Tonight, Friday, October 2, we begin Shemini Atseret, the holiday that marks the arrival of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and, of course, in Israel. From this day on we add to our Tefila a special line praising God for creating rain. In the modern world most of us no longer live on farms and ranches but in cities and suburbs, and it’s hard to appreciate how vital rain is. For most of us, rain is more of a nuisance than a blessing. So I would like to share a few facts about rain that will help us understand a little better the beautiful Tefila mashib haruach umorid hageshem (= You are the One who makes the wind blow and makes the rain fall on the earth).

LIFE

What makes our planet unique in the universe? One might say: life. As far as we know, there is no other planet with life in the solar system or in the Milky Way. But there is another essential element, a prerequisite for life, which HaShem created before He created life. It is what scientists look for when they search other places in the universe, like Mars, for traces of life. You will probably think of water, and you will be partly right. Water is life, and life as we know it on our planet is impossible without water.

LIQUID WATER

To be more precise, a planet can only be habitable if it has liquid water. Traces of water (H2O) have been found on other planets, but frozen, as ice. On a planet like Jupiter, or on its moons, temperatures are extremely low, and water cannot stay liquid there. Our planet is privileged to be the only celestial body with liquid water. This is thanks to the Intelligent (Divine) Design of the Earth’s mass, the sun’s mass and, above all, the precisely calculated distance between our planet and the sun. All of this keeps the Earth neither too hot, where water would evaporate, as on Venus, nor too cold, where water would freeze, as on Mars.

FRESH WATER

But liquid water alone is not what sustains life on our planet. “Ordinary water,” meaning sea water, or the water some speculate once existed on Mars (this has not been confirmed), is salt water. It cannot support life as we know it for the creatures of dry land. The vast majority of plants, insects, amphibians, birds, reptiles and mammals, ourselves included, need water without salt to survive.

That precious liquid is called fresh water. Fresh water is what makes life on our planet possible. And where does fresh water, that life-giving elixir, come from? The only source of fresh water on our planet is rain, or precipitation, which includes snow and hail.

According to Maimonides (Guide for the Perplexed 2:30), the Creator set up the water cycle, the mechanism that produces rain, on the second day of Creation, when He separated the upper waters (the clouds) from the lower waters (the oceans). Rabbi Moshe Chefets, in his book Melekhet Machashevet (pp. 10-11, Vienna edition), and Rabbi Menashe ben Israel, in his book The Conciliator, among others, explain it the same way.

THE SECOND DAY OF CREATION

John Lynch, author of the BBC book The Weather (p. 84, 1996), describes clouds in his own words very much the way the Torah does: “We live on a water planet. The seas dominate the world… there is an ocean around us [sea water] and an ocean above us [the clouds].”

The Creator devoted the Second Day of Creation to setting up the miraculous mechanism that turns ocean water into the most precious liquid in the universe: rain.

HOW UNLIKELY WATER IS

Rainwater is water with very little salt. Of all the water on planet Earth, only 2.75% is fresh. Of that, 2.05% is frozen in glaciers. Another 0.69% is groundwater, which, like the glaciers, was originally produced by rain. Only 0.0101% of all the water on Earth is fresh surface water, spread across all the lakes and rivers. That incredibly small share, 0.0101% of all the water in our world, is what human beings and every other creature on dry land use to survive. And its only source is rain!

The second day of Creation was devoted to setting up the process that turns ocean water into the scarcest, most exotic and most precious liquid in the universe. That is why our Chakhamim considered rain one of God’s greatest blessings to mankind.

THE ELIXIR OF LIFE

The only source of fresh water in the entire universe is the rain that forms in the atmosphere of planet Earth.

“Imagine an entire planet where the universe’s finest liqueur is boiled out of fermenting seas by a brilliant yellow star, distilled in the skies, and rained back down on the land, forming lakes and rivers of the inebriating brew. The planet, of course, is Earth, and the liqueur is fresh water.” (L. O’Hanlon, Discovery)

By Guy Bechor, www.gplanet.co.il

What lies behind the attempt to crash an entire Emirati plane full of Israelis? Behind the scenes of a regime […] there are precise Iranian messages. What are they? Did the Iranians want a “mafia-style” hit? How to read the messages: did they mean to crash the plane? Careful! A war that topples the regime? And what did the philosopher Seneca say?

Behind an Omani pilot’s attempt to bring down the Flydubai passenger plane over Saudi territory there are clear Iranian messages. They are aimed mainly at Israel […] and at the United States. And they are messages of dangerous desperation.

“If there are no flights to Iran, then no one flies.” That is the line Iranian spokesmen have been repeating for several days. The near-total air boycott of passengers flying to and from Iran has paralyzed […]. It hurts a lot, and it is dangerous for the regime.

