[Avodah] Zecher Liytzias Mitzrayim and Shmini Atzeres

Micha Berger micha at aishdas.org
Sun Oct 15 14:31:16 PDT 2017


On Sun, Oct 15, 2017 at 04:02:06PM -0400, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
: What is the Zecher Liytzias Mitzrayim of Shmini Atzeres? ...

What's the ZlYM of Shabbos?

: Shavuos is about one particular event in the midbar. Sukkos is about the
: whole 40 years in the midbar...

Unless Sukkos is about the return of the ananei hakavod. The Gra puts 2
and 2 (and 2) together: The ananei hakavod left with the Cheit haEigel.
When Moshe returned with the 2nd luchos, completing his 3rd 40-day day
atop Har Sinai, he gave Benei Yisrael instructions including those
for donating the materials and building the Mishkan. So that actual
construction began on 15 Nissan -- and that's when the ananim returned.

The Meshekh Chimah adds to this that it explains the oconstrast between
Sukkos as described in Mishpatim 23:16, where all we learn about the
timing in the fall is that it's Chag haAsif. This was before Cheit
haEigel, never mind the eventual return. But in parashas Re'eih, the
holiday makes its appearance as Chag haSukkos, refering to the returned
sukkos of ananei hakavod.

: Pesach is about entering the midbar, and Shmini Atzeres is about leaving
: the midbar.If Sukkos is about the Ananei Hakavod and all the other nissim
: that accompanied us, then Shmini Atzeres is about re-entering the natural
: world.

My own mental image of the structure of the year:

The qiymu veqiblu haYhudim of Purim is the further development of the
theme of Shavous (a/k/a Atzeres).  And similarly the zikhronos of Rosh
haShanah is the further development of the theme of Shemini Atzeres --
the beris. In Shemini Atzeres this creates a need for a 71st par for
qorban mussaf, as well as the naturalness of our turning SA into Simchas
Torah. On RH we ask for clemency if not for our sake, than for the sake
of seeing the beris to fruition.

So that each season has a central holiday -- Sukkos or Pesach -- which
is what underlies the gezeira shava tes-vav - tes-vav. Then the season
is introduced with a something (Purim or Yamim Noraim) to prepare us
for the holiday. The bounty of Sukkos has to be earned; Tishrei is
about middas hadin after all. The freedom of Pesach needs a context.
(And Putim is derabbanan bececause the ultimate qabbalas ol mitzvos
hd to come from us.) And then the theme is culminated in an Atzeres,
a day to stop, pack it up, and take it with us for the next half-year.

That said, I like your idead of SA as reentering the natural world. It's
experientially very true, after all that holiday. It also gives more
significance to the timing of Tefillas Geshem. "Qasheh alei pereidaskhem"
does refer to that return; aalthough I think you need to work on the
difference between our return to the natural world and Hashem making
the day itself to *delay* the return. Jews and G-d without the rest
of the world.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             What we do for ourselves dies with us.
micha at aishdas.org        What we do for others and the world,
http://www.aishdas.org   remains and is immortal.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                        - Albert Pine


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