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Reb Shlomo Carlebach on Sukkot

10/03/2023 03:20:29 PM

Oct3

Transcribed by Stuie Wax

 

 

Moving From Yom Kippur to Sukkos: Carrying the Torah Forever

After Yom Kippur we feel homeless in our own homes. We don't want to live in a house where the protection is made out of stone or wood. We want to live in a house where it's clear to us that God Himself is protecting us. I don't want to live in a house where I cannot see the stars in the sky. I want to live in a house where every little star can send me a message of light. I don't want to live in a house where maybe even one Jew does not feel at home. I want to live in a house where every Jew, and eventually the whole world, feels at home. 

My beautiful friends, every second in the Sukkah, you can taste Paradise in the most eternal way. Once a year we sit with our holy Mothers and our holy Fathers in the Sukkah. I bless you and me; let it also be with our children - all the children of Israel and eventually all the children of the world. All year long, the Torah is such a burden. Every word weighs ten thousand tons, and how often do we think it is really too much, but after being in the Sukkah for Eight days, living in God's world again - a cleansed and purified holy world - I suddenly realize how light the Torah is. It's not I who carries the Torah; it's the Torah that carries me. So I run out from the Sukkah straight to the Holy Ark. I dance with the Torah for forty-eight hours. Before Sukkot, I could barely carry the Torah four steps. After Sukkot, I can carry the Torah forever!

Chag Sameach!

Thu, November 21 2024 20 Cheshvan 5785