This month the United States imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran’s entire aviation sector, a true “economic isolation.” All Iranian airlines were added to the list of terrorist organizations. Foreign companies were barred from selling them fuel, landing services or tickets, on pain of being cut off from the dollar system.

The result is severe isolation in the air. The Emirates, Oman, Iraq and other countries [have joined the boycott], and Iran has responded by threatening the airports that comply. Russia, Turkey and Pakistan still operate Iranian flights, but the global isolation is closing in.

Oddly, the economic sanctions hurt less than people say. In videos from Tehran posted on YouTube in recent days, there is no sign of special pressure on the streets.

In response, Iran is already striking Saudi airports through its proxy groups, including the main airports in Riyadh and Jeddah. But it does not dare attack Ben Gurion Airport, because it fears Israel would use that as a pretext for a war of annihilation that brings down the regime. So it found another solution: [an attack on] Israelis, with no signature. Something that falls short of opening a war against the regime.

The dramatic meeting in the Emirates

The Emirates’ public announcement about […] hit Tehran hard. The official visit included […] of Israel and his wife, along with an Israeli wartime security team. Senior officials from other Arab countries were reportedly there too, and an agreement was reached […] against Iran when the war resumes.

And that is not all. The Tehran regime sees this as [an alliance under] Israeli [leadership], instead of the Gulf states surrendering to Tehran. The Americans are leaving, and today they evacuated all […] Iraq. The Kurds, as always, […]. Iran, Turkey and Israel are competing over who will lead the Arabs. This mysterious visit showed Iran that Israel is in the picture, and in a big way.

So this is a warning to the Emirates: if they keep up their military coordination with Israel, they will be hit […] three times over. Today it was an attempt to bring down an Emirati plane, with Israelis on board, over Saudi territory. And everyone in the Middle East understands who sent this message.

Above: the terror flight of the Israelis over Saudi territory, who had to endure this Iranian horror.

More broadly, the Abraham Accords created a reality Iran cannot tolerate. Israelis fly to Dubai and are welcomed warmly. There is tourism, business, open normalization and public agreements, including cooperation on joint defensive fortification (against suicide boats, for example).

Every tourist flight like this one, to Israel, shows Iran that the Shiite axis has failed to stop [normalization]. The central aim of October 7 was to stop normalization with Israel. So today’s attack was meant to bring fear back to the skies, shake passengers’ confidence and pressure the Emirates to back off.

There is a straight line from the October 7 mega-attack to today’s attempted air attack. In both cases Iran wanted to stop normalization.

Iran has attacked Gulf airspace before. But this time it used […] an insider. That lets it say, “We can reach anywhere,” in a softer way, [without paying] the price of a direct clash with Israel or the United States.

Did they want to destroy the plane?

Did the Tehran regime want to destroy the plane, or only to stage a major attack without […] fatal? There are two possibilities. Either the pilot was an amateur, which does not seem likely in an Iranian operation that needed to be precise, or he was told not to go all the way.

The big [question] is the cockpit. Since 9/11, the modern cockpit door locks automatically and is armored. [It cannot be opened] from outside, except with an emergency code that starts a 30-to-60-second timer. Had the terrorist pilot locked it and pressed the “Deny” switch, blocking entry completely, the passengers probably would not have gotten in in time, and the plane [would have crashed].

[There are other explanations:] the door may not have been fully locked during the struggle between the pilots, the captain may have managed to keep it accessible, or the attacker may have been too busy stabbing and putting the plane into a dive to block the entrance. The passengers heard screams, or the door opened; they went in, subdued the terrorist and pulled him out. Then they locked the door themselves.

In an attack like this, locking the cockpit is the first and essential task. That it was not done is strange. To be clear, we are not trying to defend the Tehran regime, only to understand the reasons behind the message it sent with this attack.

Does the regime want war?

Iran does not want an all-out war right now, because it knows that this time the regime could fall. A direct war would expose its weaknesses: [lack of] internal calm and the earlier blows to its military facilities. It prefers warning shots, deterrence, attrition and limited […] intimidation, which sow doubt about air safety and make the Gulf states ask whether [the alliance with Israel] is worth the risk. The same goes for Saudi Arabia.

The goal is not to bring down a plane. The goal is to make Israelis, Israel and its partners think twice before boarding a flight, attacking Iran or normalizing relations. The question is not how many people died, but how many panicked or changed [their plans].

This is the classic Iranian style: a bloody warning. An attack like this shows nervousness and worry in the Tehran regime, to the point of being willing to take dangerous action, [close to] crossing the big red line.

