Ushpizin
Rabbi Ari Kahn
Let me begin with the necessary disappointment: if you came for the film Ushpizin, there will be no popcorn tonight. What we are after is something far older, more primal than cinema—an inheritance whispered deep within the mystical words of the Zohar, a liturgy of hospitality that outlives every address, every screen.[1]
The tradition of the Ushpizin (אושפיזין)—literally “guests”—is not about the friendly neighbor dropping by for tea. These guests are no mere acquaintances; they are the great shepherds of Israel—Avraham, Yitzḥak, Ya‘akov, Moshe, Aharon, Yosef, and David—summoned to enter the fragile geometry of our sukkah, our delicate booth woven of leaves and prayer.
Imagine Rav Ḥamnuna Saba, centuries ago, proclaiming this invitation before stepping inside the sukkah. The text he recited is found in the Zohar, and many of us still hang it upon our sukkah walls to call in these sacred seven presences—to join the meal, to bless the dwelling, and to teach the art of sacred hospitality.[2]
Pause and think: The order of the guests is curious. We might expect Yosef to follow immediately after Ya‘akov, his father, yet Yosef appears after Moshe and Aharon. Why?
The answer lies in a deeper map—a Kabbalistic diagram, the tree of the sefirot (סְפִירוֹת), divine emanations or attributes through which holiness courses continuously into the world:
· Chesed (חֶסֶד) – lovingkindness, boundless giving
· Gevurah (גְּבוּרָה) – strength, discipline, moral rigor
· Tiferet (תִּפְאֶרֶת) – harmony, beauty, compassion balancing strictness
· Netzach (נֵצַח) – endurance, victory, eternal striving
· Hod (הוֹד) – splendor, humility, receptive glory
· Yesod (יְסוֹד) – foundation, channel, connection
· Malchut (מַלְכוּת) – kingship, sovereignty, receptivity of presence
In this cosmic order, Avraham embodies Chesed, unbounded hospitality and lovingkindness; Yitzḥak holds Gevurah, strength tempered by discipline; Ya‘akov reflects Tiferet, the harmonizer; Moshe and Aharon mirror Netzach and Hod as the enduring pillars of the covenant; Yosef as Yesod channels and gathers; and David as Malchut embodies receiving and grounding sovereignty.
This metaphysical structure explains Yosef’s displacement—he follows the “twin pillars” Moshe and Aharon as the conduit connecting their strength and glory. The central column through Ya‘akov, Yosef, and David draws the vertical thread of Israel’s story: truth becoming fidelity, fidelity becoming kingdom.
Inviting the Ushpizin is no antiquarian charm. It is, quite literally, an invitation to invite their middot (מידות), their human-divine traits, into our inner lives:
· To learn hospitality and boundless opening from Avraham,
· Moral courage and strength from Yitzḥak,
· Harmony and heartfelt beauty from Ya‘akov,
· Steadfast endurance and radiant leadership from Moshe and Aharon,
· Moral integrity and responsibility from Yosef,
· And finally, covenantal sovereignty from David.
Later, the Arizal wove these traits into the intricate grammar of Sefirat ha-Omer, the counting of the Omer—a mystical meditation that many of us recite but few internalize. Yet, the Ushpizin tradition in the Zohar predates even that meditative lattice; it is a primal gesture, an ancient melody of hospitality toward eternity itself.
Why These Seven—And Why on Sukkot?
We might be tempted to pause here and say: this is all beautiful symbolism. Indeed, one can observe every halakhic detail of Sukkot without ever uttering the Ushpizin formula. The mitzvah of dwelling in the sukkah stands firm even if we never hang the familiar card or recite the invitation.
And yet, if we choose each night to focus on one middah (מידה, moral trait)—to ask ourselves what it truly means to be a ba‘al chesed (בעל חסד), a master of kindness; to embrace gevurah not as cruelty but as moral courage; or to seek the harmony of tiferet—we allow the sukkah to become a tutor to our wandering souls.
But this raises the foundational question: What exactly do these seven guests have to do with Sukkot itself? Why summon Avraham, Yitzḥak, Ya‘akov, Moshe, Aharon, Yosef, and David here and now, inside this unroofed dwelling? Are they placeholders for lofty metaphysical concepts, or do they belong—organically, historically, spiritually—to the sukkah, to the festival, to our lives?
To find a grounding point, let us anchor ourselves where halakhah anchors itself: the Torah’s stated reason for the mitzvah of sukkah:
ויקרא פרק כג פסוק מג (פרשת אמור)
לְמַעַן֘ יֵדְע֣וּ דֹרֹֽתֵיכֶם֒ כִּ֣י בַסֻּכּ֗וֹת הוֹשַׁ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּהוֹצִיאִ֥י אוֹתָ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י ה֥' אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם:
“So that your generations will know that I made the children of Israel dwell in sukkot when I took them out of the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 23:43).
This text insists on knowledge, not mechanical observance. The Pri Megadim (פרי מגדים), as cited by the Mishnah Berurah (משנה ברורה), remind us that this is no small matter. The phrase l’ma’an yed’u carries an imperative for kavanah (כוונה), especially on the festival’s first night—intention that awakens understanding. The sukkah then becomes a classroom, a living pedagogy.
But what, after all, are we to know? What are these sukkot that sheltered Israel in the wilderness?
The Talmud (Sukkah 11b) preserves a classic machloket (מחלוקת), a dialectic beloved by scholars and laypeople alike:
- Rabbi Eliezer maintains that these sukkot were not mere huts but the Ananei ha-Kavod (ענני הכבוד)—the Clouds of Glory—that enveloped Israel, a supernatural canopy of divine protection.
- Rabbi Akiva insists they were sukkot mamash (סוכות ממש)—real booths, fragile and human-made, that Israel built and dwelled within.[3]
Two teachings, two theological perspectives on shelter:
- If the sukkot were Clouds of Glory, then the sukkah we build is a mimesis of miracle. We step into a physical enclosure that calls to mind the intangible embrace of the Shekhinah (שכינה), the Divine Presence dwelling among us. The Ushpizin are not mere decoration; they are living bearers of that Presence. Avraham’s open tent exemplifies Chesed; Moshe’s leadership beneath the cloud reflects Netzaḥ; Aharon’s peaceful offering evokes Hod; David’s awaited kingdom shines forth in Malchut sheltered by grace.
- Alternatively, if the sukkot were human huts, then the sukkah teaches an ethic of vulnerability and human partnership. Israel builds; God sustains. We bring effort, and God brings endurance. Here, too, the Ushpizin fit perfectly: Avraham models hachnasat orchim (הכנסת אורחים), the sacred act of welcoming guests; Yitzḥak embodies disciplined fear of God; Ya‘akov represents harmonizing wisdom; Yosef carries moral responsibility. Their lives are the carpentry of a life capable of housing holiness.
This dialectic is not rivalry but a sacred counterpoint. In Rabbi Eliezer’s vision, divine Chesed rains freely; in Rabbi Akiva’s, human Gevurah stands firm and deliberate. The sukkah holds this tension in delicate balance—gift and grit, grace and duty. The Ushpizin arrive not merely to symbolize but to teach us this double grammar—how to live in the intersection of fragile grace and steadfast human endeavor.
If you ask a room to raise its hand for which of the seven guests most naturally belongs to Sukkot, you would see a dozen hands raise—each for a different name.
Some would pick Avraham, whose tent was open on all four sides. He is the archetype of hachnasat orchim (הכנסת אורחים)—hospitality to guests. His openness models the human invitation and the divine reception both in the sukkah and in life itself.
Others would say Moshe, the leader under the Ananei ha-Kavod (ענני הכבוד), the wondrous Clouds of Glory that protected and accompanied Israel. He shepherds a nation housed not just in physical booths but under divine presence.
Still, others would name David, whose fallen canopy we pray might rise again—Sukkat David ha-Nofelet (סוכת דוד הנופלת), the fallen sukkah of David. His “sukkah” is the Temple, the dream of sovereignty and sacred dwelling extended across millennia.
Each of these feels inevitable.
But the guests who at first seem outliers—like Yosef—radiate profound depth when we recall Yesod (יסוד), the foundation and channel. Yosef is the conduit who gathers sustenance and transmits it with integrity, the tzaddik who turns private fidelity into public shelter. His years of famine in Egypt served as a halakhic sukkah—a fragile human booth that saved a world.
By the end of our inquiry, the full seven guests draw together into a network not just plausible but necessary.
We have thus established the frame through which to understand the guests: a halakhic demand to know, a theological machloket (מחלוקת) that defines the nature of that knowledge, and moral-mystical guests who teach us how to dwell—literally and spiritually—in their midst.
David and the Fallen Canopy
Tonight is the seventh night. We begin with the final guest: David ha-Melekh (דוד המלך), King David.
Our task seems simple: find the verse, the idea, the thread that binds David to Sukkot (סוכות), the Festival of Booths.
And the answer stands luminous in Sefer Amos (ספר עמוס):
ספר עמוס פרק ט:יא
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא אָקִים אֶת סֻכַּת דָּוִיד הַנֹּפֶלֶת וְגָדַרְתִּי אֶת פִּרְצֵיהֶן וַהֲרִסֹתָיו אָקִים וּבְנִיתִיהָ כִּימֵי עוֹלָם:
On that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David, and I will repair its breaches, and its ruins I will raise up, and I will rebuild it as in the days of old. Amos 9:11.
What is this sukkah? It is not a literal booth David built three thousand years ago.
The the plain meaning, is clear: it refers to the Beit ha-Mikdash (בית המקדש), the Temple. David began its dream though he did not live to complete it. His sukkah is the sanctuary deferred, the architecture of longing.[4]
When we say in Birkat ha-Mazon (ברכת המזון) on Sukkot we add:
"הרחמן הוא יקים לנו את סוכת דוד הנופלת"
"May the Merciful One raise up for us the fallen sukkah of David,"
Our kavanah, our intent, is not nostalgia for a vanished hut but a yearning for the restoration of the Mikdash (מקדש), the covenantal center of history.
The Thematic Triad: Sukkah, Cloud, Sanctuary
When we explore the relationship between the Ushpizin (אושפיזין) and Sukkot, three central motifs emerge as interpretive lenses:
- The Sukkah – the fragile, temporary dwelling that teaches humility and faith.
- The Ananei ha-Kavod (Clouds of Glory) – the enveloping Divine Presence.
- The Mishkan/Mikdash – the sacred architecture where heaven and earth converge.
These are not merely parallel themes—they are interwoven dimensions of a single spiritual structure. Each of the Ushpizin embodies one or more of these motifs, and together they form a composite vision of sacred dwelling.
David, the final guest, is most clearly associated with the Mikdash—the sanctuary and sovereignty deferred, a kingdom awaiting its home. But the pattern extends backward: Yosef, Aharon, Moshe, Ya‘akov, Yitzḥak, and Avraham—each carries a fragment of shelter, each teaches a unique way to dwell in the Divine presence.
The Sukkah as Micro-Mishkan
The Vilna Gaon deepens this triad by explicitly linking the Sukkah to the Mishkan through the Clouds of Glory: [5]
The mitzvah of Sukkot commemorates the Clouds of Glory, which first appeared in Nisan. However, after the sin of the Golden Calf, the clouds departed—and only returned when the Israelites began building the Mishkan.
Moshe descended on Yom Kippur, and on the 11th of Tishrei, he gathered the people and commanded them to build the Mishkan. Donations were brought on the 12th and 13th; on the 14th, the materials were weighed and prepared. On the 15th of Tishrei, construction began—and the Clouds of Glory returned.
