Maing sense of the sedra: Succot
Peace by piece
Despite the popular aphorism that time heals all wounds, the recent ruptures in Israeli society between the right and the left, the secular and the religious, seem to only intensify over time. When looking at the news and seeing the weekly mass protests, a deep reflection of the societal schisms which unfortunately manifested in the clashes during the public Yom Kippur services in Tel Aviv, we are left with a feeling of despair and hopelessness. How is it possible to ever attain peace – internal national peace amongst our brethren – when we seem to sit so far apart from those with whom we disagree?
The answer, I believe, is the succah.
Every Friday evening in Ma’ariv we beseech Hashem to protect and watch over us, and to “u’fros aleinu sukkat shlomecha” (spread over us the succah of your peace).
If we are asking Hashem to grant us peace, why do we ask for a ‘succah of peace’ – a flimsy and temporary makeshift structure – rather than a ‘fortress of peace’ – a peace that is robust, secure, and enduring?
Rav Kook notes that according to halachah, even an imperfect succah is still a bona fide kosher succah. A succah can have gaping holes, it can be built with little more than two walls instead of the full four, it can have crooked walls and large spaces between the walls and in the roof. Yet, such a fragile and imperfect structure remains a kosher succah.
Ordinarily we strive for perfection with mitzvot. A Sefer Torah that is missing even one letter is invalid. We don’t use a broken loaf of bread at kiddush. An etrog that loses its pitom is not kosher. But when it comes to the succah, Hashem tolerates the imperfection.
The same is true, says Rav Kook, when it comes to making peace. Peace is so precious and vital to our personal wellbeing and that of the nation and world at large, that even if we are not able to attain complete and perfect peace, we should still pursue any partial measure of peace. Imperfect peace between neighbours, family members, within communities and amongst nations, remains worthwhile, even if only partial and incomplete.
We therefore ask Hashem to provide a ‘succah of peace’ because peace can never exist if we insist on perfection! We can only get along if we are willing to sit in the same succah, despite its imperfections, and despite our imperfections, because even a piece of peace is valuable!
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