The question now is how Jerusalem and Washington will respond to these bloody messages. Before the midterm elections, going back to an intense war is not convenient right now, and the Iranians know it. That is the timing, the reason they chose this exact moment. The more serious the threat of toppling the regime becomes, the stronger and more dangerous [their messages] will be, and we need to be ready for that.

And Seneca, the Roman philosopher, said: Nullus perniciosior hostis est quam quem audacem angustiae faciunt. That is: “No enemy is more dangerous than one whom desperation has made bold.”

ARBA’AT HAMINIM

This year Sukkot begins on Friday night, September 25. The first day is Shabbat, and the second day of Yom Tob is Sunday the 27th.

The essential difference from an ordinary year is that on the first day of Sukkot we will not take the lulab and the etrog. The first day we say the berakha will be Sunday morning.

COOKING

Another important point to keep in mind is that we do not cook on Shabbat for Sunday. On Yom Tob cooking is permitted, but only for that same day. On Shabbat we do not cook for later.

So before Shabbat begins we need the basics ready for Sunday’s Yom Tob meal. There are two options: leave the food prepared from before Shabbat, or cook on Sunday itself, once Shabbat has ended.

ERUB TABSHILIN

This year we do not make erub tabshilin. That procedure only applies when Yom Tob falls immediately before Shabbat, and in 5787 that does not happen at any point during Sukkot.

SATURDAY NIGHT CANDLES

The Yom Tob candles are lit on Saturday night, after Shabbat has ended, and they are lit from a flame that was already burning since before Shabbat.

This is why it is a good idea to leave a long candle burning from Friday, one of 48 or 72 hours.

וּלְקַחְתֶּ֨ם לָכֶ֜ם בַּיּ֣וֹם הָרִאשׁ֗וֹן פְּרִ֨י עֵ֤ץ הָדָר֙ כַּפֹּ֣ת תְּמָרִ֔ים וַעֲנַ֥ף עֵץ־עָבֹ֖ת וְעַרְבֵי־נָ֑חַל וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם לִפְנֵ֛י ה׳ אֱלֹ-הֵיכֶ֖ם שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִֽים׃

“And you shall take on the first day [of Sukkot] the fruit of a citron tree (etrog), branches of palm trees (lulab), a branch of myrtle (hadas) and willows of the brook (‘araba), and you shall rejoice before HaShem, your God, for seven days” (Leviticus 23:40).

THE MITSVA. The Torah tells us to take four plants during the festival of Sukkot, three branches and one fruit: one lulab (a young branch of a date palm), two ‘arabot (willow branches), three hadasim (myrtle branches) and one etrog (a citron, a fruit that looks like a lemon). The Mitsva is known as the four species (ארבעת המינים) or the Mitsva of lulab.

Performing it is called netilat lulab, “lifting” the lulab. The four species are taken in both hands, the lulab, the hadasim and the ‘arabot in the right hand and the etrog in the left, held in the direction in which they grew.

THIS YEAR. The Mitsva is performed every day of Sukkot except Shabbat. Since the first day of Sukkot falls on Shabbat this year, the lulab is not taken on Saturday the 26th. The first time we take it will be Sunday, September 27, and that is the day for both blessings. One practical detail: have the lulab tied and assembled before sunset on Friday, because it cannot be tied on Shabbat or on Yom Tob.

THE BLESSING. On the first day we take the four species, this year a Sunday, we recite two blessings: ‘al netilat lulab and shehecheyanu, thanking God for bringing us to this moment. On the other days of Sukkot only ‘al netilat lulab is recited.

Every Mitsva has to be performed after the blessing is said. That is why some people hold the etrog with its stem (the pitam) facing up before the blessing, and turn it into its proper position only afterwards. This way the berakha is not said over a Mitsva already fulfilled, which would make it a berakha lebatala, a blessing said in vain. Others prefer not to hold the etrog at all until the blessing is said.

WOMEN. Women are formally exempt from the Mitsva of lulab. Even so, in most communities it is customary for them to perform it as well, and that is considered meritorious. The traditions differ about the blessing: in the Sephardic tradition women do not recite it, in the Ashkenazic tradition they do.

THE NA’ANU’IM. After the blessing come the na’anu’im, the movements of the lulab in six directions. The Sephardic custom today is to move it without shaking it (holakha vehaba’a) toward the south, the north, the east, up, down and west. This order was established by the sages of the Kabbala and differs from the one Maimonides describes, which Ashkenazic Jews follow closely.

WHAT DO THE MOVEMENTS MEAN?

אמר רבי יוחנן: מוליך ומביא – למי שהארבע רוחות שלו, מעלה ומוריד – למי שהשמים והארץ שלו. במערבא מתנו הכי, אמר רבי חמא בר עוקבא אמר רבי יוסי ברבי חנינא: מוליך ומביא – כדי לעצור רוחות רעות, מעלה ומוריד – כדי לעצור טללים רעים.