Therefore, we celebrate Sukkot on the 15th of Tishrei—not to mark the original appearance of the clouds, but their return through the act of rebuilding.
This insight reframes the Sukkah not as a mere symbol of past protection, but as a reinstatement of Divine intimacy—a micro-Mishkan that reactivates the covenantal presence lost at Sinai and regained through teshuvah and sacred labor.[6]
Sanctity in Structure
This connection is echoed in a minhag recorded by the Maharil, whose teacher marked the sukkah walls with letters—Alef, Bet, Gimel—to preserve their orientation year after year. The Shelah ha-Kadosh links this to the Mishkan, where beams were similarly marked to maintain their sacred alignment. Holiness, he teaches, is not generic—it is geometric.
Even the atara (crown) on a tallit reflects this principle: the top of the garment is distinct in sanctity from the hem. These halakhic gestures are not arbitrary—they are metaphysical claims. The Sukkah, like the Mishkan, is a portable axis of holiness, a structure whose very orientation participates in the sacred. [7]
Avraham: The First Guest and the Architecture of Chesed
Avraham is Chesed (חסד, lovingkindness), the first sefirah, the open hand of covenant. Where does he touch our triad—sukkah, cloud, sanctuary?
First, the Akedah (binding of Isaac). God commands:
בראשית פרק כב פסוק ב (פרשת וירא)
וַיֹּ֡אמֶר קַח־נָ֠א אֶת־בִּנְךָ֙ אֶת־יְחִֽידְךָ֤ אֲשֶׁר־אָהַ֙בְתָּ֙ אֶת־יִצְחָ֔ק וְלֶךְ־לְךָ֔ אֶל־אֶ֖רֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּ֑ה וְהַעֲלֵ֤הוּ שָׁם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ה עַ֚ל אַחַ֣ד הֶֽהָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֹמַ֥ר אֵלֶֽיךָ:
And He said, “Please take your son, your only one, whom you love— Yitzḥak —and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you.” (Bereishit 22:2).
Avraham travels three days and then:
בראשית פרק כב פסוק ד (פרשת וירא)
בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֗י וַיִּשָּׂ֨א אַבְרָהָ֧ם אֶת־עֵינָ֛יו וַיַּ֥רְא אֶת־הַמָּק֖וֹם מֵרָחֹֽק:
On the third day, Avraham lifted his eyes and saw the place from afar (22:4).
How does he see what was yet to be revealed? Rashi, citing Midrash, answers: He saw a mountain with a cloud (ענן, cloud) tethered to its peak.[8]
A cloud as a sign—why not a rainbow, a flame? Because this mountain will become the Beit ha‑Mikdash (בית המקדש, Temple). The anan (cloud) is not meteorology; it is theology. It hovers where Presence will dwell. Later, the Mishkan will be veiled in cloud; later still, the Mikdash will echo that intimacy. Avraham glimpses the architecture of awe before a stone is laid.
Second, Avraham’s tent—open on four sides, a geometry of welcome. When three strangers appear, he runs to greet them, offers bread, shade, and water (Bereishit 18). Hospitality here is not etiquette; it is ontology. To feed the wanderer is to imitate God, who shelters the world.
Third, the Eshel he plants in Be’er Sheva . The verse says:
בראשית פרק כא:לג
וַיִּטַּע אֶשֶׁל בִּבְאֵר שָׁבַע וַיִּקְרָא שָׁם בְּשֵׁם ה’ אֵל עוֹלָם:
“He planted an eshel and there he called in the name of God” (Bereishit 21:33).
What is eshel? Rashbam reads it as a pardes a grove—a place for solitude and prayer,
רשב"ם בראשית פרק כא
ויטע אשל - פרדס היה להתפלל שם:
Avraham’s forest of devotion. Rashi, citing Midrash, offers two views:
A pardes (פרדס, orchard) to feed guests.
An achsanayah (אכסניה, guesthouse) to house them.
רש"י בראשית פרק כא
אשל - רב ושמואל, חד אמר פרדס להביא ממנו פירות לאורחים בסעודה, וחד אמר פונדק לאכסניא ובו כל מיני פירות. ומצינו לשון נטיעה באהלים, שנאמר (דניאל יא מה) ויטע אהלי אפדנו:
ויקרא שם וגו' - על ידי אותו אשל נקרא שמו של הקב"ה אלוה לכל העולם. לאחר שאוכלים ושותים אומר להם ברכו למי שאכלתם משלו, סבורים אתם שמשלי אכלתם, משל מי שאמר והיה העולם אכלתם:
"An Eshel" – Rav and Shmuel [disagreed about its meaning]. One said it was an orchard, from which fruits were brought for guests at the meal. The other said it was an inn for lodging, and it contained all kinds of fruits. And we find the expression of “planting” used in connection with tents, as it is said (Daniel 11:45), “And he shall plant the tents of his palace.”
"And he called there..." – Through that eshel, the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, became called upon by all who passed by. After they ate and drank, [Avraham] would say to them: “Bless the One from whose [food] you have eaten. Do you think you have eaten from mine? You have eaten from the One who spoke and the world came into being!”
Either way, the pattern holds: Avraham builds a space of sustenance and translates it into speech—“Call out in the name of God.” His chesed becomes liturgy; his tent becomes theology. The desert traveler eats and learns to bless: “The food is not mine; it is His.” Hospitality becomes revelation.
Does this link Avraham to the Mishkan? Yes—because the Mishkan is precisely that: a structure where material service becomes spiritual song. Avraham anticipates the Tabernacle in miniature: a booth that feeds bodies and awakens souls.
Yitzḥak: The Silent Strength of Gevurah
The second day of Sukkot here in Eretz Yisrael is Chol HaMoed , intermediate days). In Chutz LaAretz (Diaspora), it is still Yom Tov—a reminder that geography shapes halakhic rhythm.
The guest on that day is Yitzḥak, bound to Gevurah (גבורה, strength, discipline). His biography is brief—almost austere. Avraham’s life sprawls across chapters; Ya‘akov’s saga fills volumes. Yitzḥak moves in silence, a figure of restraint. Yet his connection to our triad—sukkah, cloud, sanctuary—is profound.
The First Korban
Yitzḥak was meant to be the first korban (offering). The Akedah unfolds on Har HaMoriah , the mountain that will become the Makom ha‑Mikdash , Temple site. His near‑death is not incidental; it is constitutive. The Mishkan and later the Mikdash are built on this dynamic:
Man is guilty; God accepts a substitute. The korban enacts transference—life for life, guilt for rahamim. Yitzḥak embodies that possibility: that God does not demand annihilation, that covenant survives through substitution.
This theme reverberates through history: the ram replaces Yitzḥak; the shofar echoes the ram’s horn on Rosh HaShanah , proclaiming that mercy can interrupt judgment. On Sukkot, as we dwell in fragile booths, Yitzḥak reminds us that vulnerability is not futility—that Gevurah is not brute force but moral courage, the strength to yield and trust.
Seeing the Cloud
Midrash adds a luminous detail: when Avraham approaches the mountain, he tests his companions.
He asks Yishma‘el and Eliezer, “What do you see?” They answer: “A mountain.” He asks Yitzḥak: “What do you see?” Yitzḥak replies:
“I see a cloud (ענן, cloud) tethered to the mountain.”
The others see ḥomer (חומר, physical matter); Yitzḥak sees something ethereal—a cloud, something spiritual, ruḥani (רוחני, spirit).
Sensing this, Avraham turns to the others and says:
בראשית פרק כב פסוק ה (פרשת וירא)
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶל־נְעָרָ֗יו שְׁבוּ־לָכֶ֥ם פֹּה֙ עִֽם־הַחֲמ֔וֹר וַאֲנִ֣י וְהַנַּ֔עַר נֵלְכָ֖ה עַד־כֹּ֑ה וְנִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֖ה וְנָשׁוּ֥בָה אֲלֵיכֶֽם:
“Stay here with the ḥamor (חמור, donkey)—with the ḥomer. The lad and I will go up
Rabbi Soloveitchik notes the dialectic: we ascend to serve God, but we return to the world. Spirituality is not escape; it is elevation for the sake of descent.
Thus Yitzḥak stands in the Makom ha‑Mikdash, perceives the cloud, consents to the binding. His silence is Gevurah: the strength to surrender without spectacle.
Ya‘akov: Harmony and the Architecture of Ascent
If Avraham is Chesed (חֶסֶד)—lovingkindness—and Yitzḥak is Gevurah (גְּבוּרָה)—strength and discipline—then Ya‘akov (יַעֲקֹב) is Tiferet (תִּפְאֶרֶת), harmony and beauty. Among the Ushpizin, he may be the guest most naturally linked to Sukkot (סֻכּוֹת), the festival of dwelling in fragile booths.
The Ladder and the Gate
In Parashat Vayetzei (פָּרָשַׁת וַיֵּצֵא), Ya‘akov dreams:
בראשית פרק כח
(י) וַיֵּצֵא יַעֲקֹב מִבְּאֵר שָׁבַע וַיֵּלֶךְ חָרָנָה:(יא) וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם וַיָּלֶן שָׁם כִּי בָא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וַיִּקַּח מֵאַבְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם וַיָּשֶׂם מְרַאֲשֹׁתָיו וַיִּשְׁכַּב בַּמָּקוֹם הַהוּא:(יב) וַיַּחֲלֹם וְהִנֵּה סֻלָּם מֻצָּב אַרְצָה וְרֹאשׁוֹ מַגִּיעַ הַשָּׁמָיְמָה וְהִנֵּה מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹהִים עֹלִים וְיֹרְדִים בּוֹ:(יג) וְהִנֵּה ה’ נִצָּב עָלָיו וַיֹּאמַר אֲנִי ה’ אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אָבִיךָ וֵאלֹהֵי יִצְחָק הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה שֹׁכֵב עָלֶיהָ לְךָ אֶתְּנֶנָּה וּלְזַרְעֶךָ:(טז) וַיִּיקַץ יַעֲקֹב מִשְּׁנָתוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר אָכֵן יֵשׁ ה’ בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וְאָנֹכִי לֹא יָדָעְתִּי:(יז) וַיִּירָא וַיֹּאמַר מַה נּוֹרָא הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה אֵין זֶה כִּי אִם בֵּית אֱלֹהִים וְזֶה שַׁעַר הַשָּׁמָיִם:(יח) וַיַּשְׁכֵּם יַעֲקֹב בַּבֹּקֶר וַיִּקַּח אֶת הָאֶבֶן אֲשֶׁר שָׂם מְרַאֲשֹׁתָיו וַיָּשֶׂם אֹתָהּ מַצֵּבָה וַיִּצֹק שֶׁמֶן עַל רֹאשָׁהּ:(יט) וַיִּקְרָא אֶת שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא בֵּית אֵל וְאוּלָם לוּז שֵׁם הָעִיר לָרִאשֹׁנָה:(כ) וַיִּדַּר יַעֲקֹב נֶדֶר לֵאמֹר אִם יִהְיֶה אֱלֹהִים עִמָּדִי וּשְׁמָרַנִי בַּדֶּרֶךְ הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ וְנָתַן לִי לֶחֶם לֶאֱכֹל וּבֶגֶד לִלְבֹּשׁ:(כא) וְשַׁבְתִּי בְשָׁלוֹם אֶל בֵּית אָבִי וְהָיָה ה’ לִי לֵאלֹהִים:(כב) וְהָאֶבֶן הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתִּי מַצֵּבָה יִהְיֶה בֵּית אֱלֹהִים וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר תִּתֶּן לִי עַשֵּׂר אֲעַשְּׂרֶנּוּ לָךְ:
Ya‘akov departed from Be’er Sheva and went toward Haran. He encountered the place and spent the night there, for the sun had set. He took from the stones of the place and placed them at his head, and he lay down in that place.
