Rabbi David Etengoff
 
Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Chana bat Shmuel, Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, Shoshana Elka bat Avraham, Tikvah bat Rivka Perel, Peretz ben Chaim, Chaya Sarah bat Reb Yechezkel Shraga, Shmuel Yosef ben Reuven, the Kedoshim of Har Nof, Pittsburgh, and Jersey City, and the refuah shlaimah of Mordechai HaLevi ben Miriam Tovah, Moshe ben Itta Golda, Yocheved Dafneh bat Dinah Zehavah, Reuven Shmuel ben Leah, Dovid Shmuel ben Chasiyah and the health and safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.
 
There are many intricate rules concerning the construction of a succah that are presented in the Gemara and codified by the poskim (halachic decisors). Rav Yosef Karo (1488-1575), the author of the Shulchan Aruch, states in Orech Chaim 631:3: “The standard manner of placing the schach (top covering) upon the succah is to do so in such a way as to enable one to see the large stars through it…” In his celebrated work, Mishnah Berurah, the Chafetz Chaim (1838-1933) explains that the large stars in this statement refer to those that can be seen during the day prior to sunset. In addition, he notes that many latter-day authorities rule that even the nighttime stars need to be visible through the schach. Regardless as to which stars are being referenced in these classic Rabbinic sources, we must ask a straightforward question, namely, why did our Sages mandate that the stars should ideally be visible through the schach of the succah?
 
Rabbi Mordechai Yoffe zatzal (1530-1612) discusses this question in his work, Levush Malchut (Orech Chaim 631:3):

And it is highly preferable that its covering [the schach] should not be very thick, rather, [it should be comprised of materials that] allow the large stars to be seen from within [the succah]. Afterall, this is the meaning of the term, “succah” that is stated in the Torah, and standard schach is normally comprised of such [materials]. (Translation my own)
​
The contemporary scholar, Rabbi Raphael Sindler Sadin, in his work, “Pnei HaShulchan,” suggests that Rav Yoffe is indirectly ruling that “one ought not to make a thick covering [of schach], for in that case, [the succah] would then become like a house [and the stars would no longer be visible from under the roof]. (Translation and brackets my own)  In sum, in order to maintain the temporary nature of the succah, its schach should be thin and allow for the large stars to be seen from within.
 
While Rav Yoffe focuses upon the requirement to maintain the temporary aspects of the succah’s construction, Rabbi Yosef ben Meir Teomim zatzal (1727-1792), in his work, Pri Megadim, provides us with a spiritual analysis as to why we ought to be able to see the stars through the schach: “So that one will remember Who created all of this [the stars] and enables us to dwell upon the earth. As it is written: ‘When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars that You set in place.’” (Sefer Tehillim 8:4, verse and Pri Megadim translation my own)  By extension, Rav Teomim intimates that Chazal wanted the Festival of Succot to be a powerful teaching moment wherein we could become acutely aware of Hashem’s Creation and our place in His universe. As Dovid HaMelech declares in an oft-cited verse: “How great are Your works Hashem, You made all of them in your supernal wisdom, the entire cosmos is filled with Your creations.” (Sefer Tehillim 104:24)  
 
I would like to offer another possible answer to the question, “Why did our Sages mandate that the stars should ideally be visible through the schach of the succah?” Chazal were acutely aware of the need to instill G-d-consciousness in each of us. Without a sense of Hashem’s direct presence and immanence in our lives, it is impossible to feel He is our Yedid Nefesh (the Beloved of our Soul) and protector. The siddur gives powerful voice to this notion during the Friday night tefilah “And spread over us the succah of Your peace. Blessed are You Hashem, Who spreads the succah of peace upon us and upon all His people Israel and upon Jerusalem.” Quite beautifully, and in ways words alone cannot truly express, we ask the Almighty to actively reach out to us in this expression of hashgacha pratit — Divine providence — and surround us with His succah of peace. This, I believe, is one of the feelings that our Sages wanted us to experience when we gaze at the stars from under the frail schach of our succot.
 