Ribbi Yochanan explains that we move the lulab back and forth and then up and down to thank HaShem, “the One who owns the four winds,” for the winds that brought the rain in its season during the harvest just ended. Why thank God for good winds on Sukkot? Because by Sukkot the Jewish farmer has already gathered in everything the year produced. Rabbi Abohab explains that we give thanks precisely then, so as not to forget God at the moment when we have everything we need.

Ribbi Yose bar Ribbi Chanina reads the same movements differently. The lulab stands for the winds, and moving it is a prayer asking HaShem to protect the coming year’s harvest: to spare us the destructive winds that bring drought and locusts, and the harmful rains that ruin the produce of the land.

Which opinion do we follow? Do we thank God for the past or ask Him for the year ahead? We do both, in the Hallel. To thank Him we wave and lift the lulab, as one would bring an offering, while saying HODU LASHEM KI TOB, KI LE’OLAM CHASDO. To ask Him for the year ahead we wave it while saying ANNA HASHEM HOSHIA NA, “Please, HaShem, save us,” meaning: save us from the winds and the weather that could leave us with nothing to eat.

If prayers about wind and rain do not move us much, it is because we are lucky enough to live in an age of abundance. We have so much food, barukh HaShem, that it is hard to picture the hunger a single year without rain once brought to the people who worked the land.

Four plants that resemble each other in nothing, that grow in different places and need completely different amounts of water, are taken together and in one hand. If one of them is missing, there is no Mitsva.

לְמַ֨עַן֮ יֵדְע֣וּ דֹרֹֽתֵיכֶם֒ כִּ֣י בַסֻּכּ֗וֹת הוֹשַׁ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּהוֹצִיאִ֥י אוֹתָ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י ה׳ אֱלֹ-הֵיכֶֽם׃

“…so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am HaShem, your God” (Leviticus 23:43).

This coming Friday night, September 25, we begin the celebration of Sukkot, the festival that recalls our forty-year crossing of the desert, from Egypt to the Promised Land: Israel. This year the first day falls on Shabbat.

The Torah says plainly that we celebrate Sukkot in order to remember “that God settled us in sukkot” when He took us out of Egypt.

But what were those sukkot? What were they made of?

HUTS

According to Ribbi Akiba, the sukkot were simply huts, cabins with a roof of branches. They did not keep out the weather the way a real roof does, but they gave shade, which in the desert is no small thing. On this reading, when we build the Sukka and live in it, we relive the journey through the desert.

There are at least two objections to this literal reading.

When the Torah describes where the Jews lived in the desert, it uses the Hebrew word ohel, tents, probably made of animal skins. It never mentions huts or cabins.

The second objection is sharper. Why does the Torah say that God settled the Israelites in huts? The huts Ribbi Akiba has in mind would have been built by the people themselves, not by God.

CLOUDS OF GLORY

Ribbi Eliezer disagrees with Ribbi Akiba and holds that in this verse “sukkot” does not mean huts at all. Whatever the dwellings in the desert were made of, wood or skins, what we are meant to remember is that during those forty years the Jewish people were protected by God. Ribbi Eliezer called that Divine Protection “clouds of glory.” Seven clouds with which HaShem protected Israel: four around the camp, one above, one below, and a seventh out in front, three days ahead, showing them the way.

Why were protective clouds necessary? Because crossing a desert is dangerous. Water and food are not enough.

There are at least four serious challenges in crossing a desert:

Weather: Scorching heat by day, cold at night, unpredictable winds and sandstorms. Remember what happened to the army of Cambyses in Egypt. In 525 BCE, Cambyses sent fifty thousand soldiers to destroy the Temple of Amon at Siwa. After seven days in the desert they vanished, most likely buried under a sandstorm. Is it not remarkable that in forty years in the desert not one weather event touched the Jews?

Attacks: Deserts have bandits and thieves. In the case of the Jewish people, after the war with Amalek no further attack was recorded.

Animals: Deserts are full of poisonous snakes and scorpions. It is easy to step on one and be bitten.

Direction: Moshe asked his father in law Yitro to come along, since he knew the desert well. Yitro refused. The seventh cloud, the amud esh ve’anan, the pillar of fire and cloud, guided the people like a modern GPS.

INVISIBLE CLOUDS

Now we can understand Ribbi Eliezer better. The Hebrew word for cloud, ‘anan, is not to be taken here as the white clouds of the sky. “Cloud” is used metaphorically, for a Divine mechanism that protected the Jewish people. Those invisible clouds, shielding them from every side, can be compared today to firewalls that block an attack before it lands. The cloud above protected from the weather, the one below from the venomous animals. And the seventh, the pillar, led the people and showed them the way.