And he dreamed, and behold—a ladder was set on the earth, and its top reached the heavens; and behold, angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord was standing over him, and He said, “I am the Lord, the God of Avraham your father and the God of Yitzḥak. The land upon which you are lying, to you I will give it and to your descendants.”
Ya‘akov awoke from his sleep and said, “Indeed, the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it!” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
Ya‘akov arose early in the morning, took the stone that he had placed at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on its top. He named that place Beit El (House of God), though Luz was the original name of the city.
Ya‘akov then made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will guard me on this journey that I am taking, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I return in peace to my father’s house, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone, which I have set as a pillar, shall become a house of God; and of all that You give me, I will surely tithe to You.” (Bereishit 28:10-22).
In this dream, angels ascend and descend the ladder while God stands above. When Ya‘akov wakes, his awe is palpable:
“How awesome is this place!” (Bereishit 28:17)
“This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Bereishit 28:17).
The Mishkan (מִשְׁכָּן) and later the Mikdash (מִקְדָּשׁ) are precisely that: a house of God, a gate to heaven.
The sukkah, too, can be seen as a ladder made of leaves—rooted in earth but open to the sky, a fragile geometry reaching upward.
Ya‘akov’s naming of the place Beit El (בֵּית אֵל)—House of God—is a vow:
“This stone shall become a house of God” (Bereishit 28:22).
His dream is a prophecy of the Temple; the sukkah rehearses the ongoing dialogue between earth and heaven.
The First Sukkot
Later, after a fearful confrontation with his brother Esav, Ya‘akov journeys to a place known as Sukkot:
בראשית פרק לג פסוק יז (פרשת וישלח)
וְיַעֲקֹב֙ נָסַ֣ע סֻכֹּ֔תָה וַיִּ֥בֶן ל֖וֹ בָּ֑יִת וּלְמִקְנֵ֙הוּ֙ עָשָׂ֣ה סֻכֹּ֔ת עַל־כֵּ֛ן קָרָ֥א שֵׁם־ הַמָּק֖וֹם סֻכּֽוֹת: ס
“Ya‘akov traveled to Sukkot, built a house for himself, and made sukkot for his livestock; therefore, he called the place Sukkot” (Bereishit 33:17).
This is the first time the word sukkot appears in Tanakh. At first, it seems trivial—a shelter for animals. But read closely: this comes just after the night when Ya‘akov wrestled a mysterious assailant, followed by a dawn reconciliation with Esav.
The Zohar notes this meeting occurred on Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement. Where do the Jews go after Yom Kippur? To Sukkot.
This sequence is deeply symbolic:
- Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur represent the ultimate judgment—life and death.
- Sukkot represents quality of life—geshem (גֶּשֶׁם), rain, and gashmiyut (גַּשְׁמִיוּת), materiality.
On Sukkot, we pray for rain and sustenance, for blessing over physical goods, yet we leave the comforts of home for a dirat arai (דִּירַת עֲרַאי), a temporary dwelling.
We ask for life’s comforts while consciously declaring their contingency.
Holding the arba minim (אַרְבַּע מִינִים), the four species, we whisper: yes, we need bread; but bread alone is not being. The sukkah is a dialectic—a space where desire meets detachment, petition meets perspective.
Ya‘akov’s Spiritual Therapy
When Esav proposes:
בראשית פרק לג פסוק יב (פרשת וישלח)
וַיֹּ֖אמֶר נִסְעָ֣ה וְנֵלֵ֑כָה וְאֵלְכָ֖ה לְנֶגְדֶּֽךָ:
"And he said, 'Let us journey and go, and I will go before you
Ya‘akov declines:
בראשית פרק לג פסוק יג (פרשת וישלח)
(יג) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֗יו אֲדֹנִ֤י יֹדֵ֙עַ֙ כִּֽי־הַיְלָדִ֣ים רַכִּ֔ים וְהַצֹּ֥אן וְהַבָּקָ֖ר עָל֣וֹת עָלָ֑י וּדְפָקוּם֙ י֣וֹם אֶחָ֔ד וָמֵ֖תוּ כָּל־הַצֹּֽאן:
“My lord knows the children are tender, and the flocks and herds are upon me” (Bereishit 33:13).
In a sense he is saying: “All this stuff slows me down.”
This simple statement is profound: possessions impede pilgrimage.
Ya‘akov turns toward Sukkot, building shelters—not palatial estates, but temporary huts. His act is a spiritual therapy: a way to relativize wealth, to remind himself and us that abundance is provisional. The sukkah becomes a protest against permanence, a hymn to humility. The Zohar places Ya‘akov at Sukkot after Yom Kippur, symbolizing the Jewish journey from judgment to joy.
The Be’er Sheva Connection
Another thread ties Ya‘akov to our theme: Be’er Sheva (בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע).
When Ya‘akov prepares to descend to Egypt to reunite with his son Yosef, the Torah tells us:
בראשית פרק מו
(א) וַיִּסַּע יִשְׂרָאֵל וְכָל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ וַיָּבֹא בְּאֵרָה שָּׁבַע וַיִּזְבַּח זְבָחִים לֵאלֹהֵי אָבִיו יִצְחָק:
“He offered sacrifices to the God of his father Yitzḥak” (Bereishit 46:1).
Why Be’er Sheva? Because this place holds layered sanctity. Avraham prayed here. Yitzḥak prayed here. Now Ya‘akov prays here.
The Midrash amplifies:
אָנֹכִי אֵרֵד עִמְּךָ מִצְרָיְמָה
“I will go down with you to Egypt” (46:4).
The Shekhinah (שְׁכִינָה), the Divine Presence, accompanies Israel into exile. Holiness is portable; the covenant accompanies us wherever we journey.
The Center Beam: Memory Made Wood
In the instructions to build the Mishkan, the Torah commands:
וְהַבְּרִיחַ הַתִּיכוֹן בְּתוֹךְ הַקְּרָשִׁים מִן הַקָּצֶה אֶל הַקָּצֶה
“And the middle bar shall pass through the boards from end to end” (Shemot 26:28).
A single beam spanning the entire structure. Where did they find such a beam in the barren desert?
The Midrash answers:
בראשית רבה (וילנא) פרשה צד:ד
וַיִּסַּע יִשְׂרָאֵל וְכָל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ וַיָּבֹא בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, לְהֵיכָן הָלַךְ? אָמַר רַב נַחְמָן שֶׁהָלַךְ לִקְצוֹץ אֲרָזִים שֶׁנָּטַע אַבְרָהָם זְקֵנוֹ בְּבְאֵר שֶׁבַע, הֵיךְ מִדְּאָמַר (בְּרֵאשִׁית כ"א) וַיִּטַּע וְגוֹ'. כְּתִיב (שְׁמוֹת כ"ו) וְהַבְּרִיחַ הַתִּיכוֹן בְּתוֹךְ הַקְּרָשִׁים. אָמַר רִבִּי לֵוִי: וְהַבְּרִיחַ הַתִּיכוֹן שְׁלֹשִׁים וּשְׁתַּיִם אַמָּה הָיוּ בוֹ. מֵהֵיכָן מָצְאוּ אוֹתוֹ לְשָׁעָה? אֶלָּא מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהָיוּ מֻצְנָעִין עִמָּהֶם מִימֵי יַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ. הֲדָא הוּא דִּכְתִיב (שָׁם /שְׁמוֹת/ ל"ה): וְכָל אֲשֶׁר נִמְצָא אִתּוֹ עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים. "אֲשֶׁר יִמָּצֵא אִתּוֹ" אֵין כָּתוּב כָּאן, אֶלָּא "אֲשֶׁר נִמְצָא אִתּוֹ".
“And Israel journeyed with all that he had and came to Be’er Sheva” – Where was he going?
Rav Naḥman said: He went to cut down the cedars that his grandfather Avraham had planted in Be’er Sheva, as it is said (Genesis 21), “And he planted…”
It is written (Exodus 26), “And the middle bar in the midst of the boards…”
Rabbi Levi said: The middle bar was thirty-two cubits long.
Where did they find such a beam at that moment?
Rather, this teaches that they had hidden them away with them since the days of Ya’akov Avinu. As it is said (Exodus 35), “And everyone with whom was found acacia wood…” It does not say “everyone who had acacia wood”, but rather “with whom it was found”—implying it had already been in their possession. Bereishit Rabbah (Vilna edition), Parashat 94:4:
Ya‘akov, before departing Be’er Sheva, cut cedars from the Eshel (אֵשֶׁל) Avraham had planted and carried them to Egypt. Those cedars became the Mishkan’s heart—the beriaḥ ha-tikhon (בְּרִיחַ הַתִּיכוֹן), the center bar. Literally and mystically, the Mishkan's axis begins in patriarchal planting. Avraham’s orchard of hospitality becomes Ya’akov’s covenant cargo; the trees of Be’er Sheva become Sinai’s spiritual backbone.
Holiness is cumulative: prayers and acts leave residue, and that residue becomes sacred architecture. Ya‘akov does not only dream ladders or build booths; he transports the future in wood and worship. The Mishkan is memory crafted in timber.
Moshe: The Cloud and the Covenant of Endurance
Arriving at the figure of Moshe Rabbenu, the connection to Anan (עָנָן), the cloud, almost unfolds naturally. Moshe’s life is braided deeply with clouds—at Har Sinai (הַר סִינַי), Mount Sinai, during the giving of the Torah, and later at the Mishkan (מִשְׁכָּן), the Tabernacle that journeys with Israel in the wilderness.
These clouds are not accidents of weather; no, they are metaphysical veils, signs of God’s Presence, divine mystery in motion.
Sinai and the Cloud
The Torah writes of Sinai:
וַיְכַ֥ס הֶעָנָ֖ן אֶת־הָהָֽר
“The cloud covered it” (Shemot 24:15).
In this sublime moment, the mountain fills with smoke and mist; the kavod Hashem (כָּבוֹד ה׳), the glory of God, descends in concealed majesty. Moshe waits six days under this cloud, awaiting the invitation to enter (24:16–18).
Notice: revelation is not a blaze of light but a veil of smoke; the infinite hides in opacity. It is a reminder that God's presence is often hidden, obscured, yet constant and transcendent.
Mishkan and the Cloud
Fast-forward to the Mishkan’s completion, and the divine presence returns, the scene nearly repeating verbatim:
וַיְכַ֥ס הֶעָנָ֖ן אֶת־אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד וּכְב֣וֹד ה֔' מָלֵ֖א אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּֽן:
“The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of God filled the Mishkan” (Shmot 40:34).
But unlike the raw divine encounter at Sinai, here Moshe cannot enter until summoned.
The great commentaries like the Ramban observe how Sinai and Mishkan share a syntax of holiness—both veiled in clouds, both sacred thresholds to the ineffable.[9]
The Midrash intensifies this image, describing Sinai as ḥallah (חַלָּה), dough separated from Har HaMoriah (הַר הַמּוֹרִיָּה), set apart in the wilderness like holy bread. The Mishkan is Sinai in miniature; the sukkah, Sinai in leaf.
