The Secret of Sweetening Judgments: What Did the Sukkah Reveal to Job?

Lesson No. 156 | * Tuesday, 9 Tishrei, Erev Yom Kippur 5759 - Lesson at a Bris in the Rav's Home

An in-depth lesson from Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a explaining the immense power of the Sukkah to sweeten judgments and suffering. Through the story of Job and the advice he gave to Pharaoh, the secret is revealed of how the laws regarding the walls of the Sukkah teach us that any harsh decree upon the Jewish people can be nullified and minimized.

Yaakov Avinu (our Patriarch Jacob) understood that some of the troubles that befell him, including his confrontations with Lavan and Esav, stemmed from the fact that he did not flee immediately with Rachel. When Esav met him, he confronted him with harsh accusations: "Who are these (eleh) to you?" - The word 'eleh' (these) is composed of the same letters as 'Leah'. Esav argued against him: "You stole my shidduch (marriage match), for Leah was destined for me from the moment they were born."

When Yaakov saw that all his troubles were coming from this matter, he understood that his tikkun (rectification) was to be found in the Sukkah. Immediately afterward it says: "And Yaakov journeyed to Sukkot." Yaakov decided to draw down the holiness of the Sukkah, because there is no sin in the world that the holiness of the Sukkah cannot atone for.

The Tikkun for All the Suffering in the World

There is nothing that can save a person from all the suffering in the world like the Sukkah. Even if a person experiences the suffering of Job, he can be saved by it. The Midrash relates a tremendous wonder: Job did not understand why such severe suffering came upon him. He asked himself: "How have I sinned? How have I transgressed?" After all, he was entirely a man of loving-kindness, welcoming guests, caring for orphans and widows, and going to court to defend the oppressed and retrieve the property rightfully owed to them.

The holy Zohar in Parashat Bo reveals where Job's mistake truly lay. The rule is: "Just as Job judged, so was he judged." When the wicked Pharaoh planned to kill all the Jews, he called for Job, who was the greatest advisor of his generation and lived in the land of Uz. Pharaoh asked for his opinion on how to annihilate this nation.

Fulfilling the Prophecy with Cruelty

Job, who was a wise and understanding man, said to Pharaoh: "You will not succeed in killing them. All the nations will be destroyed, but this nation will not be destroyed. They have a promise, and Avraham Avinu received a prophecy from Hashem."

"And He said to Avram: 'Know with certainty that your offspring shall be aliens in a land not their own, and they will serve them, and they will oppress them four hundred years.'"

Job advised Pharaoh: "Take their money and rule over their bodies with hard labor. Oppress them, for this is the prophecy and this is the word of Hashem." Job, the man of loving-kindness who would never agree to harm a single orphan, agreed to the oppression of millions of Jews with backbreaking labor, because he argued to himself: "I am only fulfilling the word of Hashem, I am only carrying out a mission."

The Secret of the Walls: Sweetening the Decree

Job suffered terrible torments and never grasped what his mistake was. He argued toward Heaven: "Where is my mistake? After all, I only fulfilled the command of Hashem who said 'and they will serve them, and they will oppress them'!" The Midrash says:

"Job's mind was not set at ease until he saw the exposition of the word 'BaSukkot' (in the Sukkahs) written three times."

What did this exposition answer for him? How did it settle his mind? The Halacha (Jewish law) learns from the words "BaSukkat, BaSukkat, BaSukkot" that a Sukkah originally requires four walls, but the Halacha comes and reduces them to two walls and a handbreadth.

Here, Hashem hinted to Job about his profound mistake. Job thought that if Hashem said 400 years, then they must be oppressed for 400 years literally, with cruelty and without mercy. But Hashem showed him through the laws of the Sukkah: Just as from four walls we make two and a handbreadth, so too from four hundred years it is possible to make two hundred and ten.

Hashem is not bound to harsh judgment. He can sweeten any decree, turning 400 years into 210 years, and even into a single day. Job's mistake was that he took the attribute of strict judgment literally, and did not understand that Hashem's will is always to sweeten the judgments upon the Jewish people.

Part 3 of 4 — Lesson No. 156

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