Our Sages weighed the two opinions and ruled in favor of Ribbi Eliezer.

When we walk into the Sukka we should remember that HaShem protected our ancestors from every danger of the desert.

SEVEN CLOUDS, SEVERAL LAYERS

In our own day the Clouds of Glory are easier to picture than ever. Medinat Israel lives under several layers of protection, and each one covers what the previous one cannot reach: Iron Dome for short range rockets, David’s Sling for medium range, Arrow for long range ballistic missiles. Seven clouds, each with its own job.

On December 28, 2025, a new layer was added. The Ministry of Defense delivered to the army the first laser interception system, Iron Beam, or as I prefer to call it, the Laser Sukka. Its Hebrew name is Or Eitan, after Captain Eitan Oster z”l, a commander in the Egoz unit, twenty two years old, killed in Lebanon in October 2024. It is a laser of roughly a hundred kilowatts that brings down drones, rockets and mortar shells, and every shot costs a tiny fraction of an interceptor missile.

It is not yet fully operational. Eight months after delivery, the final adjustments and the integration with Iron Dome were still under way. But it is no longer a distant promise. It exists, it was delivered, and it carries the name of a twenty two year old soldier who died defending his people. In Israel, divine protection works alongside human ingenuity and human sacrifice.

A NEW CLOUD OF PROTECTION

This past July Israel presented a system that resembles none of the others. It is called HYPNOSIS, it was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, and what sets it apart is that it fires nothing.

Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow shoot things down. They intercept the incoming projectile and destroy it in the air. HYPNOSIS does not destroy. It confuses.

Mobile stations are placed around whatever needs protecting, all linked to a single command center. Together they generate an invisible electromagnetic cloud. Inside that cloud the enemy drone stops receiving the satellite signal that guides it. Or something subtler happens: it receives a false signal and comes to believe it is flying somewhere it is not. It loses its bearings and falls. Hence the name.

There is no interceptor, no explosion, no cost per shot. Until now, bringing down a thousand dollar drone took a hundred thousand dollar missile. One HYPNOSIS station can disorient dozens of drones at once, all at the same price. In testing it neutralized, on its own and with no human operator, several aircraft converging on a single target from different directions.

The image is worth sitting with. The clouds in the desert were not clouds of water. They were, according to Ribbi Eliezer, an invisible protective mechanism that surrounded the people on every side. Today Israel has an invisible cloud that surrounds on every side whatever it wants to protect.

And there is one more thing. When the Egyptians chased Israel to the sea, the Torah does not say that HaShem destroyed them on the spot. It says the cloud came between the two camps, and that HaShem confused the camp of Egypt:

וַיָּ֕הׇם אֵ֖ת מַחֲנֵ֥ה מִצְרָֽיִם׃

“And He confused the camp of Egypt” (Shemot 14:24). He took the wheels off their chariots and made them drive heavily. The first weapon of the exodus from Egypt was not a weapon. It was a cloud that made the enemy lose its way.

Three thousand three hundred years later, the same principle is back on the battlefield.

May HaShem go on protecting Israel from our many enemies, as He protected our ancestors in the desert.

לְמַ֨עַן֮ יֵדְע֣וּ דֹרֹֽתֵיכֶם֒ כִּ֣י בַסֻּכּ֗וֹת הוֹשַׁ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּהוֹצִיאִ֥י אוֹתָ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י ה׳ אֱלֹ-הֵיכֶֽם׃

“You shall dwell in sukkot for seven days. Every native in Israel shall dwell in sukkot, so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am HaShem, your God” (Leviticus 23:42-43).

This Friday night, September 25, we begin the celebration of Sukkot. This year the first day falls on Shabbat. Sukkot, followed by Shemini Atseret and Simchat Torah, runs until Sunday night, October 4.

For seven days we leave our homes and settle in the Sukka. We eat there, we study there, and if the weather and our health allow it, we sleep there. Sukkot commemorates the forty-year journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, when God provided everything we needed and protected us from the dangers of the desert. By dwelling in the Sukka we relive that gratitude and that trust in Divine Protection, which has not stopped since.

The Sages explained that to fulfill this Mitsva we have to turn the Sukka into our main residence for the seven days of Sukkot, and our house into the temporary one. That means doing in the Sukka the ordinary things we normally do at home. Some examples:

MEALS: Except when it rains, we eat in the Sukka, above all the formal meals that include bread (hamotsi and birkat hamazon), reciting the blessing: “…asher kiddeshanu bemitsvotav vetsivanu liysheb basukka.”