Moshe and Netzaḥ
Moshe embodies the sefirah Netzaḥ (נֵצַח)—endurance, victory. His life is a grammar of perseverance: forty years wandering the desert, forty days fasting atop Sinai, many ascents and descents betwixt God and people. The cloud is his canopy—at Sinai, at the Mishkan, and throughout the wilderness in the Ananei ha-Kavod (עֲנָנֵי הַכָּבוֹד)—those Clouds of Glory that shelter Israel Inviting Moshe into the sukkah is to invite constancy into contingency, eternity into ephemerality. The sukkah teaches that fragility and endurance are not opposites but partners in covenantal life.
Aharon: Hod and the Cloud of Forgiveness
If Moshe is Netzaḥ (נֵצַח), the stride of endurance, then Aharon (אהרן) is Hod (הוֹד)—splendor, humility, and receptive grace.
Aharon’s profound link to the Ananei ha-Kavod (עֲנָנֵי הַכָּבוֹד), the Clouds of Glory, is explicit and foundational.
Three Gifts, Three Shepherds
The Midrash teaches us about three towering leaders whose merit brought three miraculous gifts to Israel in the wilderness:
- Ha-Man (הַמָּן, manna) came through Moshe’s merit.
- Ha-Be’er (הַבְּאֵר, the well) through Miriam’s merit.
- Ananei ha-Kavod through Aharon’s merit.
When Aharon passed away, the protective Clouds of Glory vanished, signaling that his presence sustained this divine canopy of grace. Both Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva see the sukkah as recalling these Clouds. To invite Aharon into the sukkah is to summon back the memory of that shelter—not a splendor of gold or stone, but the cool shade of divine intimacy.
The Cloud Inside
Aharon’s intimate connection to the divine cloud deepens in Parashat Acharei Mot (אֲחֲרֵי מוֹת):
כִּ֚י בֶּֽעָנָ֔ן אֵרָאֶ֖ה עַל־ הַכַּפֹּֽרֶת:
“For in a cloud I shall appear upon the cover” (Vayikra 16:2).
The Kohen Gadol (כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל), the High Priest, cannot enter the Kodesh ha-Kodashim (קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים), the Holy of Holies, at will. He must enter veiled in cloud. And how is this cloud formed? Through the ketoret (קְטֹרֶת), incense:
וְנָתַ֧ן אֶֽת־הַקְּטֹ֛רֶת עַל־הָאֵ֖שׁ לִפְנֵ֣י ה֑' וְכִסָּ֣ה׀ עֲנַ֣ן הַקְּטֹ֗רֶת אֶת־הַכַּפֹּ֛רֶת ...
“He shall place the incense upon the fire before Hashem, and the cloud of the incense shall cover the cover” (Vayikra 16:13).
Aharon thus recreates the wilderness cloud inside the sanctuary. This ritual is no mere perfumed theater; it is a metaphysical choreography. A reenactment of forgiveness, repentance, and divine return. The return of this cloud signals the renewal of intimacy between God and Israel. The sukkah itself echoes this dynamic: Z’man Simḥateinu (זְמַן שִׂמְחָתֵנוּ), the Season of Our Joy, because the cloud has come back. The fragile dwelling becomes a sign of divine nearness renewed through mercy.
Yosef: Yesod and the Fault Line of History
We arrive at Yosef ha-Tzaddik (יוסף הצדיק), the ultimate Yesod (יסוד)—the foundation, the conduit through which life flows and fidelity is transmitted. At first glance, Yosef appears the outlier: no Mishkan, no Mikdash, no cloud. His biography unfolds in palaces, not sanctuaries. And yet, beneath the surface, Yosef is the subterranean beam—the axis upon which redemption turns.
The Cry for What Was Not Yet
When Yosef embraces Binyamin, the Torah recounts:
וַיִּפֹּל עַל־צַווארֵי בִּנְיָמִין אָחִיו וַיִּבְכּוּ
“He fell upon Binyamin’s neck and wept” (Bereishit 45:14).
Notice the plural—tzavarei (צוארי), “necks.” Why plural? Rashi (רש"י) explains:
ויפל על־צוארי בנימין אחיו ויבך
He wept for the Mikdash (מקדש) that would stand in Binyamin’s territory and be destroyed.[10]
Yosef mourns an unrealized ruin. His tears irrigate a prophecy—an echo across generations—that the Temple’s rise and fall are rooted in an ancient fracture, older than stone itself.
The Beit ha-Mikdash (בית המקדש) stands on a spiritual seam, a fault line between two tribes:
· Yehuda (יהודה)—descended from Leah.
· Binyamin (בנימין)—descended from Rachel.
The tectonic plate of machloket (מחלוקת, division), kin’ah (קנאה, jealousy), and sin’ah (שנאה, hatred) runs through Israel’s history. Its first tremor? The Mekhiat Yosef (מכירת יוסף), the sale of Yosef.[11]
The merger that should have been—Yosef and Yehuda—never truly happened. Instead, Yosef was exiled to Egypt; Yehuda remained in the land. Unity remained deferred, and history limped forward.
The Temple itself—raised on Binyamin’s soil—is a compromise, not a cure. It falls victim to sin’at chinam (שנאת חינם), baseless hatred, echoing the primal rift.
Yosef weeps because he recognizes the persistent fracture: the threat that unity remains elusive, that the wounds are still open.
The Kabbalistic Secret
The Vilna Gaon (הגר״א), drawing from the teachings of the Arizal (אריז״ל), reads this tragedy as cosmic architecture.
The future demands repair:
· Mashiaḥ ben Yosef (משיח בן יוסף) must precede Mashiaḥ ben David (משיח בן דוד).
· Why? Because Zion (ציון) and Yosef share a gematria of 156, as do kin’ah (קנאה)—jealousy.
The numerical whisper: envy exiled Yosef; envy shattered Zion; Yosef’s seed must heal what envy broke.
Yosef's link to Sukkot (סוכות) is not in timber but in tension: the fragile unity—walls and roof—holding despite their porosity. He is the paradox in flesh—exile that sustains, fracture that feeds.
His Yesod (יסוד) channels life amid famine; his dream embodies hope within history’s wounds.
The Secret of the Arizal: Praying for Mashiaḥ ben Yosef and Elevating Sukkat David
In our generation, when few of us "see the cloud," we still lay s’khakh (סכך) atop the sukkah—to remember that divine shelter is sometimes perceived not as radiant light but as shade—shade of faith, of trust.
Within that silent shade, we can turn again to Yosef—our most elusive guest—and learn the secret that the Arizal (אריז״ל) transmitted.
The Kavanah of the Arizal
The Arizal reports that he “heard” from Sh’ma’yah ve-Avtalyon—at their graves in Gush Ḥalav—a daily kavanah (for the Shemoneh Esrei the Amidah). When we say, three times a day, the lines in Boneh Yerushalayim:
שער הכוונות - דרושי העמידה דרוש ו
ובאומרו וכסא דוד עבדך מהרה בתוכה תכין צריך לכוין כונה זו אשר פי' שמעי' ואבטליון למוז"ל יום א' אשר הלכנו לגוש חלב להשתטח על קבריה' ושם א"ל הם עצמם שצריך לכוין במלות אלו בג' תפלות שבכל יום ויום לכוין להתפלל לשי"ת על משיח בן יוסף שיחיה ולא ימות ע"י ארמילוס רשיעא כמ"ש רז"ל על פסוק חיים שאל ממך נתת לו כו' ונודע מספר הזוהר בר"מ פ' תצא דרע"ו ע"ב דמשה סביל כמה מכתשין בגין דלא יתקטיל משיח בן יוסף כו' ועליו אנו מתפללין וכסא דוד עבדך מהרה בתוכה תכין:
Sha'ar HaKavanot – Derushei HaAmidah, Derush 6:
**“And in the phrase ‘And the throne of David Your servant may You speedily establish in its midst,’ one must have the following intention, as explained by Shemaiah and Avtalyon (may their memory be a blessing), on the Sunday when we went to Gush Ḥalav to prostrate at their graves. There, they themselves told me that one must have this intention during these words in all three daily prayers: to pray to the Holy One, blessed be He, for *Mashiach ben Yosef*, that he may live and not die at the hands of **Armilus the Wicked, as our Sages taught on the verse, ‘He asked life of You; You gave it to him…’ (Psalms 21:5).It is known from the Zohar, Raya Mehemna, Parashat Ki Teitzei 276b, that Moshe bore many afflictions in order that Mashiach ben Yosef not be killed. And it is for him that we pray when we say, ‘And the throne of David Your servant may You speedily establish in its midst.’”
Our kavanah—our intentional prayer—must be explicit: “May Mashiaḥ ben Yosef live and not be slain by Armilus the Wicked.”
Indeed, the midrash foresees Mashiaḥ ben Yosef (משיח בן יוסף) falling. But the kabbalists—from the Arizal (אריז״ל) to the Maggaleh Amukot (מגלה עמוקות), the Vilna Gaon (הגר״א), and the Leshem (הלשם)—insist: he does not have to die.
We are called to pray—that he live. The act of prayer elevates the potential: Yosef’s life, the foundation, must be preserved, and his redemptive mission fulfilled.
The Program of the Vilna Gaon: Building Jerusalem
This is not wild speculation, but a concrete program: The Vilna Gaon sent his disciples to rebuild Yerushalayim.
The Kol ha-Tor, attributed to his students, contains clear directives:
· Mashiaḥ ben Yosef builds Jerusalem, expands her borders, gathers exiles, and lays the groundwork.
· On that foundation, Mashiaḥ ben David completes the redemptive arc of history.
Family clans like the Rivlin (רבְּלין) carry the Gaon’s map in their bones, their work a spark—nitzotz (ניצוץ)—of Mashiaḥ ben Yosef, participating consciously in this holy construction.
“Od Yosef beni ḥai” — The Second-in-Command
The "Megaleh Amukot" (מְגַלֶּה עֲמוּקוֹת) interprets Ya’akov’s cry:
“Yosef my son still lives.”
This is no mere coincidence. It is a prophecy: his life will be preserved. Ultimately, Yosef serves as mishneh la-melekh (משנה למלך)—second to the king, the Melekh ha-Mashiaḥ (מלך המשיח)—embodying the foundational Yesod.
