The Clouds of Glory Accompany Us Until the End of the Year • The Daily Lesson

Before you is a summary of the topics from the daily lesson as delivered by our teacher, the Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a – yesterday after the Maariv (evening) prayer, Sunday night, the 14th of Tishrei 5786, the eve of the festival of Sukkot 5786:

1. In less than twenty hours, we will enter the Sukkah. Everyone should study Tractate Sukkah and learn eight pages.
2. King David composed Psalm 119 (which contains 22 stanzas of 8 verses each); 22 multiplied by 8 is the power to subdue the klipah (impure spiritual shell) of Tzefo.
3. Nachshon [the prince of Judah] brought a male goat as an offering even though it was generally forbidden, but he did so according to the word of Hashem – through Moses. Therefore, he was not burned like Nadav and Avihu, and he merited that his grandson – Menashe – performed teshuvah (repentance).
4. There was someone who broke the idol of a monastery, and they caught him to execute him. In the end, he appeared in a dream and said he was [a reincarnation of] Menashe. He said one must return in gilgul (reincarnation) millions of times to atone for all the killings.
5. The women did not sin with the Golden Calf; the Jews do not possess the zohama (spiritual filth) of the Serpent.
6. Menashe cried out from within the boiling cauldron to all the gods of avodah zarah (idolatry) and was not answered. Then, as a last resort, he turned to Hashem, and a wind swept him away to Jerusalem.
7. Josiah performed teshuvah (repentance), but his sons returned to causing others to sin. Zedekiah performed teshuvah, but he did not bring others back in teshuvah; therefore, his eyes were gouged out.
8. Ben-Gurion's condition for the Arabs taking the [Old City] Quarter was that they slaughter all the religious people; he could not tolerate the sight of peyos (sidelocks). In the end, everyone remained alive.
9. Entering the Sukkah represents the Ananei HaKavod (Clouds of Glory). The wedding took place at the Giving of the Torah, but only after 480 years was there a cheder yichud (seclusion room for the bride and groom) – which was the Holy Temple.
10. The Sukkah is the Ananei HaKavod (Clouds of Glory); whoever is in the Sukkah, the Clouds of Glory accompany him until the end of the year.
11. It is possible to celebrate Sukkot in Gaza. We do not know where the grave of Rabbi Israel Najara is, but we know where the cemetery is; the Imrei Chaim [of Vizhnitz] was the last one to see the headstone.
12. Everyone studies until Chatzos (midnight). The girls finish at Chatzos and go to sleep; the boys stay awake all night. It is forbidden to sleep more than six hours.