The Power of Names

 

“And the Lord God formed from the earth every beast of the field and every fowl of the heavens, and He brought [it] to man to see what he would call it, and whatever the man called each living thing, that was its name.” (Bereishit 2:19.) The Midrash says that the angels complained against man. To prove man's worthiness, God brought all the animals before the angels and asked them what they each should be called. The angels could not name the animals. Then He brought them to Adam who was able to name each animal.

          The simple understanding is that Adam correctly understood each animal's unique characteristics and its purpose in this world and gave them a name that described their essence. Rav Yeruchom Levovitz suggests that what transpired was actually much deeper. Adam did not just describe the animals by naming them. The names he chose were prescriptive, not just descriptive.  Reb Yeruchom explains that by naming the animals Adam declared what the animal would be. Because Adam called it a certain name that became its destiny and its future. Adam’s ability to name the animals was proof of man's greatness, his partnership with God in Creation, and mastery over the rest of creation.

          This lesson for us is that we are not just passive players who must learn to deal with the world as it is. It is within our power to determine the nature of the world and to change it, both for good or for evil.

          The Midrash continues that Hashem asked Adam what Hashem's name should be and Adam said “Ado-nai”, for Hashem is our master and the master of the universe. It is man that determines even Hashem's role in this world. Hashem acts with us in accordance with the way we relate to Him, with the name we give Him. If we relate to Hashem as our Omnipotent merciful Father, that is how He will treat us. If we don't relate to Hashem as the all-powerful ruler of every facet of our lives but choose to relate more to the laws of nature and our own abilities, then Hashem will leave us to the whims of nature and to our own devices, which won't get us very far. Man truly rules the world.

          When it came to his own name, man called himself Adam as in Adama, the lowly earth.  This demonstrated Adam's great modesty.  He wanted to remind himself that although he is partners with the Divine and can rule the world, he is of lowly makeup and should always remain humble.

          However, Rav Yehonoson Eibushitz says that the name Adam is in fact a very exalted name.  Adam is derived from the words, “Adameh L'Elyon”, “I am similar to the High One.”  A person is created B'Tzelem Elokim and is compared to God Himself.  Rav Eibushitz notes that even the comparison to Adama, the earth, is also very exalted.  Just like the earth never disintegrates and remains forever, similarly a person's neshama is eternal. His good deeds are also eternal.

 

Celebrating Our Efforts

 

The Torah explains that we celebrate Sukkot due to the fact that Hashem enabled the Jewish People to dwell in sukkot while in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. As it says in Vayikra 23:43:

“In order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I am the LORD your God.”

      The Talmud in Sukkah records a dispute about the makeup of this sukkot (Sukkah 11):

“These booths were clouds of glory, this is the statement of Rabbi Eliezer. Rabbi Akiva says: They established for themselves actual sukkot.”

      According to Rabbi Eliezer we understand why we established a joyous holiday commemorating those original sukkot. Those sukkot were comprised of miraculous Clouds of Glory. They were a clear indication- to the Jewish People and the entire world- of God’s care and protection of Bnai Yisrael. Recalling this miraculous event allows us to remember that even during less miraculous times, God is with us and He protects the Jewish People. This is clearly a good reason to celebrate and to establish an annual holiday. But what about according to Rabbi Akiva? He holds that the sukkot in the wilderness were built by human hands. In this account, it seems that the booths were an act of necessity, not a miraculous event. Why should the construction of booths by human hands be a source of celebration and be worthy of an annual holiday?

      Even according to Rabbi Akiva, the holiday of Sukkot commemorates Hashem’s protection and care for the Jewish People during their years in the wilderness. However Rabbi Akiva wants us to focus not just on what God did/ does for us, but also on what we did/ do for ourselves- with God’s help.