Yosef’s inner channel of fidelity and clarity completes itself, pouring into the kingdom, preparing the way for the Davidic kingship.[12]
Yeḥezkel’s Two Sticks: Unity in Digits and Destiny
Yeḥezkel commands us to join:
יחזקאל פרק לז פסוק טו - כח
(טו) וַיְהִ֥י דְבַר־ה֖' אֵלַ֥י לֵאמֹֽר: (טז) וְאַתָּ֣ה בֶן־אָדָ֗ם קַח־לְךָ֙ עֵ֣ץ אֶחָ֔ד וּכְתֹ֤ב עָלָיו֙ לִֽיהוּדָ֔ה וְלִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל חֲבֵרָ֑יו וּלְקַח֙ עֵ֣ץ אֶחָ֔ד וּכְת֣וֹב עָלָ֗יו לְיוֹסֵף֙ עֵ֣ץ אֶפְרַ֔יִם וְכָל־בֵּ֥ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל חֲבֵרָֽיו: (יז) וְקָרַ֨ב אֹתָ֜ם אֶחָ֧ד אֶל־אֶחָ֛ד לְךָ֖ לְעֵ֣ץ אֶחָ֑ד וְהָי֥וּ לַאֲחָדִ֖ים בְּיָדֶֽךָ: (יח) וְכַֽאֲשֶׁר֙ יֹאמְר֣וּ אֵלֶ֔יךָ בְּנֵ֥י עַמְּךָ֖ לֵאמֹ֑ר הֲלֽוֹא־תַגִּ֥יד לָ֖נוּ מָה־אֵ֥לֶּה לָּֽךְ: (יט) דַּבֵּ֣ר אֲלֵהֶ֗ם כֹּֽה־אָמַר֘ אֲדֹנָ֣י ה֒' הִנֵּה֩ אֲנִ֨י לֹקֵ֜חַ אֶת־עֵ֤ץ יוֹסֵף֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּיַד־ אֶפְרַ֔יִם וְשִׁבְטֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל חֲבֵרָ֑יו וְנָתַתִּי֩ אוֹתָ֨ם עָלָ֜יו אֶת־עֵ֣ץ יְהוּדָ֗ה וַֽעֲשִׂיתִם֙ לְעֵ֣ץ אֶחָ֔ד וְהָי֥וּ אֶחָ֖ד בְּיָדִֽי: (כ) וְהָי֨וּ הָעֵצִ֜ים אֲֽשֶׁר־תִּכְתֹּ֧ב עֲלֵיהֶ֛ם בְּיָדְךָ֖ לְעֵינֵיהֶֽם: (כא) וְדַבֵּ֣ר אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם כֹּֽה־אָמַר֘ אֲדֹנָ֣י ה֒' הִנֵּ֨ה אֲנִ֤י לֹקֵ֙חַ֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מִבֵּ֥ין הַגּוֹיִ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָֽלְכוּ־שָׁ֑ם וְקִבַּצְתִּ֤י אֹתָם֙ מִסָּבִ֔יב וְהֵבֵאתִ֥י אוֹתָ֖ם אֶל־אַדְמָתָֽם: (כב) וְעָשִׂ֣יתִי אֹ֠תָם לְג֨וֹי אֶחָ֤ד בָּאָ֙רֶץ֙ בְּהָרֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וּמֶ֧לֶךְ אֶחָ֛ד יִֽהְיֶ֥ה לְכֻלָּ֖ם לְמֶ֑לֶךְ וְלֹ֤א ־יִֽהְיוּ־עוֹד֙ לִשְׁנֵ֣י גוֹיִ֔ם וְלֹ֨א יֵחָ֥צוּ ע֛וֹד לִשְׁתֵּ֥י מַמְלָכ֖וֹת עֽוֹד: (כג) וְלֹ֧א יִֽטַמְּא֣וּ ע֗וֹד בְּגִלּֽוּלֵיהֶם֙ וּבְשִׁקּ֣וּצֵיהֶ֔ם וּבְכֹ֖ל פִּשְׁעֵיהֶ֑ם וְהוֹשַׁעְתִּ֣י אֹתָ֗ם מִכֹּ֤ל מוֹשְׁבֹֽתֵיהֶם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָטְא֣וּ בָהֶ֔ם וְטִהַרְתִּ֤י אוֹתָם֙ וְהָיוּ־לִ֣י לְעָ֔ם וַאֲנִ֕י אֶהְיֶ֥ה לָהֶ֖ם לֵאלֹהִֽים: (כד) וְעַבְדִּ֤י דָוִד֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם וְרוֹעֶ֥ה אֶחָ֖ד יִהְיֶ֣ה לְכֻלָּ֑ם וּבְמִשְׁפָּטַ֣י יֵלֵ֔כוּ וְחֻקֹּתַ֥י יִשְׁמְר֖וּ וְעָשׂ֥וּ אוֹתָֽם: (כה) וְיָשְׁב֣וּ עַל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר נָתַ֙תִּי֙ לְעַבְדִּ֣י לְיַֽעֲקֹ֔ב אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָֽשְׁבוּ־בָ֖הּ אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם וְיָשְׁב֣וּ עָלֶ֡יהָ הֵ֠מָּה וּבְנֵיהֶ֞ם וּבְנֵ֤י בְנֵיהֶם֙ עַד־עוֹלָ֔ם וְדָוִ֣ד עַבְדִּ֔י נָשִׂ֥יא לָהֶ֖ם לְעוֹלָֽם: (כו) וְכָרַתִּ֤י לָהֶם֙ בְּרִ֣ית שָׁל֔וֹם בְּרִ֥ית עוֹלָ֖ם יִהְיֶ֣ה אוֹתָ֑ם וּנְתַתִּים֙ וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֣י אוֹתָ֔ם וְנָתַתִּ֧י אֶת־מִקְדָּשִׁ֛י בְּתוֹכָ֖ם לְעוֹלָֽם: (כז) וְהָיָ֤ה מִשְׁכָּנִי֙ עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם וְהָיִ֥יתִי לָהֶ֖ם לֵֽאלֹהִ֑ים וְהֵ֖מָּה יִֽהְיוּ־לִ֥י לְעָֽם: (כח) וְיָֽדְעוּ֙ הַגּוֹיִ֔ם כִּ֚י אֲנִ֣י ה֔' מְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל בִּהְי֧וֹת מִקְדָּשִׁ֛י בְּתוֹכָ֖ם לְעוֹלָֽם:
The word of the LORD came to me, saying: And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it: “For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.” Then take another stick and write on it: “For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel, his companions.” Bring them close to each other, so that they become one stick in your hand.
And when the children of your people say to you, “Will you not tell us what these mean to you?” Speak to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am taking the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will put them together with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand.” The sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.
Then speak to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am taking the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land.
I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all. They shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever again be divided into two kingdoms.
They shall no longer defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, or any of their transgressions. I will save them from all their dwelling places where they sinned, and I will cleanse them. They shall be My people, and I will be their God.My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and do them.They shall dwell in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers dwelt. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and My servant David shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Then the nations shall know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”
This image recalls the igud (איגוד), the binding of the arba‘ah minim (ארבעה מינים)—the four species held together as one. Yosef and Yehuda must be bound—so that David’s kingship can rise again in unity, the Sukkat David (סוכת דוד) renewed from fractures healed.[13]
Rebbe Naḥman and Yom Kippur: The New Dawn
Rebbe Naḥman (רבי נחמן) teaches in Likutei Halakhot:[14]
Sukkot after Yom Kippur draws down the Kedushah (קדושה) of atonement into leaf and light.
The sukkah becomes tzila d’heimanuta (צְלָא דְהִימָנותא), the shade of faith — the echo of the Ananei ha-Kavod.
Entering the sukkah is akin to walking into the Kodesh ha-Kodashim (קודש הקודשים)—the Holy of Holies—carrying Yom Kippur’s purity into daily life.
Each sukkah becomes a miniature Mishkan (מִשְׁכָּן), each family, a choir of the Shekhinah (שכינה)—the divine indwelling that dwells among us.
This is Z’man Simḥateinu (זְמַן שִׂמְחָתֵנוּ), the Season of Our Joy: the cloud has returned—hidden, yet present, whispering of redemption.
As we conclude this sacred journey through the seven Ushpizin, we grasp that Sukkot is no mere seasonal remembrance, but a profound spiritual architecture—where history, divine presence, and human striving converge in fragile booths whispered into eternity. Each guest teaches a unique dimension of dwelling—of kindness, discipline, harmony, endurance, humility, foundation, and sovereignty. Together, they invite us to inhabit our own sukkah not just as shelter for body, but as a sanctuary of soul, a microcosm of the Mishkan where heaven touches earth and cloud meets canopy. May we merit to open our tents and hearts to their guiding presence, to dwell beneath the cloud of glory, carrying the legacy of Avraham’s hospitality, Yitzḥak’s courage, Ya‘akov’s balance, Moshe’s steadfastness, Aharon’s humility, Yosef’s healing, and David’s kingship—transforming each fleeting moment of dwelling into eternal covenant.
Conclusion: A Dwelling Beyond Time
The Sukkah, the Cloud, the Sanctuary—three strands of a single tapestry, woven from humility, presence, and longing. They are not merely symbols of the past, but structures of becoming, fragile yet eternal, whispering of a world not yet whole.
The Vilna Gaon taught that the Sukkah commemorates not the first appearance of the Clouds of Glory, but their return—after sin, after rupture, after the silence of absence. On the fifteenth of Tishrei, as the Mishkan began to rise, the clouds descended once more. The Sukkah thus becomes a tent of return, a canopy of reconciliation, a micro-Mishkan pitched in the wilderness of exile.
The Ramban saw in the Mishkan the echo of Sinai itself—the cloud that once crowned the mountain now enfolds the Tent of Meeting. The Divine Presence, once thunderous and distant, now dwells in the hush of woven curtains and golden beams. The Mishkan is not a monument to the past, but a portable Sinai, a sanctuary of immediacy.
And yet, the journey is not complete. The Leshem and the Megaleh Amukot speak of two messiahs—Yosef and David, crown and kingdom, atarah and malkhut. One rises first, only to fall; the other emerges from the depths, to reign. Their stories are not separate—they are halves of a single redemption, two melodies destined to harmonize.
The Si’aḥ Yitzḥak, written by Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Chaver, the spiritual heir to the Vilna Gaon, carries this vision forward. His teachings, steeped in the Gaon’s light, reveal that the unification of Yosef and David begins not with kings, but with us—with those who sow kindness beside all waters, who uphold the world on the twin pillars of Torah and ḥesed. These are the legs of the Sukkah, the supports of the Mishkan, the pathways of peace. [15]
To sit in the Sukkah is to dwell in a paradox: in a house that is not a house, beneath a roof that lets in the stars. It is to remember the clouds that once were, to feel the sanctuary that is, and to yearn for the kingdom that will be. It is to live, if only for seven days, in the architecture of a dream—a dream of unity, of return, of a world where the sticks of Yosef and Yehudah are one in the hand of the prophet, and the Divine Presence no longer hides in cloud or curtain.
In this light, to sit in the Sukkah is to dwell not only in memory, but in messianic anticipation—to inhabit a space where past, present, and future converge, and where every wall, every cloud, every act of kindness and learning, becomes a beam in the architecture of redemption. In that fragile dwelling, we rehearse eternity.
[1] Adapted from a lecture given l’el Hoshana Rabbah – many years ago. https://www.yutorah.org/lectures/748717/Ushpizhan
[2] Zohar Emor 103b
Observe that when a man sits in this abode of the shadow of faith, the Shekinah spreads her wings over him from above and Abraham and five other righteous ones make their abode with him.’ R. Abba said: ‘Abraham and five righteous ones and David with them. Hence it is written, “In booths ye shall dwell seven days”, as much as to say, “Ye seven days shall dwell in booths”, and a man should rejoice each day of the festival with these guests who abide with him.’ R. Abba further pointed out that first it says “ye shall dwell” and then “they shall dwell”. The first refers to the guests, and therefore Rab Hamnuna the Elder, when he entered the booth, used to stand at the door inside and say, Let us invite the guests and prepare a table, and he used to stand up and greet them, saying, In booths ye shall dwell, O seven days. Sit, most exalted guests, sit; sit, guests of faith, sit. He would then raise his hands in joy and say, Happy is our portion, happy is the portion of Israel, as it is written, “For the portion of the Lord is his people”, and then he took his seat.
