget about it and just enjoy Succos. The rest will take care of itself.

Rabbi Dovid Cohen

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Hoshana Rabba: Don't Forget To Cash In Your Petek Okay, we did it. Our wonderful year full of parnassah, health, and nachas from the kids has been signed and sealed. Succos is over. What do we do now, sit back and wait for the money to start rolling in? That would be a colossal mistake says Rav Shimshon Pincus. Your good year is given as a coupon. It is the famous "Petek" from Hoshana Rabba. You now need to go to one of the distribution centers to cash it in. Where are those centers? Is there a listing by city or country? Yes, it is your local Shul. Just like all the trees and vegetation were created during the six days of creation yet they waited below ground and did not sprout until Adam davened to Hashem, so to the abundance of Shefa waiting for us in Shamayim will not come down until we call up to Hashem and ask for it. Every million upon millions of dollars, good health and lots of nachas are left with the master treasurer in Heaven simply because the people with the winning numbers didn't bother to pick it up. This year make sure that you are not one of them.

Rabbi Dovid Cohen

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Hoshana Rabba: Aravos - The Business Travelers Best Friend We seemed to have turned into a religion of Segula seekers (especially segulos tied to financial benefit). So L'Kavod Hoshan Rabba let's talk about the special segula of the day. The Menoras HaMaor says that keeping a leaf from the Aravos of the Hoshanos is a segula for travelers especially business travelers. Now, the Menoras HaMaor was a heavy hitter who lived around four hundred years ago so its worth listening to what he says. The fact is that segulos do work if understood and done properly. We find the first segula in the Torah where there was a plague of poisonous snakes in the Midbar. Hashem told Moshe to place a large copper snake on a high pole and whoever is bitten should look at it and he will be healed. The Mishna in Rosh Hashana asks, how can a copper snake heal? The answer it gives is that when a person looks up at the snake he will notice the heavens in the background and start to think of Hashem. Thinking of Hashem is where the real cure lies. The snake is just an attraction to guide us home. So getting back to our aravos. Hoshana Rabba is the climax of almost two months of work repairing and rebuilding our relationship with the Master of the Universe. We repent, cleanse ourselves, and finally, we honeymoon with him in His succah. On Hoshana Rabba we reach our goal of Yishakeini Mi'Nisheikos Pihu. We get the coveted kiss on the lips from Hashem. This is symbolized by the arava; the long drawn out lip shaped leaf. Then just like that Succos is over and it's back to work. When our lonely businessman travels far from his home seeking his fortune he is far removed from the closeness of succos where he knew with certainty that Hashem determines his financial plight. He is too busy contemplating his negotiating strategy. This is a very dangerous predicament. When he pulls out his "lucky" aravos he suddenly travels back in time to Hoshana Rabba and that beautiful kiss. Suddenly all is clear to him once again. Ahh! The power of a good segula.

Rabbi Dovid Cohen