May it be G-d’s will, and our heartfelt desire, that this Succot will be a time when we truly feel His Divine presence encircling and protecting us as we gaze at His stars above our succot. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom, Chag Sameach, and may Hashem in His great mercy remove the magafah from klal Yisrael and from all the nations of the world.
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
They may also be found on http://www.yutorah.org using the search criteria Etengoff and the parasha’s name.
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Chana bat Shmuel, Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, Shoshana Elka bat Avraham, Tikvah bat Rivka Perel, Peretz ben Chaim, Chaya Sarah bat Reb Yechezkel Shraga, Shmuel Yosef ben Reuven, the Kedoshim of Har Nof, Pittsburgh, and Jersey City, and the refuah shlaimah of Mordechai HaLevi ben Miriam Tovah, Moshe ben Itta Golda, Yocheved Dafneh bat Dinah Zehavah, Reuven Shmuel ben Leah, Dovid Shmuel ben Chasiyah and the health and safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.
 
The final three pasukim of Sefer Michah are found in this week’s haftarah, as well as immediately after the recitation of Sefer Yonah on Yom Kippur afternoon:

Who is a G-d like You, Who forgives iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not maintain His anger forever, for He desires loving-kindness. He shall return and grant us compassion; He shall hide our iniquities, and You shall cast into the depths of the sea all their sins. Titane emet l’Ya’akov chesed l’Avraham asher nishbata l’avoteinu mimai kedem —You shall give the truth of Jacob, the loving-kindness of Abraham, which You swore to our forefathers from days of yore. (7:18-20, This and all Tanach translation, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)
 
It appears that Chazal enacted the dual public reading of this passage based upon its ability to convey some of the major ideas inherent in our encounter with the Almighty on Yom Kippur. In brief, it contains the following six ideas:

• Hashem cannot be compared to any entity.
• The Almighty forgives avon — iniquity, and even pardons pesha — rebellious transgression.
• Hashem does not sustain his anger against us, for “He desires loving-kindness.”
• Just as we return unto our Creator (teshuvah), He will return unto us and treat us with great mercy.
• The Holy One blessed be He will hide our iniquities from His view and metaphorically toss them into the depths of the sea.
• “Titane emet l’Ya’akov chesed l’Avraham asher nishbata l’avoteinu mimai kedem.”

 
The first five statements are not unique to Sefer Michah, as they appear in various formulations in the Tanach. In contrast, “titane emet l’Ya’akov chesed l’Avraham,” introduces a new theme regarding our relationship with the Almighty. In his gloss on the 13 Attributes of Mercy presented in his Commentary on the Torah, the Abarbanel (1437-1508) explains our phrase in this manner:

This means that [Hashem] will fulfill His attestation to Ya’akov, namely, the chesed that He had promised to perform for Avraham, for from this chesed will come forth the emet, and the fulfillment to Ya’akov and his descendants who are the offspring of Avraham the chosen one; and this is the inner meaning of [the Torah’s expression [“Hashem] Who is great in chesed v’emet” (Sefer Shemot 34, this and the following R. Abarbanel translation, underlining and brackets my own)
 
Based upon his comparison of the Torah’s description of Hashem as He “Who is great in chesed v’emet,” wherein chesed is stated before emet, to Michah’s phrase, which reverses this order, the Abarbanel suggests that emet l’Ya’akov is the outcome of the chesed that Hashem promised to do on Avraham’s behalf. He expands and clarifies this idea in his commentary on the fourth chapter of Sefer Yonah:
​
And the substance of this verse [titane emet l’Ya’akov] is that the Holy One blessed be He will give the emet l’Ya’akov by bestowing upon Avraham’s descendants the chesed that he gave to him, namely, the inheritance of the Land of the Seven Nations [Israel]. It is as if the verse was stated: “Titane emet l’Ya’akov me’hachesed sh’asita l’Avraham — You shall give the emet of Ya’akov from the chesed that you performed for Avraham. [And] just as You performed chesed for him [Avraham] when he stood at the Brit bein HaBetarim — the Covenant of the Pieces, may the emet [be] the fulfillment of this covenant for all Ya’akov’s future offspring.
 