זוהר כרך ג (ויקרא) פרשת אמור דף קג עמוד ב
תָּא חֲזֵי, בְּשַׁעֲתָא דְּבַר נָשׁ יָתִיב בְּמָדוֹרָא דָּא, צִלָּא דִּמְהֵימְנוּתָא, שְׁכִינְתָּא פַּרְסָא גַּדְפָהָא עָלֵיהּ מִלְּעֵילָּא, וְאַבְרָהָם וַחֲמִשָּׁה צַדִּיקַיָּיא אָחֳרָנִין שַׁוְיָין מָדוֹרֵיהוֹן עִמֵּיהּ. אָמַר רִבִּי אַבָּא, אַבְרָהָם וַחֲמִשָּׁה צַדִּיקַיָּיא, וְדָוִד מַלְכָּא, שַׁוְיָין מָדוֹרֵיהוֹן עִמֵּיהּ. הֲדָא הוּא דִּכְתִּיב, בַּסֻּכּוֹת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים. שִׁבְעַת יָמִים כְּתִיב, וְלָא בְּשִׁבְעַת יָמִים. כְּגַוְונָא דָּא כְּתִיב, (שמות לא) כִּי שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים עָשָׂה יְיָ' אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְגוֹ'. וּבָעֵי בַּר נָשׁ לְמֶחְדֵּי בְּכָל יוֹמָא וְיוֹמָא, בְּאַנְפִּין נְהִירִין, בְּאוּשְׁפִּיזִין אִלֵּין דְּשַׁרְיָין עִמֵּיהּ. וְאָמַר רִבִּי אַבָּא, כְּתִיב בַּסֻּכּוֹת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים, וּלְבָתַר יֵשְׁבוּ בַּסֻּכּוֹת. בְּקַדְמִיתָא תֵּשְׁבוּ, וּלְבָתַר יֵשְׁבוּ. אֶלָּא, קַדְמָאָה לְאוּשְׁפִּיזֵי. תִּנְיָינָא, לִבְנֵי עָלְמָא. קַדְמָאָה לְאוּשְׁפִּיזֵי, כִּי הָא דְּרַב הַמְנוּנָא סָבָא, כַּד הֲוָה עָיֵיל לַסּוּכָּה הֲוָה חַדֵּי, וְקָאִים עַל פִּתְחָא לַסּוּכָּה מִלְּגָאו, וְאָמַר נְזַמֵּן לְאוּשְׁפִּיזִין. מְסַדֵּר (נ"א נסדר) פָּתוֹרָא, וְקָאִים עַל רַגְלוֹהִי, וּמְבָרֵךְ, וְאוֹמֵר בַּסֻּכּוֹת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים. תִּיבוּ אוּשְׁפִּיזִין עִלָּאִין, תִּיבוּ. תִּיבוּ אוּשְׁפִּיזֵי מְהֵימְנוּתָא, תִּיבוּ. אָרִים (ס"א אסחי) יְדוֹי, וְחַדֵּי, וְאָמַר זַכָּאָה חוּלָּקָנָא, זַכָּאָה חוּלָקֵיהוֹן דְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, דִּכְתִּיב, (דברים לב) כִּי חֵלֶק יְיָ' עַמּוֹ וְגוֹ', וַהֲוָה יָתִיב.
[3] See Talmud Sukkah 11b, and Sifra Emor 17 , note that in the Sifra the opinions are inverted.
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סוכה דף יא/ב
דתניא כי בסכות הושבתי את בני ישראל ענני כבוד היו דברי רבי אליעזר רבי עקיבא אומר סוכות ממש עשו להם
ספרא פרשת אמור פרק יז
למען ידעו דורותיכם כי בסוכות הושבתו את בני ישראל בהוציאי אותם מארץ מצרים. רבי אליעזר אומר סוכות ממש היו. רבי עקיבא אומר בסוכות ענני כבוד היו. רבי עקיבא אומר בסוכות ענני כבוד היו. בהוציאי אותם מארץ מצרים. מלמד שאף הסוכה זכר ליציאת מצרים:
[4] See Torah Chaim Sanhedrin 97a
"On that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David." – The plain meaning (peshat) of the verse refers to the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple).
ספר תורת חיים על סנהדרין דף צז/א
ביום ההוא אקים את סכת דוד הנופלת. פשטא דקרא בבית המקדש איירי
[5] Vilna Gaon’s commentary on Shir HaShirim 1:4,
“Sukkot, which commemorates the surrounding Clouds of Glory, is intrinsically connected to the construction of the Mishkan, as is well known (see the verse: ‘And the people brought…’). This resolves the well-known question: Why do we celebrate Sukkot in the month of Tishrei? Since the festival commemorates the encircling Clouds of Glory, it would seem more appropriate to observe it in Nisan, when the clouds first appeared.However, it appears that after the sin of the Golden Calf, the Clouds of Glory departed and did not return until the construction of the Mishkan began. Moshe descended [from Mount Sinai] on Yom Kippur, and on the following day, the 11th of Tishrei, he gathered the people and commanded them regarding the work of the Mishkan (‘And Moshe assembled the Children of Israel…’). The people began bringing donations the next morning, continuing for two days—bringing us to the 13th of Tishrei. On the 14th, the artisans received the gold from Moshe, counted and weighed it. On the 15th of Tishrei, they began the actual construction—and at that moment, the Clouds of Glory returned.Therefore, we celebrate Sukkot on the 15th of Tishrei, marking the return of the Divine Presence through the Clouds of Glory, which coincided with the beginning of the Mishkan’s construction.”
פירוש הגר״א שיר השרים א:ד
סוכות, שהוא זכר להיקף ענני כבוד, שהיה תלוי בבנין המשכן [כידוע], (וכתיב 'והעם הביאו:) ובזה מתורץ מה שהקשו למה אנחנו עושים סוכות בתשרי, כיון שהוא נגד היקף ענני כבוד היה ראוי לעשות בניסן, כי בניסן היה תחילת היקף עננים. אבל נראה, לפי שכשעשו את העגל נסתלקו העננים, ואז לא חזרו עד שהתחילו לעשות המשכן. ומשה ירד ומשה ירד ביום הכיפורים, ובמחרת יום הכיפורים 'ויקהל משה את בני ישראל', וציוה על מלאכת המשכן, זה היה בי"א תשרי, וכתיב 'והעם הביאו [עוד נדבה] בבוקר בבקר', עוד שני ימים, הרי י"ג בתשרי, ובי"ד בתשרי נטלו כל חכם לב ממשה את הזהב במנין ובמשקל, ובט"ו התחילו לעשות, ואז חזרו ענני כבוד, ולכך אנו עושין סוכות בט"ו בתשרי.
[6] Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, in his Meshech Chochmah on Shemot 23:16, offers a brilliant interpretation of the Vilna Gaon’s comments regarding the Sukkah. He explains that the Sukkah is associated with the return of the Clouds of Glory, which reappeared after Yom Kippur—when the Jewish people were forgiven for the sin of the Golden Calf. This connection sheds light on the different names given to the festival of Sukkot, and most importantly, on the moment when the Torah first explicitly refers to the festival as “Sukkot.” Prior to this point, and before the sin, the Torah refers to it simply as “the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year.”
שמות פרק כג פסוק טו - יז (פרשת משפטים)
(טו) אֶת־חַ֣ג הַמַּצּוֹת֘ תִּשְׁמֹר֒ שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִים֩ תֹּאכַ֨ל מַצּ֜וֹת כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוִּיתִ֗ךָ לְמוֹעֵד֙ חֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽאָבִ֔יב כִּי־ב֖וֹ יָצָ֣אתָ מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם וְלֹא־יֵרָא֥וּ פָנַ֖י רֵיקָֽם: (טז) וְחַ֤ג הַקָּצִיר֙ בִּכּוּרֵ֣י מַעֲשֶׂ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תִּזְרַ֖ע בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה וְחַ֤ג הָֽאָסִף֙ בְּצֵ֣את הַשָּׁנָ֔ה בְּאָסְפְּךָ֥ אֶֽת־ מַעֲשֶׂ֖יךָ מִן־הַשָּׂדֶֽה: (יז) שָׁלֹ֥שׁ פְּעָמִ֖ים בַּשָּׁנָ֑ה יֵרָאֶה֙ כָּל־זְכ֣וּרְךָ֔ אֶל־פְּנֵ֖י הָאָדֹ֥ן׀ הֽ':
Shmot (Exodus) 23:15–17:
You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; and none shall appear before Me empty-handed. You shall observe the Feast of Harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. And you shall observe the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.
משך חכמה שמות פרק כג פסוק טז (פרשת משפטים)
וְחַג הָאָסִיף. וְכֵן בְּ"כִי תִשָּׂא" (לְהַלָּן ל"ד, כ"ב). לֹא כֵּן בְּדְבָרִים (ט"ז, י"ג) כָּתוּב "חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת". הַטַּעַם עַל פִּי דִּבְרֵי הַגְרָ"א (שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים ד', ט"ז): כְּשֶׁנִּתְּנוּ הַלֻּחוֹת הַשְּׁנִיִּים וּמֹשֶׁה יָרַד מִן הָהָר וְחָזְרוּ עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד בַּט"וֹ לַחֹדֶשׁ תִּשְׁרֵי—נִצְטַוּוּ עַל סֻכּוֹת כַּיָּדוּעַ. וְלָכֵן, אָז קֹדֶם דִּבְּרוֹת שְׁנִיּוֹת נִקְרָא חַג הָאָסִיף וְלֹא חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת. וּמְסוּלָּק קֻשְׁיָת רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה דַּף י"ג ע"א—עַיֵּן שָׁם וְהָבֵן. וְלֹא שַׁיָּךְ לִקְרוֹתוֹ חַג הָאָסִיף עַל סֻכָּה. וְעַיֵּן.
Meshech Chochmah on Shmot 23:16 (Parashat Mishpatim):
“And the Feast of Ingathering…” Similarly, in Ki Tisa (Exodus 34:22), it is called “the Feast of Ingathering.” But in Devarim (Deuteronomy 16:13), it is referred to as “the Festival of Sukkot.” The reason, according to the Vilna Gaon (commentary to Shir HaShirim 4:16), is that when the second tablets were given and Moshe descended from the mountain, the Clouds of Glory returned on the fifteenth of Tishrei, and the commandment of Sukkot was given, as is well known. Therefore, prior to the second set of tablets, the festival was called “the Feast of Ingathering” and not “the Festival of Sukkot.” This resolves the difficulty raised by Rabbi Chanina in Rosh Hashanah 13a—see there and understand. It is thus inappropriate to refer to it as “the Feast of Ingathering” in relation to the sukkah. See further.
[7] See Sefer Maharil (Minhagim), Hilchot Sukkah
Mahari Segal said that he saw his teacher, Maharsh, mark the boards for the sukkah walls with the letters Alef, Bet, Gimel, in order to keep track of their arrangement and not change their order from year to year.
Sefer Shelah HaKadosh – Masechet Sukkah – Perek Ner Mitzvah (4)
It is written in the Maharil, in Hilchot Sukkah, in the gloss: that he saw his teacher, Maharsh, mark the boards for the sukkah walls with the letters Alef, Bet, Gimel, in order to see their arrangement and not change it from year to year. And so it is in the Yerushalmi regarding the beams of the Mishkan, as it says there (Shabbat 12:3): Rabbi Ami said, “And you shall set up the Mishkan according to its law (Ex. 26:30). Does wood have a law? Rather, a beam that merited to be placed in the north shall always be placed in the north, and likewise one in the south shall always be placed in the south.”
ספר מהרי"ל (מנהגים) הלכות סוכות
אמר מהר"י סג"ל שראה שרבו מהר"ש היה מסמן הדפין למחיצת הסוכה אב"ג, כדי לראות סדר עמידתם שלא לשנותם משנה לשנה.
