Judaism: If I Am Here, Waving My Lulav, Sitting in the Sukkah

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple and the Great Synagogue, Sydney?

So that through them The האור Light, The רפואה Healing and The אהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?

Published: Thursday, September 27, 2012 5:50 PM

From Oz Torah: Our ego, the lulav and the shul sukkah - for your pre- holiday reading.

Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple

Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple AO RFD is Emeritus Rabbi of the Great Synagogue, Sydney. He is now retired and lives in Jerusalem, where he publishes OzTorah, a weekly email list and website with Torah insights from an Australian perspective.

► More from this writer

The sayings of Hillel are often catchy and always complex. An example is found in the Talmud (Suk. 53a). Articulating his happiness at participating in the observances of Sukkot, he said, “If I am here, everyone is here”.

AZAMRA Bible: NOTES ON KOHELET (Ecclesiastes)

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

AZAMRA?

So that through them The האור Light, The רפואה Healing and The אהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?


BS"D KNOW YOUR BIBLE: Koheles 1-2
Study Notes by Avraham ben Yaakov

NOTE: It is customary to read the book of KOHELET (Ecclesiastes) on the Festival of Succot. This email contains notes on all twelve chapters of this work for you to study at your convenience in the course of the festival. ABY

KOHELES CHAPTER 1

KOHELES (or Koheleth) is the "pen name" of King Solomon. The name comes from the Hebrew root KAHAL, which means a "gathering" or "assembly". The Hebrew grammatical form of KOHELES means "the gatherer", and the name signifies that "he gathered much wisdom" (Rashi on v 1). It also signifies that he assembled the people (cf. Deut. 31:12). In the words of Midrash Koheles Rabbah: "Why was Solomon called Koheles? Because his words were spoken in the assembly of the people, as it is written, 'Then Solomon gathered (yaK'HAL) the elders of Israel' (I Kings 8:1)". Likewise the traditional name for Koheles, ECCLESIASTES, is from the Greek word ECCLESIA, a regularly convoked assembly, and ECCLESIASTES is one who takes part in this assembly – i.e. the Preacher.

AZAMRA Bible: Isaiah 55-56

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

AZAMRA?

So that through them The האור Light, The רפואה Healing and The אהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?


BS"D KNOW YOUR BIBLE: Isaiah 55-56
Study Notes by Avraham ben Yaakov

ISAIAH CHAPTER 55

"Ho all who are thirsty, come to water…" (v 1). "After the war of Gog and Magog the nations will recognize that God rules over all and that there is none beside Him, and then they will come to Jerusalem to learn God's laws and teachings… Water is a metaphor for Torah and wisdom – for just as the world cannot survive without water, so the world cannot survive without wisdom, and just as a thirsty person craves for water, so the wise soul craves for Torah and wisdom… The Torah is also compared to wine and milk. Just as wine makes the heart rejoice, so do words of Torah. And just as milk keeps a baby alive and makes it grow, so words of Torah keep the soul alive and make it grow" (RaDaK ad loc.).