In this exegetical tour de force, the Abarbanel provides us with a powerful insight into the relationship that obtains between the chesed of Avraham and the emet of Ya’akov. In his view, the emet of Ya’akov, namely, the everlasting gift of Eretz Yisrael to Ya’akov’s descendants, results from the chesed Hashem performed for Avraham at the Brit bein HaBetarim. This unbreakable chut shel chesed — thread of grace — is inextricably interwoven into the very essence of the Jewish people. In addition, given our passage’s inclusion in the haftarah of Shabbat Shuvah and its role as the postscript to Maftir Yonah, it is clear it reflects the intrinsic nature of Yom Kippur as well. Perhaps this is the reason Chazal ordained that we conclude tefilat Neilah with the stirring words, “l’shanah habah b’Yerushalayim.” With the Almighty’s help and our fervent desire, may this time come soon and in our days. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom, G’mar Chatimah Tovah, and may Hashem in His great mercy remove the magafah from klal Yisrael and from all the nations of the world.
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
They may also be found on http://www.yutorah.org using the search criteria Etengoff and the parasha’s name.
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

Rabbi David Etengoff
Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Chana bat Shmuel, Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, Shoshana Elka bat Avraham, Tikvah bat Rivka Perel, Peretz ben Chaim, Chaya Sarah bat Reb Yechezkel Shraga, Shmuel Yosef ben Reuven, the Kedoshim of Har Nof, Pittsburgh, and Jersey City, and the refuah shlaimah of Mordechai HaLevi ben Miriam Tovah, Moshe ben Itta Golda, Yocheved Dafneh bat Dinah Zehavah, Reuven Shmuel ben Leah, Dovid Shmuel ben Chasiyah and the health and safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.
 
In a few days we will be standing before Hashem on Rosh Hashanah. Each of us will ask our Creator’s forgiveness for sins we committed over the course of the preceding year. Since this is the case, we must ask a deceptively simple question: “What is sin?”
 
In broad terms, sin is any violation of Hashem’s will. More specifically, however, three different kinds of sin are mentioned in the Torah passage that follows the most grievous violation we committed as a nation, namely, the Eigel HaZahav —the Sin of the Golden Calf:

And the L-rd passed before him [Moshe] and proclaimed: “Hashem, Hashem, G-d, Who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness and truth, preserving loving kindness for thousands, forgiving avon —iniquity and pesha — rebellion and chata’ah — sin…” (Sefer Shemot 34:6-7, this and all Bible translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach, with my emphasis and emendations for the purpose of clarity)
 
In this pasuk, Hashem teaches us that He forgives three distinct types of sin: avon, pesha, and chata’ah. In his Commentary on the Torah, Rashi (1040-1105) explains avon as a purposeful sin, a sin performed with full knowledge that it is wrong; the person’s better judgment is overcome. Such an individual has lost the battle and has succumbed to base and lowly instincts. Hedonistic pursuits have become master. Avon takes place when an individual loses self-control and is ruled by raw desire. Nonetheless, such people have not forsaken their relationship with G-d, but rather, they have forsaken their relationship with themselves by violating their intrinsic holy status.
 
Pesha is a far more grievous type of sin than avon. Rashi explains that it refers to purposeful acts of rebellion against G-d. In an act of pesha, an individual simultaneously challenges and rejects the Almighty’s role as Master of the Universe. Those who commit a pesha repudiate G-d’s hegemony and power and, instead, place themselves on His throne. Their rebellious actions undertaken with knowledge, forethought and temerity falsely proclaim that they are the ultimate authority in the universe.
 
Chata’ah is different in kind and degree than the previous types of sin for, in such a case, there is no desire to do wrong. There is no pleasure-seeking urge run amok, or desire to dethrone the Almighty. Instead, one who is involved in a chata’ah does so as a result of a lack of the requisite Torah knowledge that would have prevented the forbidden action; as such, it is an inadvertent sin. Chata’ah teaches us that a failure to learn Torah precludes the possibility of correctly living according its precepts. In short, chata’ah occurs when people fail to live up to all that they could have been — if only they would have engaged in sincere Torah study in order to properly follow Hashem’s mitzvot.
 