ספר השל"ה הקדוש - מסכת סוכה - פרק נר מצוה (ד)
כתוב במהרי"ל בהלכות סוכה בהגה"ה, שראה רבו מהר"ש היה מסמן הדפין למחיצת הסוכה אב"ג, כדי לראות סדר עמידתן שלא לשנותה משנה לשנה. וכן הוא בירושלמי בענין קרשי המשכן, איתא שם (שבת יב, ג), א"ר אמי, והקמות את המשכן כמשפטו, וכי יש משפט לעצים, אלא קרש שזכה לינתן בצפון ינתן בצפון לעולם, וכן בדרום ינתן בדרום.
[8] Rashi on Bereishit (Genesis) Chapter 22
“And he saw the place” — He saw a cloud tied to the mountain.
Bereishit Rabbah (Vilna edition), Parashah 56
“And it came to pass on the third day” — “And Esther clothed herself in royalty” (Esther 5:1): she clothed herself in the royalty of her father’s house. By what merit? The Rabbis and Rabbi Levi differed. The Rabbis said: by the merit of the third day of the giving of the Torah, as it is said: “And it came to pass on the third day, when it was morning” (Exodus 19:16). Rabbi Levi said: by the merit of the third day of Abraham our father, as it is said: “On the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place from afar” (Genesis 22:4). What did he see? He saw a cloud tied to the mountain. He said: “It seems that this is the place where the Holy One, blessed be He, told me to offer my son.”
רש"י בראשית פרק כב
וירא את המקום - ראה ענן קשור על ההר:
בראשית רבה (וילנא) פרשה נו
ויהי ביום השלישי ותלבש אסתר מלכות לבשה מלכות בית אביה, באיזה זכות, רבנן ורבי לוי רבנן אמרי בזכות יום השלישי של מתן תורה שנאמר ויהי ביום השלישי בהיות הבקר, ור' לוי אמר בזכות של יום שלישי של אברהם אבינו שנאמר ביום השלישי וירא את המקום מרחוק, מה ראה ראה ענן קשור בהר, אמר דומה שאותו מקום שאמר לי הקב"ה להקריב את בני שם.
[9] See Ramban Shmot 25:2, and 40:34
Ramban on Shmot 25 (Introduction to the Mishkan)
One who looks carefully at the verses regarding the giving of the Torah and understands what we have written about them (see below, verse 21) will comprehend the secret of the Mishkan and the Beit HaMikdash. He will be able to reflect on what Shlomo (Solomon) said in his wisdom in his prayer at the Temple: “O Lord, God of Israel…” (I Kings 8:23), just as it says at Mount Sinai: “And they saw the God of Israel” (Exodus 24:10).
Ramban on Shmot 40:34
“And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting” – This means that the cloud enveloped the Tent from all sides, covering and enclosing it. “And the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan” – The interior was filled with the Divine Presence, for the glory dwelled within the cloud, inside the Mishkan. This is similar to what is said about Mount Sinai: “into the thick cloud where God was” (Exodus 20:18).It further says that Moshe could not enter the Tent of Meeting, not even to its entrance, because the cloud covered it, and he was not permitted to enter into the cloud. Moreover, the Mishkan was filled with the glory of the Lord—how could he enter?
The reason is that one may not enter without permission. He must be called, and only then may he enter the cloud, just as happened at Mount Sinai: “And He called to Moshe on the seventh day from within the cloud” (Exodus 24:16), and it says, “And Moshe entered the cloud” (Exodus 24:18).According to the plain meaning (peshat), since it says “And the Lord spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting” (Leviticus 1:1), Moshe did not enter the Mishkan, but rather stood at the entrance, and God spoke to him from within.
רמב"ן שמות פרק כה:ב
והמסתכל יפה בכתובים הנאמרים במתן תורה ומבין מה שכתבנו בהם (עי' להלן פסוק כא) יבין סוד המשכן ובית המקדש, ויוכל להתבונן בו ממה שאמר שלמה בחכמתו בתפלתו בבית המקדש ה' אלהי ישראל (מ"א ח כג), כמו שאמר בהר סיני ויראו את אלהי ישראל (לעיל כד י),
רמב"ן שמות פרק מ פסוק לד
(לד) ויכס הענן את אהל מועד - אמר כי הענן יכסה את האהל מכל צד והוא מכוסה וטמון בו. וכבוד ה' מלא את המשכן - כי תוכו מלא הכבוד, כי הכבוד שוכן בתוך הענן תוך המשכן, כענין שנאמר בהר סיני (לעיל כ יז) אל הערפל אשר שם האלהים. ואמר כי לא יכול משה לבא אל אהל מועד אפילו אל הפתח, מפני שהיה הענן מכסה אותו ולא היה רשאי לבא בתוך הענן. ועוד, כי המשכן מלא כבוד ה' ואיך יכנס בו. והטעם, שלא יבא שם בלא רשות, אבל יקרא אותו ויבא בתוך הענן כאשר עשה בהר סיני ויקרא אל משה ביום השביעי מתוך הענן (לעיל כד טז), ואמר ויבא משה בתוך הענן (שם יח). ועל דרך הפשט, בעבור שנאמר וידבר ה' אליו מאהל מועד (ויקרא א א) לא נכנס משה למשכן, אבל קרא אותו מאהל מועד ועמד פתח אהל מועד וידבר אליו:
[10] Rashi on Bereishit (Genesis) 45:14:
“And he fell upon the neck of his brother Binyamin and wept” –He wept over the two Temples that were destined to be built in Binyamin’s territory and would ultimately be destroyed.
“And Binyamin wept upon his neck” –He wept over the Mishkan in Shiloh, which was destined to be in Yosef’s territory and would also be destroyed.
רש"י בראשית פרק מה פסוק יד
ויפול על צוארי בנימין אחיו ויבך - על שני מקדשות שעתידין להיות בחלקו של בנימין וסופן ליחרב:
ובנימין בכה על צואריו - על משכן שילה שעתיד להיות בחלקו של יוסף וסופו ליחרב:
[11] Midrash Tanchuma (Buber edition), Parashat Vayigash, section 11
Come and see: everything that happened to Joseph happened to Zion.
Regarding Joseph it is written: “And Israel loved Joseph” (Genesis 37:3); regarding Zion it is written: “The LORD loves the gates of Zion” (Psalms 87:2).
Regarding Joseph it is written: “And they hated him” (Genesis 37:4); regarding Zion it is written: “She has raised her voice against Me; therefore I have hated her” (Jeremiah 12:8).
Regarding Joseph it is written: “Behold, we were binding sheaves” (Genesis 37:7); regarding Zion it is written: “He will surely come with rejoicing, carrying his sheaves” (Psalms 126:6).
Regarding Joseph it is written: “His brothers said to him, ‘Will you indeed reign over us?’” (Genesis 37:8); regarding Zion it is written: “Who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isaiah 52:7).
Regarding Joseph it is written: “And Joseph dreamed a dream” (Genesis 37:5); regarding Zion it is written: “When the LORD returned the captivity of Zion, we were like dreamers” (Psalms 126:1).
Regarding Joseph it is written: “Shall we indeed come—I and your mother—to bow down to you to the ground?” (Genesis 37:10); regarding Zion it is written: “They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth and lick the dust of your feet” (Isaiah 49:23).
Regarding Joseph it is written: “And his brothers envied him” (Genesis 37:11); regarding Zion it is written: “I am zealous for Jerusalem with great zeal” (Zechariah 8:2)….
מדרש תנחומא (בובר) פרשת ויגש סימן יא
בא וראה כל מה שאירע ליוסף אירע לציון, ביוסף כתיב וישראל אהב את יוסף (בראשית לז ג), ובציון כתיב אהב ה' כל שערי ציון (תהלים פז ב), ביוסף כתיב וישנאו אותו (בראשית לז ד), בציון כתיב נתנה עלי בקולה על כן שנאתיה (ירמיה יב ח), ביוסף כתיב והנה אנחנו מאלמים אלומים (בראשית לז ז), ובציון כתיב בא יבא ברנה נושא אלומותיו (תהלים קכו ו), ביוסף כתיב ויאמרו לו אחיו המלוך תמלוך עלינו (בראשית לז ח), ובציון כתיב אומר לציון מלך אלהיך (ישעיה נב ז), ביוסף כתיב ויחלום יוסף חלום (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ ה), ובציון כתיב בשוב ה' את שיבת ציון היינו כחולמים (תהלים קכו א), ביוסף כתיב הבוא נבא אני ואמך להשתחוות לך ארצה (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ י), ובציון כתיב אפים ארץ ישתחוו לך ועפר רגליך ילחכו (ישעיה מט כג), ביוסף כתיב ויקנאו בו אחיו (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ יא), ובציון כתיב קנאתי לירושלים קנאה גדולה (זכריה ח ב), ביוסף כתיב לך נא ראה את שלום אחיך (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ יד), ובציון כתיב ודרשו את שלום העיר (ירמיה כט ז), ביוסף כתיב ויראו אותו מרחוק (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ יח), ובציון כתיב זכרו מרחוק את ה' (ירמיה נא נ), ביוסף כתיב ויתנכלו אותו להמיתו (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ שם), ובציון כתיב על עמך יערימו סוד (תהלים פג ד), ביוסף כתיב ויפשיטו את יוסף (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ כג), ובציון כתיב והפשיטוך את בגדיך (יחזקאל כג כו), ביוסף כתיב וישליכו אותו הבורה (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ כד), ובציון כתיב צמתו בבור חיי (איכה ג נג), ביוסף כתיב והבור רק אין בו מים (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ שם), ובציון כתיב [ובבור] אין מים כי אם טיט (ירמיה לח ו), ביוסף כתיב וישבו לאכל לחם (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ כה), ובציון כתיב אשור לשבוע לחם (איכה ה ו), ביוסף כתיב וימשכו ויעלו את יוסף מן הבור (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ כח), ובציון כתיב (והעלה עבד מלך הכושי את ירמיה וגו') [וימשכו את ירמיהו בחבלים ויעלו אותו מן הבור] (ירמיה לח יג), ביוסף כתיב ויקרע יעקב שמלותיו וישם שק במתניו (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ לד), ובציון כתיב ויקרא [אדני] ה' צבאות ביום ההוא לבכי ולמספד ולקרחה ולחגור שק (ישעיה כב יב), ביוסף כתיב וימאן להתנחם (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ לה), ובציון כתיב אל תאיצו לנחמני (ישעיה כב ד), ביוסף כתיב והמדנים מכרו אותו אל מצרים (בראשית שם /ל"ז/ לו), ובציון כתיב ובני יהודה ובני ירושלים מכרתם לבני היונים (יואל ד ו). כל הרעות שאירעו ליוסף אירעו לציון וכן הטובות, נאמר ביוסף ויהי יוסף יפה תואר ויפה מראה (בראשית לט ו), ובציון כתיב יפה נוף משוש כל הארץ (תהלים מח ג), ביוסף כתיב ויהי ה' את יוסף (בראשית שם /ל"ט/ כא), ובציון כתיב והיה עיני ולבי שם כל הימים (מ"א =מלכים א'= ט ג), ביוסף כתיב איננו גדול (בראשית שם /ל"ט/ ט), ובציון כתיב ה' בציון גדול (תהלים צט ב), ביוסף כתיב ויט אליו חסד (בראשית שם /ל"ט/ כא), ובציון כתיב זכרתי לך חסד נעוריך (ירמיה ב ב), ביוסף כתיב ויגלח ויחלף שמלותיו (בראשית מא יד), ובציון כתיב אם רחץ ה' צואת בני ציון (ישעיה ד ד), ביוסף כתיב רק הכסא אגדל ממך (בראשית שם /מ"א/ מ), ובציון כתיב יקראו לירושלים כסא ה' (ירמיה ג יז), ביוסף כתיב וילבש אותו בגדי שש (בראשית שם /מ"א/ מב), ובציון כתיב עורי עורי לבשי עוזך ציון (ישעיה נב א) ביוסף כתיב ואת יהודה שלח לפניו (בראשית מו כח), ובציון כתיב הנני שולח מלאכי ופינה דרך לפני (מלאכי ג א).