MEZONOT: Cakes, cookies and other mezonot foods are also eaten in the Sukka. If they are eaten as a snack between meals, the blessing for the Sukka is not recited. Some families in our community follow the old Sephardic custom, based on Maimonides, of reciting liysheb basukka every time they enter the Sukka to eat or drink something.

SNACKS: Light foods such as fruit or coffee may be taken outside the Sukka, although it is praiseworthy to eat and drink nothing outside it during Sukkot.

SLEEPING: Sleeping in the Sukka is part of the Mitsva, but it depends on the weather, on one’s health, and on other factors such as safety or the presence of animals.

Seven days in a house without a roof teach something unexpected: almost nothing we thought we could not live without at home turned out to be necessary. That is exactly what the Sukka came to teach.

The days of Sukkot were celebrated with extraordinary joy in the Bet haMiqdash. Beyond the biblical commandment of taking the four species (ארבעת המינים), two other Mitsvot were kept in the Temple. One was nisukh hamayim, the water libation, the ceremony of pouring water on the altar. The other was mitsvat ‘araba, the commandment of the willow branches. Both were about water.

NISUKH HAMAYIM

The rabbis describe the joy of the water libation:

“He who has not seen the celebration of the water libation has never experienced true joy. Big golden lamps were hoisted, with four cups of gold on top of each lamp. Four young apprentice priests rose to the top, carrying large oil jugs to fill the lamps. Once lit, there was no courtyard in Jerusalem that did not shine with the light coming from the Temple. Special balconies were built so the women of Israel could see the Sages of the Sanhedrin as they danced. People sang, and the righteous and pious men danced before them while juggling lighted torches. The Levites stood on the fifteen steps leading down from the court of Israel to the court of the women, playing lyres, harps, trumpets and many other instruments. Two priests stood at the top of the stairs, on each side of the entrance to the great door of the court, and sounded the silver trumpets. They did all this to honor the commandment of the water libation. At dawn, the people came down singing to the spring of Shiloach, at the foot of the walls of Jerusalem. One of the Cohanim carried a special jug of gold and filled it with water from the spring. Then the congregation walked back up to the Temple, led by the Cohen bearing the water. At the Temple, the Cohen brought the vessel to the altar and poured the water into a silver basin at one of its corners” (Mishna Sukka, chapter 5).

The ceremony was known as Simchat Bet haSho’eba. It opened the prayers for rain, and it was accompanied by Tefilot and psalms of praise, trusting that HaShem would bless the land and its produce with rain in the season ahead.

MITSVAT ‘ARABA

The second ceremony was separate from the two willow branches tied to the lulab. Outside Jerusalem there was a place called Motsa, which still exists under the same name, on the banks of the Soreq river. Every day of Sukkot people went down to Motsa and cut large willow branches, about twenty feet high. They stood the branches around the foot of the altar with their tops bent over it. The altar was sixteen feet high, so the branches rose a few feet above it on all four sides.

Every day of Sukkot the Cohanim, and according to other opinions the elders of the city, circled the altar once with their lulabim in hand, praying “Anna HaShem hoshi’a na, Anna HaShem hatslicha na.” Please, God, save us. Please, God, grant us success. On the seventh and last day, Hosha’na Rabba, they circled the altar seven times.

Today we circle the bima, the platform where the Sefer Torah is placed, with our lulabim and etrogim, in memory of the mitsvat ‘araba of the Bet haMiqdash. We do it every day of Sukkot except Shabbat. This year the first day of Sukkot falls on Shabbat, September 26, so the hakafot begin on Sunday the 27th. Hosha’na Rabba falls on Friday, October 2, and that morning we circle the bima seven times.

CHABATAT ‘ARABA

One more ritual belongs to the mitsva of the ‘araba, a tradition established by the last prophets of Israel, Chaggai, Malakhi and Zekharia, after the destruction of the first Temple. At the end of the Tefila of Hosha’na Rabba we take a few willow branches, the custom is five, and they cannot be the ones used with the lulab, and without any blessing we strike them against the ground. The practice is called chabatat (or chibut) ‘araba.

WHY THE ‘ARABA

Why this much attention to the willow?

Our rabbis explain that by the end of Sukkot the Heavenly Court issues the verdict on the rain that will fall in the coming year (bachag niddonim al hamayim). That is why, following a custom of the Kabbala, many stay awake through the night of Hosha’na Rabba studying Torah. This year that is Thursday night, October 1. Anyone planning to stay up should have everything ready for Shabbat beforehand, since Shemini Atseret begins the next evening.

Rain is the one element our sustenance cannot do without. The ‘araba is the plant that needs the most water and the first of the four species to dry out. It stands for our vulnerability. And striking the branches against the ground, watching them lose their leaves with every stroke, is a way of absorbing how fragile we are, and how completely we depend on God, not only for prosperity but for survival.

