Today I performed a most joyous task. I decorated my sukkah. With blue skies, temperatures in the mid 70′s and the trees in my back yard providing a splendid backdrop of yellow and red, I spent several hours arranging the cornstalks on the s’chach (roof), placing Indian corn, pumpkins and mums in various arrangements, and hanging a beaded pendant light over the rectangular table in the center of it all. After placing a harvest theme tablecloth on the table and preparing to arrange the Lulav and Etog upon it, I felt as if something was missing, something very important. As I scanned the sukkah and tried to determine what could possibly be amiss, it dawned on me . . . the etrog plant.
Last year was the first time I purchased a kosher Lulav and Etrog set for Sukkot. After the holiday was over I planted a dozen of the etrog seeds in anticipation of cultivating a plant of my own. The 12 seeds produced several healthy seedlings with one in particular that grew vigorously and strong. I gave away all the seedlings except the one that was most vigorous and healthy which I placed in a southern exposure window of my home. I wondered how big my etrog plant would be for Sukkot ’08 and thought about how nice it would be to have such a plant to adorn the sukkah.
The plant grew rapidly and the leaves began to multiply for the first three months. Then suddenly, in January, I noticed that the plant was beginning to fail. No amount of special attention did any good. Within a month the leaves were blackened and withered. My healthy vigorous young etrog plant died. Unfortunately, the seedlings I gave away to others suffered the same fate, none of them survived beyond three months after sprouting.
In studying the book of Jonah with my Torah Community this past Yom Kippur afternoon, I couldn’t help but find myself interested by the fact that Jonah built a sukkah near the conclusion of the sefer, and had a very unusual experience with a plant that sprouted up and died quickly.
Jonah left the city (Nineveh) and sat at the east of the city. He made himself a booth (sukkah) there, and sat under it in the shade until he would see what would occur in the city. HaShem, G-d, designated a kikayon, which rose up above Jonah to form shade over his head, to relieve him from his discomfort. Jonah rejoiced over the kikayon, a great joy. Then G-d designated a worm at dawn of the next day, and it attacked the kikayon so that it withered. And it was when the sun shone that G-d designated a stifling east wind; the sun beat upon Jonah’s head and he felt faint. He asked for his soul’s death, and said “Better is my death than my life!” (Jonah 4:5-9 Stone Edition Tanach).
Interestingly, according to rabbinic halachah, the defining characteristic of a sukkah is that it produces shade. According to Rashi, the structure is called a “sukkah” on account of the shade, since it provides shelter (mesukakh) from the heat. The first mishna in tractate Sukkah (Talmud) rules that a sukkah must produce more shade than sun. Many halachic rulings in this tractate involve how shade may or may not be produced. Because of this, the s’chach, or thatched roof of the sukkah which produces shade, is given much attention and is of major importance.
A sukkah is not permitted to be built indoors because within a building there is no possibility of experiencing the shade from the s’chach. A sukkah may not be built beneath a tree for it is the s’chach that is to produce its shade. The height of the sukkah may not exceed 20 cubits (30 feet) for the shadow cast from the roof would not reach the floor of the structure. A sukkah taller than 30 feet high would find its primary source of shade to be the walls rather than the roof and such an exceedingly high sukkah would cause the resident to be unaware of the s’chach above him.
The explanation of the Talmud presents a recurring theme; that the occupants of a sukkah must experience shade produced by the s’chach. The requirement is not simply that there is shade, but that the shade is experienced. Symbolism alone is insufficient, for the rabbis are concerned that a religious experience takes place.
The typical explanation for the sukkah is that it symbolizes the booths in which the Israelites dwelled during their journey through the desert. Yet this understanding is not as simple as it seems at first glance. Leviticus relates that they dwelled in sukkot, but does not say what those sukkot were. The rabbis debated exactly what this meant. In the Sifra, the halakhic midrash to Leviticus, we find the following dispute:
R. Eliezer says: They were real sukkot. R. Akiba says: The sukkot were the clouds of glory.
For R. Eliezer the Israelites dwelled in real booths in the desert. For R. Akiba, however, the Israelites did not reside in booths at all. They dwelled amidst the “clouds of glory,” that marked the presence and radiance of God. R. Akiba’s opinion became the majority rabbinic interpretation. It is found in the targums (the Aramaic translations of the Torah), in later midrashim, and in medieval codes. Thus the dominant trend in Jewish thought never pictured the exodus generation dwelling in leafy huts but rather in glorious clouds.