Teshuvah, returning to Hashem, is our greatest antidote against sin’s destructive poison. It is one of the Almighty’s greatest gifts, as it enables us to return to the correct path and reestablish our relationship with Him. My rebbi and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), gave eloquent voice to these ideas:
​
What, therefore, is teshuvah in contrast to sin? Ascent versus descent. Through sin one is an object, while teshuvah allows one to again become a subject. Through sin man is acted upon, while through teshuvah man can act once again. Through sin he is a thing, while through teshuvah he becomes a person. Through sin gravity overwhelms, while through teshuvah gravity is overcome. (From a 1974 lecture, summarized by Dr. Arnold Lustiger in Before Hashem You Shall Be Purified: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on the Days of Awe, page 34)
 
May Hashem help us encounter our sins so that we may ever ascend, and never descend. Moreover, may we become the masters of our actions, as we grow in our recognition that He is the Master of the Universe. Most of all, when we stand in prayer this Rosh Hashanah, and seek to encounter the King of the Universe once again, may each of us remember Yirmiyahu’s celebrated words: “Hashiveinu Hashem alecha v’nashuvah… — Restore us to You, O L-rd, that we may be restored!” (Megillat Eichah 5:21)  V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom, Kativah v’Chatimah Tovah, and may Hashem in His great mercy remove the magafah from klal Yisrael and from all the nations of the world.
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
They may also be found on http://www.yutorah.org using the search criteria Etengoff and the parasha’s name.
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Chana bat Shmuel, Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, Shoshana Elka bat Avraham, Tikvah bat Rivka Perel, Peretz ben Chaim, Chaya Sarah bat Reb Yechezkel Shraga, Shmuel Yosef ben Reuven, the Kedoshim of Har Nof, Pittsburgh, and Jersey City, and the refuah shlaimah of Mordechai HaLevi ben Miriam Tovah, Moshe ben Itta Golda, Yocheved Dafneh bat Dinah Zehavah, Reuven Shmuel ben Leah, Dovid Shmuel ben Chasiyah and the health and safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.
 
Parashat Nitzavim contains a celebrated pasuk that proclaims the ready accessibility of the Torah: “Lo bashamayim he — It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?’” (Sefer Devarim 30:12, this and all Torah and Rashi translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)  Rashi (1040-1105), basing himself upon Talmud Bavli Eruvin 55a, interprets the phrase “lo bashamayim he” in a direct fashion: “For if it were in heaven, you would have to climb up after it [in order] to learn it.” In other words, nothing whatsoever may stand in the way of the exceptionally important mitzvah of learning Torah.
 
Our Talmudic Sages view lo bashamayim he as the underpinning of one of the most crucial ideas in Judaism, namely, the unchanging and eternal nature of the Torah. Talmud Bavli, Baba Metziah 59b is one of the most famous narratives in Talmudic literature where this idea is given powerful voice:

On that day R. Eliezer brought forward every imaginable argument [in a highly technical dispute regarding ritual purity and impurity], but they [the other Sages] did not accept them… [Said Rabbi Eliezer:] “If the halacha agrees with me, let it be proved from Heaven!” Whereupon a Heavenly Voice (bat kol) cried out: “Why do you dispute with R. Eliezer, seeing that in all matters the halacha agrees with him!” But R. Yehoshua arose and exclaimed: “Lo bashamayim he!” What did he mean by this? — Said R. Yirmiyahu: That the Torah had already been given at Mount Sinai; we pay no attention to a Heavenly Voice (bat kol), because You [Hashem] have long since written in the Torah at Mount Sinai (Sefer Shemot 23:2), “One must follow the majority opinion.” (Translation, The Soncino Talmud with my brackets and emendations)
 