The next morning is Shemini Atseret, Shabbat, October 3. In the Musaf Amida we stop saying morid hatal and begin saying mashib haruach umorid hageshem. Everything the Temple did with water for seven days, the golden jug, the spring, the dancing, the willow branches around the altar, we now carry in a single sentence of the Amida.

FOUR JEWS, FOUR IDEAS

Our Sages said that the four plants we take on Sukkot stand for the Jewish community: four kinds of people, differing from one another in how much Torah they know and how much of it they keep.

The etrog, which has a good smell and a pleasant taste, stands for the Jew who knows the Torah and keeps it. The Sages read the metaphor this way. Taste stands for the study of Torah, since learning should be pleasant and sweet. Smell stands for keeping the Mitsvot, whose intention should always be selfless. The lulab, a branch of the date palm, comes from a tree whose fruit is very sweet but has no fragrance at all. The lulab stands for the one who studies Torah but does not fully keep it. The myrtle, hadas in Hebrew, has a pleasant smell but no taste (you cannot make tea from its leaves). The myrtle stands for the one who keeps the Torah but does not study it, and never reaches its depth. And then the willow, the ‘araba, with neither taste nor smell, standing for the Jew who is not observant and never had the chance to learn Torah.

The Jewish community, the Sages said two thousand years ago, is these four people. On Sukkot, carefully and with devotion, we put every member of the Jewish community together in our hands. If one of them is missing, we have not fulfilled this beautiful commandment.

What is the message in having every member of this varied community present?

THE CHALLENGE OF THE ETROG

First, the metaphor teaches that the etrog, already held apart from the other three plants, must not stay apart from the community. It has to join those who are less than it is, to stand next to those who do not keep or do not know the Torah. And by doing that, by staying joined instead of separating, it perfumes the others with its fragrance. Once the etrog joins the rest, we say the blessing and lift all four plants at once.

What turns the etrog into a good influence? The etrog has to be strict above all about everything that has to do with derekh erets: manners, honesty, humility and respect for other people. And if on top of that the etrog lives his observance with joy, he becomes impossible to resist.

Why did the Sages have to insist that the etrog not separate? In my opinion, because the opposite happens often enough. Many religious Jews choose to withdraw from the community and keep company only with other etrogim “like me.” The temptation is understandable. Will I be able to influence the rest of the community, or will I end up influenced by those who know and keep less than I do? According to this and other teachings of our Sages (see for example כל תענית שאין בה מפושעי ישראל אינה תענית שהרי חלבנה ריחה רע ומנאה הכתוב עם סממני הקטורת), pulling away from the rest of the community would be like trying to fulfill the Mitsva of lulab with four etrogim.

Sometimes this polarization is not deliberate but careless. If the etrog does not hold to the values of derekh erets with the same rigor he applies to ritual. If his observance is not matched by honesty, humility and unconditional respect for other people, his bad example can swing all the other plants to the edge. Or past it. As we read this past Shabbat in Haazinu, when the Torah comes across badly to someone watching or listening, it is because those of us who are supposed to represent it are representing it badly.

THE PROBLEM OF THE ‘ARABA

On the other side, the ‘araba, the Jew who knows less or does not keep the Mitsvot, has to keep an open mind and be willing to learn. To allow that his negative opinions about the Torah may be nothing more than prejudice. That he may have judged the whole tree of Judaism by a few rotten apples. That it is never too late to learn or to change your mind.

Do you know who taught me this? My father, z”l. Like a great many other Jews, my father grew up in a family that kept nothing. He never went to a Jewish school and never had the chance to learn to read Hebrew. My father was perhaps an ‘araba, but a beautiful ‘araba. Because although he was not religious, he was never antireligious. He never objected to his son learning more about Judaism or wanting to keep more. He was glad when I started studying Torah as a teenager. That attitude kept him inside the virtual community of the four plants his whole life.

Many non observant Jews, unfortunately, and for a long list of reasons I cannot go into here, cross to the other side. They cross the line of the ‘araba, the red line that separates them from tolerance, and their lack of religion turns into a toxic antireligious activism. When that happens, the sacred pact of the community of the four plants breaks, and the separation is unavoidable. The consequences of antireligion have always been catastrophic for the Jewish people.

All of us, the members of this brotherhood of four plants, have to do everything we can to practice respect and tolerance toward every single person in Am Israel. Our highest goal is to stay together. To grow and rise together. Understanding that what unites us counts for far more than what sets us apart.

Today, Sunday September 20, a little before sunset, the holiest day of the Jewish year begins.

This is what we do on the eve of Yom Kippur.

