From the Rabbi

Many thanks to all of you who joined us online and in person for the High Holidays. The hybrid services were a special experience this year. The number of people who participated in person was truly surprising, and for those who were on Zoom, it was fantastic to be able to provide everyone the opportunity to be with us.

Now we are in the sukkah. When I sit in my sukkah at home, somehow that simple, almost primitive structure gives me comfort. It is especially so in its context after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the feeling of starting over with renewed spirit. The four poles of the sukkah create a home-like feeling of security. In my mind, I know this is not a particularly protected structure, but my spirit is secure. I liken the feeling to the four columns that are held by our confidences at the chuppah, watching over us as sentinels, creating a stable edifice, a sanctuary.

During Sukkot, we are also commanded to hold together in our hands the four species. One has taste, one has smell, one has both, and one has neither. The rabbis tell us that these are the four archetypes of people in our community. They may be coming from the four corners of the world, yet together they form one plural and cohesive bundle. Likewise, the four children of the Haggadah, who sitting together around the Seder table make it stable. It is stable not just because it has four even legs, but because it is a vehicle for camaraderie.

The Zohar, the main text of the Kabbalah, in its commentary on Parashat Vayishlach (172 b), refers to the sukkah as Raza DeMehaimanuta — the secret to faith. It is one of humanity’s ways to create a chariot for God, a throne of God in this world.  In fact, Kabbalah speaks of four worlds – Emanation, Creation Formation, and Action that originate from the light of God in heaven.  It is referenced in Isaiah 43:7: “Everyone that is called by My name and for My glory, I have created, I have formed, even I have made.” The worlds continue to emanate and cascade from one another, each world becoming more crystallized and materialized, culminating in the fourth world, which manifests itself as our physical world on earth.  Thus, coming together in the Sukkah is coming under the throne of God.

But the throne of God on earth is incomplete until the elimination of the force of Amalek, the influence that seeks to destabilize the throne of God in this world. Immediately following the exodus from Egypt, when the Israelites were still weak and afraid, they were attacked from behind by the cowardly Amalek. Ultimately, the Israelites defeated Amalek, but Moses declared: “Hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will be at war with Amalek throughout the ages.” (Shemot 17:16)  In this verse, even the word throne in Hebrew is spelled half way – Kes. As long as Amalek is trying to compromise the unity of Israel in this world, its hand is holding down the throne of God.

Clearly, there is a message that the Torah wants us to understand through four elements. The ultimate message is that all of us — the four types of people, the four children, the four spirits that come from the four corners of the earth — are responsible for creating and keeping stable the throne of God, for building a sheltering Sukkah, for maintaining a safe sanctuary, for investing in a peaceful public square, and for inspiring us to keep moving forward with our 4 x 4 spirituality.

May we all have a peaceful and bountiful year.

—Rabbi Gadi Capela

Lechayim! To life! Our shul is 120 years old. For Jews, 120 is a special number that symbolizes completion, a complete life. Scripture tells us that Moses, our greatest rabbi, lived 120 years. “Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated.” (Duet. 34:7) According to Rashi, “his vigor unabated” means the life-sap that was in him did not depart, and the
appearance of his face had not changed. (Sifrei Devarim 357:35).

The connection between Moses’s lifespan and completion is not accidental. In order to mitigate man’s propensity to sin and become corrupted, God limited the life of a person to 120 years. The Lord said, “My breath shall not abide in man forever, since he too is flesh; let the days allowed him be one hundred and twenty years.” (Gen. 6:3) Onkelos, echoed by other commentators, explains that God set a time for mankind to repent. Ramban expands: “…The purport is to state that ‘God made man upright’ (Ecclesiastes 7:29) to be like the ministering angels by virtue of the soul He gave him. But he was drawn after the flesh and corporeal desires; ‘he is like the beasts that perish’ (Psalms 49:13), and therefore the spirit of God will no longer be sheathed in him for he is corporeal and not godly. However, He will prolong for them if they repent.”

Before departing at 120 years, Moses summarized the 42 journeys in the 40 years the People of Israel had spent in the desert. “Moses recorded the starting points of their various marches as directed by the Lord. Their marches, by starting points…” (Num 33:2) At first glance, it is clear that the people endured much.
However, Moses reminded them where they had begun, and that their difficulties are actually their future’s building blocks that imbued the experience with a value that has endured, much like Moses himself.

Similar to the People of Israel, Congregation Tifereth Israel has experienced many different stops in time. We can look back at the amazing journey and see how far we’ve come. Like Moses, CTI is still in full vigor — an ode to the past 120 years and prayers for 120 more.

—Rabbi Gadi Capela