      In terms of the progression of Tishrei holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur focus primarily on the mind, the heart and the mouth. We reflect upon the past year, we resolve in our minds and hearts to grow from our past missteps. We use our mouths to pray, to confess, and to seek forgiveness. Sukkot is a holiday of action. We build a sukkah. We wave the lulav and etrog. We circuit around the shul during Hoshanot throughout Sukkot and during Hakafot on Simchat Torah. We sukkah hop. Sukkot marks the moment when we begin to put our plans, our hopes and our resolutions into action. The formal mitzvot of the holiday are meant to jumpstart that “can do” attitude. As Newton taught us, a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Once we are engaged and active in the mitzvot of Sukkot we are meant to continue to be active and engaged in other areas of meaningful spiritual growth after the holidays.

      The pasuk states (Vayikra 23:43) that we sit in sukkot “in order that your [ensuing] generations should know that I had the children of Israel live in booths when I took them out of the land of Egypt.” The Tur writes that the mitzvah of sukkah is unique in that we need to think about the reason for the mitzvah while we are sitting in the sukkah. By (most) other mitzvot, the act itself suffices, and one’s intention during the action, while nice, is not necessary. However by sukkah we need to have special intention while sitting in the sukkah. Which begs the question: are we supposed to think about the Clouds of Glory (like Rabbi Eliezer) or about the actual booths (like Rabbi Akiva)? The Tur suggests that we have both opinions in mind (I quickly think about this while reciting the bracha of “leishev basukkah”). The Tur’s recommendation is a good one for life in general. We celebrate God’s protection and Presence in our lives, while at the same time demonstrating with our actions that we are active partners with God in our own lives and in the ultimate redemption of the Jewish People.

Doing The Wave of Sukkot

On Sukkot we do the wave, called Na’anuim, with our four species. Immediately upon making the bracha we wave the Daled Minim three times in each of 6 directions. And we did the wave in shul during Hallel, when reciting the verses: Hodu LaHashem and Ana Hashem. What is the significance of our Lulav Wave?

 The great medieval Talmudic commentator Rabbi Menachem Meiri explained that shaking the lulav is a necessary component of the mitzvah- but not the mitzvah of taking the four species, but rather the mitzvah of simcha, joy. Simcha is a mitzvah that exists on every holiday, but is especially pronounced on Sukkot. It comes as a culmination of the High Holidays, it is Chag Ha’Aseif, the time when the farmer feels most successful and secure as he brings his harvest into storage. That is why the Torah mentions simcha not once, but twice as it relates to Sukkot.  One of the times the Torah mentions joy by Sukkot is specifically in regards to taking the Daled Minim (23:40).

 Na’anuim are an expression of joy, in at least three different ways:

 Joy in seeing the Divine in everything Talmud Sukkah 37b: Hashem is in every direction. Fully internalizing this truth leaves us feeling uplifted and never alone- for no matter where we are, God is there with us. The Medrash explains that it is customary for one that is found innocent in a court case to wave something to indicate that victory- and so we wave our lulavim after Yom Kippur indicating our confidence in the outcome of our Yom Hadin, Yom Kippur. Utilizing the Talmudic teaching we can add that we wave our lulavim today as an expression of joy and excitement at the fact that no matter what happens in this new year, we are sure that Hashem will be with us.

 Joy in appreciating the role and relevance of Torah in every facet of our lives. Rokeiach teaches that the word Lulav hints at the entire Torah. Letters in reverse order:

Bet: first letter of Torah

Lamed: last letter of Torah

Vav: first letter of Nach

Lamed: Last letter of Nach

We take the lulav and its symbolism and wave it in every direction, thereby indicating that there is no aspect of our lives that is not influenced by, affected by, or addressed by the Torah.

 Joy of appreciating our gifts in life

Lulav is an indication of the bounty of the recent harvest season- it’s an expression of thanks, but it also serves as a prayer: that the winds and rain should be for blessing for the next crop season. It is no accident that Na’anuim are performed for the verse Hodu Lashem Ki Tov, Ki L’Olam Chasdo.

But we also wave the lulav for the prayer of King David Ana Hashem Hoshiah Na. The ultimate expression of thanks and the ultimate expression of prayerful request. For Na’anuim remind us that our greatest gifts require thanksgiving as well as prayer- that the gift should develop and that the gift should continue.

