A Great Sukkot Miracle has Happened - Simchat Torah 5757

 I start with a wish for a “Gut Moed,” a good and joyous holiday.  This is a greeting that many write at the top of any correspondence during Chol Hamoed, the intermediate days of a holiday, to acknowledge that we limit our work during this time, and even limit what we write, as laid out in the Code of Jewish Law. 

I am writing these lines on Wednesday, under the influence of the news of the miraculous salvation of many Jews on the Flydubai flight.  I imagine that by the time you read this we will know many more details of the whys and hows, but one thing seems to be sure:  We have witnessed an open miracle.  Miracles don;t have to be splitting the sea.  There are many examples of Hashem tweaking nature in a way that seems natural.  But as we say in the story of Purim, when Mordechai and Esther each “happened to be” in the right place at the right time, and so many other great miracles, everything just “happened to fit” and people and things happened to be in the right place at the right time.  It's only if you open your eyes and look at the big picture that you can clearly see the Hand of Hashem behind all these little "coincidences”.

We are reading words like “unprecedented” regarding saving a plane that was intentionally crashing.  A man who knew to pull back on the yoke to stop the plane from lunging to the ground because he had watched a TV show,  Off duty pilots on the plane who were able to take over and land.  Passengers being able to get into the cockpit in the first place.  These are initial reports coming in from various sources, but putting it together it seems to me that we have to thank Hashem for a true miracle.

This is especially appropriate for this time, the holiday of Sukkot.  Every day of the holiday we say “Hallel,” praising and thanking Hashem for His miracles.  On a more mystical level, Chassidus and Kabbalah tell us that the “Schach,” the covering of the Sukkah, represents the cloud of smoke created by the Kohen Gadol burning incense on Yom Kippur in the Holy of Holies.  In that space, Hashem;s essence was revealed, and that all encompassing light is expressed in the Sukkah.  We look up and see branches or bamboo mats, because Hashem wants us to be in the physical world and work within its confines.  But behind the physical facade there is the essence of Hashem.  This is similar to Hashem’s miraculous control of the world, hidden behind natural events.

This also correlates with the upcoming holiday of Simchat Torah, when we conclude the annual cycle of reading the Torah and start again from the beginning, and dance and sing with the Torah with great joy.  The Torah is words on parchment.  We can read the words and think that there are interesting stories in the Torah, and moral and ethical guidelines that have withstood the test of time.  But there is much more to Torah behind what meets the eye.

This is one explanation of why the Torah begins with the second letter of the Aleph Bet - Bet, as in Bereshit, as opposed to with an Aleph.  The Torah starts with the words “Bereshit Bara Elokim - In the beginning G-d created.  It could have said “Elokim Bara Bereshit” - G-d created in the beginning, and that would open with an Aleph.  The Hebrew letters are holy letters, each representing a “light” or flow of Hashem’s energy.  You would think that the Torah, the great eternal teaching from Hashem for how to live our lives, would begin with an Aleph, the very beginning of everything.  But there is an important message here.

Bet is the second letter, and that is how the words of the Torah begin, because there is an “Aleph” that comes before it.  When Hashem descended onto Mount Sinai and gave everyJew the Torah directly, He started with the word “Anochi” - I am Hashem, and that begins with an Aleph.  As we look at the physical letters and words of the Torah, we should remember the Aleph - that it is Hashem’s will and His words that we are reading and learning.  Because the whole world is that way, including us physical human beings.  Behind the facade of nature and physical things, there is the constant Divine energy that animates everything.  Our purpose on Earth is to see and reveal that, and to fuse the two together by observing the Mitzvot with the physical world.

If we open our eyes and look for the hidden spiritual light, we see the Hand of Hashem in everything.  We don’t know why we endured so much, including the upcoming anniversary of October 7, but we do know that Hashem has not forsaken us or the world, and miracles happen all the time.   

Throughout our history, even in the darkest times, Jews have danced with the Torah on Simchat Torah.  This great day is a reminder of our bond with Hashem and His covenant with us, that transcends all boundaries, and brings together all Jews from all walks of life. I invite you to join us for the various Simchat Torah celebrations.  

We look forward to the day when Hashem's light will no longer be hidden beyond a face, but will be revealed openly, with the coming of Moshaich.