הָרַחֲמָן הוּא יָקִים לָנוּ אֶת סֻכַּת דָּוִד הַנּוֹפֶלֶת.

“Merciful One, raise up for us the fallen Sukkah of David.”

Birkhat HaMazon during Sukkot

“You shall take on the first day the 1) fruit of goodly trees, 2) branches of palm trees, and 3) boughs of thick trees, and 4) willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before HaShem your G-d seven days.”

Leviticus 23:40

“May it be your will, HaShem my G-d and G-d of my forefathers, that through the fruit of the esrog tree, date-palm branches, twigs of the myrtle tree, and brook willows, the letters of your unified Name may be become close to one another, that they may become united in my hand…to unify the Name of the Holy One, blessed is He, and His Presence, in awe and in love, to unify the Name Yud-Kei with Vav-Kei in perfect unity, in the name of all of Israel. Amen.”

י

ה

ה

ו

Hadas - Myrtle

Etrog - Citron

Lulav - Palm

Aravah - Willow

Scent but no Fruit

Wisdom but no Deeds

Eyes

Levi

Scent and Fruit

Wisdom and Deeds

Heart

Kohen

Fruit but no Scent

Spine

Israelite

No Fruit and No Scent

Mouth

Ger

Just as a man cannot fulfill his obligation on the Feast of Tabernacles unless all Four Species are bound together, so Israel can only be redeemed when all Israelites hold together.

Yalkut Shimoni 188a, cited in The Sukkot and Simhat Torah Anthology (The JPS Holiday Anthologies) . The Jewish Publication Society. Kindle Edition.

During the Yom Tov of Sukkot, the Jew has two major mitzvot to perform: 1) Dwelling in a Sukkah for a period of seven days. 2) The taking of the four species…The common factor in these two mitzvot is achdut — unity.

R’ Moshe Bogomilsky, How a Gentile Celebrates Sukkot, Sichos in English

״כׇּל הָאֶזְרָח בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשְׁבוּ בַּסּוּכּוֹת״, מְלַמֵּד שֶׁכׇּל יִשְׂרָאֵל רְאוּיִם לֵישֵׁב בְּסוּכָּה אַחַת.

“All the homeborn in Israel shall reside in sukkot” (Leviticus 23:42). This teaches that all of the Jewish people are fit to reside in one sukka.

Sukkah 27b, Sefaria.org

“Whoever fulfills the mitzvah of Sukkah in this world, Hashem will settle him in a Sukkah made of the hide of the Leviathan in the coming future.”

Yalqut Shimoni 40:31�cited at Beis Vaad L’Chachamim

In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will prepare a sukka for the righteous from the skin of the leviathan, as it is stated: “Can you fill his skin with barbed irons [besukkot]”? (Job 40:31)

Baba Batra 75a, Sefaria.org

בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֔וּא אָקִ֛ים אֶת־סֻכַּ֥ת דָּוִ֖יד הַנֹּפֶ֑לֶת� וְגָדַרְתִּ֣י אֶת־פִּרְצֵיהֶ֗ן וַהֲרִֽסֹתָיו֙ אָקִ֔ים וּבְנִיתִ֖יהָ כִּימֵ֥י עוֹלָֽם׃ לְמַ֨עַן יִֽירְשׁ֜וּ אֶת־שְׁאֵרִ֤ית אֱדוֹם֙ וְכׇל־הַגּוֹיִ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־נִקְרָ֥א שְׁמִ֖י עֲלֵיהֶ֑ם נְאֻם־ה׳ עֹ֥שֶׂה זֹּֽאת׃

In that day, I will raise up the Sukkah of David that has fallen. I will mend its breaches and raise up its ruins anew. I will build it firm as in the days of old. So that they shall possess the remnant of Edom. And all the nations who are called by My name - declares HaShem who does this.�Amos 9:11 - 12

R. Nahman said to R. Isaac: “Have you heard when Bar Nafli will come?” “Who is Bar Nafli?” he asked. “Messiah”, he answered. “Do you call the Messiah Bar Nafli?” “Yes”, he responded , as it is written, “on that day I will raise up the fallen Sukkah of David”

Sanhedrin 96b-97a, Sukkot: A Sukkah Life, Orthodox Union

To Maharal, the Davidic line cast as a sukkah and not as a house, is a precise and purposeful formulation – for the sukkah’s flimsiness allows it to be “rebuilt”. One builds (boneh) a fallen house while one resurrects (yakim) a floored sukkah. Insofar as the Messianic line dare not start afresh, its resurrection symbolizes a continuity and loyalty to its past. 

R’ Asher Brander, Sukkot: A Sukkah Life, Orthodox Union

“I will raise [אָקִ֛ים] the fallen tabernacle of David” (Amos 9:11). Wherever the verb קימה is used, it refers to Mashiach ben Yosef…about the aspect of “My sheaf rose קָ֥מָה אֲלֻמָּתִ֖י.” (Genesis 37:7) This idea is also hinted at in the world נּוֹפֶ֑לֶת (with a ו) which is equal to 566 [as is משיח בן יוסף]. 

Kol HaTor, 2.67, translated by R’ Yechiel Bar Lev and K. Skaist

Yaakov replied, “Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴ Shimon has related how G-d first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. ¹⁵ And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, ¹⁶ “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, ¹⁷ that the remnant of mankind may seek HaShem, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says HaShem, who makes these things ¹⁸ known from of old.’

Acts 15:13-17

⁵ Now when Yeshua had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, ⁶ saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” ⁷ And Yeshua said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸ The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Yeshua heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Amein, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! ¹¹ And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.¹² . . . And his servant was healed that same hour.

Matthew 8:5-13

“…it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹ Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Yeshua would die for the nation, ⁵² and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

John 11:50-52, NKJV (Modified)

Courtesy Doron Keidar, Cry for Zion and Yair Levy

This file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 by Daniel Tibi