 Just as people get excited to do the wave at sporting events, so too should we be excited to do the wave with our lulav on Sukkot.  May our appreciation of the significance of Na’anuim create added joy to our Sukkot holiday- and in our lives going forward.

A Need for Honesty

      In Pirkei Avot we learn:  “Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: The world stands on three principles: Judgement, Truth and Peace.” In his classic Chasidic work, Shem Mishmuel, Rabbi Shmuel Borenstein, the Rebbe of Sochatchov explains that each of these principles correspond to one of the major Tishrei holidays: Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgement, as we refer to it as Yom Hadin. Sukkot corresponds to Shalom (as we refer to a Sukkat Shalom in many of our prayers). And Yom Kippur is the holiday of Emet, honesty.  As Rabbi Borenstein explains it, Emet is something essential, substantial and everlasting. Yom Kippur is that opportunity to utilize the principle of Emet in order to tap into our essential beings. The role of Emet is crucial on Yom Kippur, yet being honest is easier said than done.

      In his book, The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: Why We Lie to Everyone – Especially Ourselves, Prof. Dan Ariely argues that people are far less honest than they’d like to believe. He sums up the book’s hypothesis with what he calls the fudge factor theory: Our behavior is driven by two opposing motivations. On one hand, we want to view ourselves as honest and honorable people. On the other hand, we want to benefit from cheating and dishonesty as much as possible. The way we navigate these two contradictory drives is by lying and cheating- but only a little bit. We lie enough to benefit ourselves but not so much that it negatively impacts our self-image.

      On Yom Kippur the stakes are high and the need for honesty is great. How do we ensure that we are up for the challenge and ready to take that first step: being honest?

      Three keys emerge from the pasuk that is found in the Torah reading, and serves as a mantra throughout our Yom Kippur tefillot (Vayikra 16:30): כִּֽי־בַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֛ה יְכַפֵּ֥ר עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם לְטַהֵ֣ר אֶתְכֶ֑ם מִכֹּל֙ חַטֹּ֣אתֵיכֶ֔ם לִפְנֵ֥י ה תִּטְהָֽרוּ:

      L’taher etchem- Yom Kippur is the opportunity to rejuvenate ourselves spiritually. Such rejuvenation is necessary, for we are more likely to be dishonest when we feel depleted. If we feel that being Jewish is a constant struggle, if Judaism causes us to experience ego depletion, then we are more likely to cut ourselves some slack and be less honest with ourselves. Yom Kippur is a mikvah in time, our opportunity to rejuvenate ourselves. It is through this rejuvenation that our egos can be restored and we can be more honest with ourselves.

      Mikol Chatoteichem- We can only be forgiven for sins if we are willing to admit that we’ve made mistakes. And we all make mistakes: directed against our fellow human beings; our friends, our neighbors our spouse and children- and against God. Many times it was by accident. Sometimes, if we are really honest with ourselves as demanded from us on Yom Kippur, we will have to admit that some of our sins are not really accidental. We know better, or we should have known better or we should have done a better job anticipating the situation. In all these scenarios, we must be willing to be honest and admit our mistakes.

      Lifnei Hashem. Yom Kippur affords us the opportunity to be “before God”. This is not only a gift, but it is also an effective strategy for staying honest. A study showed that people asked to recall the Ten Commandments were less likely to cheat. In another experiment, people cheated less when they were asked to swear on the Bible, even when those people were self-declared atheists. Appreciating our special opportunity of being Lifnei Hashem on Yom Kippur is the third key to being honest today.

      These three keys to being honest on Yom Kippur can and should be used all year long. We must avoid ego depletion, but when it happens we must seek ways to rejuvenate ourselves. We must avoid making excuses. And we must strive to develop a sense of Shiviti Hashem l’negdi Tamid, constantly being in the presence of the Almighty. Approaching God today with sincerity and honesty is an important step in making the most- and getting the most- out of Yom Kippur.