ASKING FORGIVENESS

The offenses we have committed against another person are NOT forgiven on Yom Kippur unless we first obtain forgiveness from the person we have hurt or offended. So we must go and see (or at least call, email, or send a message to) anyone we have harmed, offended, or hurt, whether we meant to or not, and ask for forgiveness. This includes friends, colleagues, husband and wife, and other family members. We must pay special attention to asking our parents for forgiveness.

FORGIVING

It is a beautiful gesture and a great merit to forgive, unilaterally and sincerely, all those friends and family members who have hurt or offended us, clearing out the negative feelings that may be breeding resentment in our hearts. Remember what the Sages explained: God judges us and forgives us the same way we judge and forgive others. We, parents, should forgive our children in our hearts, so that they do not feel guilty of transgressing the Fifth Commandment.

EATING

On the eve of Yom Kippur we should eat and drink more than usual. Eating abundantly will give us the energy and the strength to fast. According to some rabbis, such as Menorat haMaor, the extra food on the eve of Yom Kippur makes up for the festive meals (Yom Tob) that we do not have on Yom Kippur, since Yom Kippur is, in essence, a day of celebration. Before the fast begins we have the se’udat hamafseqet, the last meal before fasting.

We must finish eating about 15 to 20 minutes before sunset. In New York the sun sets today at 6:55 pm. See the times for your own city here.

TEFILA

We should review our Tefilot and try to understand what we are going to say in our prayers, and especially in the Viduy, the confession prayer. It is advisable to have in mind the wrong actions and the bad habits we have fallen into, so that we can admit them, articulate them, and, God willing, change them.

TSEDAQA and KAPPAROT

It is a very good custom to give extra charity on the eve of Yom Kippur. Practicing tsedaqa is one of the best ways to show our renewed commitment to goodness and righteousness. It is also highly recommended to do the Kapparot with Tsedaqa.

MIKVE

In many communities it is customary for men to immerse in the Mikve (ritual bath) on the eve of Yom Kippur. This reminds us of the Kohen Gadol, who purified himself in the Mikve before performing his Sacred Service (‘abodat Yom haKippurim).

MINCHA GEDOLA

Today it is customary to pray Mincha early. In some communities the custom is to pray today’s Mincha with Talit and Tefilin. During the Amida we recite the Viduy. Then we go home and prepare for the last meal before the fast.

ADDING TIME

We must abstain from the five prohibitions of Kippur, and from doing any work prohibited on Yom Kippur just as we do on Shabbat (melakha), approximately 15 to 20 minutes before sunset, fulfilling the Mitsva of adding time on the eve of Yom Kippur. For the same reason, we also delay the end of Yom Kippur until a little after nightfall.

LIGHTING THE CANDLES

There are different customs regarding the obligation to light candles on the eve of Yom Kippur, since the main reason for lighting candles before Shabbat and Yom Tob is to have light for the meal, which obviously does not happen on Yom Kippur. The opinion of Rabbi Obadia Yosef (Sephardic) and Rabbi Melamed (Ashkenazic) is that women should light the candles and say the berakha the way they do before Shabbat begins, about 15 to 20 minutes before sunset.

The berakha is: …asher qiddeshanu bemitsvotav vetsivanu lehadliq ner shel Yom haKippurim.

As for the berakha Shehecheyanu, it is best that women, like men, listen to the blessing recited at Kol Nidre. If that is not possible, in many Sephardic communities the custom is for the woman to say Shehecheyanu herself. But she should know that by saying this blessing she is accepting Yom Kippur, and from that moment she may not eat or drink, do any prohibited work, or wear leather shoes. In some Sephardic communities women light the candles without saying any berakha.

LEAVING A CANDLE LIT FOR HABDALA

On Monday night, at the end of Yom Kippur, we recite the Habdala, as we do at the end of a Yom Tob, but with two differences.

First, we do not say the blessing of besamim. Why? Because when Shabbat ends we smell an aromatic plant as an expression of consolation for the sadness that the Seventh Day is over. But at the end of Yom Kippur we are not sad. On the contrary: we are happy, because we have been forgiven by the Creator of the world and all our sins have been erased.

Second, we recite the blessing Bore Meore haEsh, even though it is not Saturday night. But this berakha is said only if we have a candle that was lit before Yom Kippur. The Chakhamim instructed us to recite this blessing to point out that during Yom Kippur we could not use the fire of that candle to cook or to light other candles, as we do on Yom Tob. Looking now at this candle that went unused (ner sheshabat), we declare the difference between Yom Kippur and an ordinary day.

So before Yom Kippur begins we leave a special candle burning, a ner neshama, or any long-burning candle. If no candle has been left burning from before, we do not say Bore Meore haEsh at the Habdala.

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