This passage is nothing less than amazing. In one fell swoop, it denies any possibility of a post-Sinaitic Torah Revelation. Moreover, it demonstrates that human reason, in conjunction with the accepted principles of Torah exegesis and majority rule, is the sole determinant in any halachic dispute — even when one of the disputants is a bat kol! Rav Moshe Feinstein zatzal (1895-1986) drew upon this interpretation of lo bashamayim he in his analysis of Chazal’s power to determine the halacha:

The Holy One blessed be He gave the Torah to the Jewish people to act according to that which they will understand of the Written Law, and that which was given to them orally (ba’al peh) at Mount Sinai — based upon [the limits of] their comprehension. Moreover, the Holy One never explained nor determined the actual practice of the laws of the Torah, since lo bashamayim he; instead, He agreed from the outset to the understanding and explanations of the Torah Sages… even if this was possibly not in accord with the Holy One blessed be He’s understanding. (Iggerot Moshe, Introduction, translation, brackets and underlining my own)
 
The fundamental import of lo bashamayim he is also the focus of Talmud Bavli, Temurah 16a:

Rav Yehudah stated in the name of Shmuel: Three thousand halachot were forgotten during the period of mourning for Moshe. They said to Yehoshua: “Ask!” He replied: “Lo bashamayim he.” They [the Jewish people] said to Shmuel [the prophet]: “Ask!” He replied: “Aleh HaMitzvot — These are the commandments,” (Sefer Vayikra 27:34) suggesting [that since the Mitzvot have been given] no prophet at this time has the right to introduce anything new [to the Torah]… They [the Jewish people] said to Pinchas: “Ask!” He replied to them: “Lo bashamayim he.” They said to Elazar: “Ask!” He replied: “Aleh HaMitzvot,” suggesting that no prophet at this time has the right to introduce anything new. (Translation, The Soncino Talmud with my emendations)
 
A careful reading of this passage reveals that we have two answers to our ancestors’ demand “Ask!”  Yehoshua and Pinchas both responded with “Lo bashamayim he,” whereas Shmuel and Elazar declared “Aleh HaMitzvot.” At first blush it seems that these replies differ widely from one another, yet, in his commentary on this Gemara, the Maharsha (Rav Shmuel Eidels, 1555-1631) views them as complementary statements:

When the Jewish people requested Yehoshua to “ask,” they wanted him to inquire from Heaven itself to make known to him the halachot that had been forgotten. He then told them lo bashamayim he, for since the time of Moshe’s death, the Torah no longer granted us the permission to ask Heaven directly to clarify doubts [and questions that may arise]…Yet, the Torah did give [Chazal] permission to determine unclear matters in accordance with the principle of majority rule —as found in Moshe’s Torah.
 
And this is the same response that was given by Shmuel… namely, no prophet at this time has the right to introduce anything new [to the Torah]. This means, that since the time of Moshe’s death, no prophet was allowed to create something new [based upon a revelation] from Heaven, for the power to legislate whether something was ritually impure or pure was now given over to the Sages — based upon the principle of majority rule. (Translation my own)
 
Based upon our sources, the concept of lo bashamayim he and the principle of majority rule represent the gold standard for halachic rulings from the moment of the Revelation at Har Sinai. As Rav Feinstein zatzal said: “The Holy One never explained nor determined the actual practice of the laws of the Torah, since lo bashamayim he; instead, He agreed from the outset to the understanding and explanations of the Torah Sages.” This is reminiscent of Hashem’s charge to Adam HaRishon when he became the steward of the world: “Now the L-rd G-d took the man, and He placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it.” (Sefer Bereishit 2:15)  Just as Adam was tasked with protecting the entire world, so, too, are we obligated to study and guard Hashem’s holy Torah. With the Holy One’s bracha, and our fervent desire, may this be so. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom, Kativah v’Chatimah Tovah, and may Hashem in His great mercy remove the magafah from klal Yisrael and from all the nations of the world.
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
They may also be found on http://www.yutorah.org using the search criteria Etengoff and the parasha’s name.
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.