Two main considerations influenced R. Akiba. First, the word sukkah in the Bible sometimes refers to a cloud-covering. The Psalmist describes the celestial manifestation of God in vivid imagery: “He made darkness his covering, his canopy (sukkah) around him– the dark rain clouds of the sky (Ps 18:11).” Likewise Job 36:29 relates: “Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion (sukkah)?”
Thus a cloud can be described as a “sukkah”; the terms can be used synonymously. Second, while booths are never mentioned in the exodus narratives, clouds are always found around the Israelite camp. G-d provided a pillar of cloud to lead the Israelites in the desert and speaks to Moses from the midst of the cloud. G-d also appears above the tent of meeting in the form of a cloud. Ironically, the pillar of cloud first appears at a place called . . . Sukkot (Exodus 30:20-21)!
Therefore the leafy sukkah is built as a means of experiencing the shade of G-d’s presence, protection and love that Israel experienced via the clouds of glory in the wilderness. A sukkah that is flooded with sunlight or that involves a hot and stifling environment negates the very purpose of the mitzvah. From this one can understand why Jonah was so elated by the miraculous shade HaShem provided for his sukkah by means of the kikayon, and why he fell into despair when the plant withered, died and the shade was no more.
Another example of a sukkah lacking shade is found in the Talmudic account of Avodah Zarah 3a-b, in which the Gentile nations during the Messianic age request that G-d offer them the Torah anew so they can obey it and receive reward. G-d gives them one command to perform, the mitzvah of building and residing in the sukkah. Immediately the Gentiles construct sukkot on the roofs of their homes so everyone can witness their diligence and obedience. Yet, G-d sees fit to cause the sun to blaze over them “as the summer solstice” with severe intensity. The frustrated Gentiles destroy their sukkot and go away. The sages point out that according to halachah the Gentiles had every right to leave the sukkot for one is not commanded to reside in a sukkah under conditions that cause discomfort (such as pouring rain, extreme cold or extreme heat). Yet in destroying the booths the Gentiles make it impossible to return and experience the spiritually significant environment of the sukkah at a more opportune time.
Jonah refused to leave his uncomfortable sun-drenched sukkah and fell into despair. The Gentiles of Avodah Zarah 3a-b refused to return to their sukkahs after a time of discomfort due to sun and heat, and ended up in denial. Both reactions were wrong. For the purpose of the sukkah is to provide the physical reality of shade in order to experience in a tangible way a manifestation of G-d’s presence, protection and love.
. . . . . . . . .
Though my plans to have an etrog plant as part of my sukkah décor this year did not come to fruition, in reality the plant would not have contributed to the purpose of the sukkah anyway. Truth is, my sukkah is very shady because it sits on the deck at the back of my house facing a northern exposure. Because the sun at this time of year hangs low in the southern sky, the shadow of my house envelopes the sukkah most of the day, except for a tiny bit of time at sunrise and sunset in which a few rays of natural sunlight will fall upon the structure. More than likely my sukkah would not meet strict halachic standards due to this.
Unlike Jonah or the frustrated Gentiles in the Talmud, I never have to be concerned that it will be too sunny or unbearably hot to reside within my sukkah. With the 7 day weather forecast calling for mild and sunny days and little chance of rain ahead, I anticipate spending many wonderful hours experiencing the spiritual delights of this season of Sukkot.
Yet, the lessons of the sun-soaked sukkah touched me over this past week. For like Jonah I must be careful of falling into despair and not moving on in areas where G-d’s protection and guidance are no longer evident. Like the frustrated Gentiles I must be careful of “burning bridges” that might make it impossible to return to situations where G-d’s love and protection may be awaiting me at a more opportune time.
Perhaps after Sukkot is over I will once again attempt to grown an etrog plant. Who knows? It may just sprout up with the fervor of Jonah’s gourd this time! If that’s the case I’ll surely give it a little nickname to help me remember the lessons G-d has shown me this season . . . the lesson of . . . . kikayon.