ספר עמק המלך - שער ה - פרק נג
ולעתיד יקנא לציון קנאה גדולה, וקנאה גימטריא יוסף, לרמוז על משיח בן יוסף שעתיד הקב"ה לקנא על ידו לציון ולירושלים, שהם ביד האויבים, והבן, וישוב לירושלים ברחמים רבים, אמן ואמן כן יהי רצון:
[12] See Sefer Megaleh Amukot on Parashat Vayechi:
“Yosef my son is still alive” – This alludes to the future death of Mashiach ben Yosef.
And this is what Yosef meant when he said, “Do not quarrel on the way”—understand this well.
This is also the meaning of the verse, “Therefore he shall lift up his head”—that he (Mashiach ben Yosef) will return and live again, and he will become second to Mashiach ben David.
ספר מגלה עמוקות על התורה - פרשת ויחי
עוד יוסף בני חי שיהרג משיח בן יוסף וז"ש יוסף אל תרגזו בדרך והבן זהו ז"ש על כן ירים ראש שיחזור ויחי' ויהי' משנה למשיח בן דוד
[13] See Sefer Leshem Shevo Ve-Aḥlamah – Haqdamot uSha'arim, Sha'ar ha-Poneh Qedmah, Chapter 42:
This is also the secret of Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David.
Mashiach ben Yosef comes from Ephraim, which corresponds to the crown (atarah), while Mashiach ben David is rooted in the Shekhinah (Malkhut) itself. The Messianic era will begin with Mashiach ben Yosef, who is associated with the atarah. At that stage, the only difference between this world and the Messianic era will be the end of subjugation to foreign powers, as stated in the Zohar, Raya Mehemna, Parashat Pinḥas 242b: “At that time… there will be rest for Israel…” (see the full discussion there). However, his reign will not endure, for he corresponds to the seventh king, who, as previously explained, exists only for a brief moment. Therefore, the Sages said (Sukkah 52a) that Mashiach ben Yosef will be killed, and this will be at the hands of Gog and Magog. See also Raya Mehemna, Beha’alotekha 153b, and Ki Teitzei 276b. All of this will occur at the beginning of the atarah’s dominion, when it is at its height. But when it reaches its lowest point, then the supernal chesed (lovingkindness) will be revealed through the mouth of the Mother (puma de-ima). At that point, the kingdom of the House of David will begin to sprout, through the puma de-ima. This is the time of Mashiach ben David. See also Raya Mehemna, Pinḥas 252a, Ki Teitzei 278b, 279a, and Mishpatim 120a.Returning to the matter: we have explained that the division of the Davidic kingdom in the days of Reḥav‘am is rooted in the world of Tohu (chaos), in which the atarah separates from Malkhut. But in the Messianic era, when they will be reunited, the rectification will begin with Mashiach ben Ephraim, and from him Mashiach ben David will inherit. This too is within the atarah itself, at its lowest point, where the unification of the two begins. This is what is written in Yeḥezkel 37: “Take one stick and write upon it, ‘For Yehudah’…”—this is Malkhut. “And take another stick and write upon it, ‘For Yosef, the stick of Ephraim’…”—this is the atarah. “Bring them close to each other, one to the other, into one stick, and they shall become one in your hand…” “Behold, I will take…” “And I will make them one stick…” “And I will gather them…” As the Vilna Gaon writes in Sifra di-Tzeniuta, Chapter 1, regarding the eighth king in the World of Emanation (Olam ha-Atzilut). And as the teaching says: “And after the rectification, she (Malkhut) nests…”—meaning, this is why Malkhut is also called ‘eifah’, which is one-tenth of an ephah, because after the rectification of Ma‘aseh Bereishit (Creation), Malkhut nests in the World of Asiyah, which is called Ofan (wheel), as stated in Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 6, 24a: “The lower Mother nests in the Ofan.”Therefore, she is called eifah, because she is in the Ofan. [And also, the word “eifah” is numerically equivalent to…]
ספר לשם שבו ואחלמה - הקדמות ושערים - שער הפונה קדים פרק מב
והוא ג"כ סוד משיח בן יוסף ומשיח בן דוד כי משיח בן יוסף הוא מאפרים שהוא בעטרה ומשיח בן דוד הוא בהמלכות גופה ויתחיל ימות המשיח ממשיח בן יוסף שהוא בעטרה ואז אין בין עוה"ז לימות המשיח אלא שיעבוד מלכיות לבד וכמ"ש ברע"מ פנחס רמ"ב ע"ב בההוא זמנא כו' ויהוי נייחא לישראל כו' ע"ש כל הענין אמנם לא יתקיים מלכותו כי הוא רק בסוד מלך הז' שהוא אתקיים רק שעתא חדא כנ"ל פ"מ ולכן אמרו רז"ל בסוכה נ"ב ע"א כי משיח בן יוסף יהרג והוא ע"י גוג ומגוג וע' ברע"מ בהעלותך קנ"ג ב' וברע"מ תצא רע"ו ב' וכל זה יהיה בתחילת זמן שליטת העטרה שהוא בגובה דהעטרה אבל כשיגיע לשיפולו אז יתגלי חסד עלאה בפומא דאמה ואז יתחיל צמיחת מלכות בית דוד ע"י הפומא דאמה והוא זמן משיח בן דוד וע' רע"מ פנחס רנ"ב א' ופ' תצא רע"ח ב' ורע"ט א' ופ' משפטים ק"כ ע"א:
ונחזור לענין כי הרי נתבאר לנו כי הענין מה שנחלקה מלכות בית דוד בימי רחבעם הוא מסוד עולם התוהו שמתפרש אז העטרה מהמלכות אבל לימות המשיח שיתייחדו יתחיל התיקון ממשיח בן אפרים וממנו ירש משיח בן דוד והוא ג"כ בעטרה עצמו בשיפולוי ששם מתחיל יחוד שניהם והוא מה שכתוב ביחזקאל ל"ז קח לך עץ אחר וכתוב עליו ליהודה כו' שהוא המלכות. ולקח עץ אחד וכתוב עליו ליוסף עץ אפרים כו' שהוא העטרה. וקרב אותם אחד אל אחד לך לעץ אחד והיו לאחדים בידך כו' הנה אני לוקח כו' ועשיתים לעץ אחד כו' וקבצתי אותם כו' וכמ"ש הגר"א בספד"צ פ"א בדה"מ מלך השמיני. ומ"ש המאמר ועוד דבתר תיקונא איהי מקננא באופן ר"ל דלכך נקרא המלכות ג"כ בשם איפה שהיא עשירית האיפה כנ"ל משום שלאחר התיקון דמעשה בראשית מקננא המלכות בעולם העשיה שנקרא אופן וכמ"ש בתיקונים תיקון ו' כ"ד ריש ע"ב אימא תתאה מקננא באופן ולכך נקרא איפה ע"ש שהיא באופן …
[14] Likutei Halachot – Hilchot Nedarim, Halacha 3
This is the concept of the mitzvah of the sukkah after Yom Kippur, for it indicates that we have already accomplished the request of “Please forgive” before Hashem, blessed be He, and then we merit the sanctity of the Beit HaMikdash. For the sukkah is an aspect of the dedication of the Beit HaMikdash, because the Beit HaMikdash is called “Sukkat Shalem,” the complete sukkah, the sukkah of David, as is known. For the sukkah is an aspect of the Clouds of Glory, where the glory of Hashem is revealed, as in the verse: “And the glory of Hashem appeared in the cloud,” which is the sanctity of the Beit HaMikdash, where the Clouds of Glory are primarily found, as it is written: “For in the cloud I will appear upon the kaporet.” And as it is written regarding the dedication of the Temple in the days of Solomon: “And the cloud filled the House of Hashem.” Therefore, in truth, the dedication of the First Temple in the days of Solomon took place on the festival of Sukkot, as it is written there in Melachim.
Thus, through the mitzvah of sukkah that we fulfill after Yom Kippur, we draw upon ourselves the sanctity of the Beit HaMikdash upon each individual, which is the aspect of the Clouds of Glory, the aspect of the sukkah, as mentioned above. This means that through the “Please forgive” of Yom Kippur, we merit the dedication of the House—that is, the aspect of the sukkah, as explained. … For through the sanctity of Yom Kippur, when we merited to effect the request of “Please forgive,” the sanctity of the Beit HaMikdash is drawn upon us, into which the Kohen Gadol entered into the innermost chamber, until each person of Israel merits to enter the aspect of the sanctity of the Beit HaMikdash to dedicate it, which is the aspect of the holy sukkah, as explained. And the essence of the sanctity of the Beit HaMikdash is the aspect of the generality of son and disciple, which themselves are the aspect of the sukkah’s walls, which are the aspect of the surrounding partitions drawn through the illumination of son and disciple. Therefore, then we merit to eat in the sukkah, for we merit that holy eating mentioned above, to attain through the eating.
ספר ליקוטי הלכות - הלכות נדרים הלכה ג
וְזֶה בְּחִינַת מִצְוַת סֻכָּה אַחַר יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים, כִּי זֶה מוֹרֶה שֶׁכְּבָר פָּעַלְנוּ בַּקָּשַׁת סְלַח נָא אֵצֶל ה' יִתְבָּרַךְ וְאָז זוֹכִין לִבְחִינַת קְדֻשַּׁת הַבֵּית - הַמִּקְדָּשׁ. כִּי סֻכָּה הִיא בְּחִינַת חֲנֻכַּת הַבֵּית - הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, כִּי הַבֵּית - הַמִּקְדָּשׁ נִקְרָא סֻכַּת שָׁלֵם, סֻכַּת דָּוִד כַּיָּדוּעַ. כִּי סֻכָּה הִיא בְּחִינַת עַנְנֵי כָּבוֹד שֶׁשָּׁם מִתְגַּלֶּה כְּבוֹד ה' בְּחִינַת וּכְבוֹד ה' נִרְאָה בֶּעָנָן, שֶׁזֶּהוּ בְּחִינַת קְדֻשַּׁת הַבֵּית - הַמִּקְדָּשׁ שֶׁשָּׁם הֵם עִקַּר הָעַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב, כִּי בֶּעָנָן אֵרָאֶה עַל הַכַּפֹּרֶת. וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּחֲנֻכַּת הַבַּיִת בִּימֵי שְׁלֹמֹה, וְהֶעָנָן מָלֵא אֶת בֵּית ה'. וְעַל - כֵּן בֶּאֱמֶת הָיָה חֲנֻכַּת הַבַּיִת הָרִאשׁוֹן בִּימֵי שְׁלֹמֹה בְּחַג הַסֻּכּוֹת כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב שָׁם בִּמְלָכִים. נִמְצָא, שֶׁעַל - יְדֵי מִצְוַת סֻכָּה שֶׁאָנוּ מְקַיְּמִין אַחַר יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים בָּזֶה אָנוּ מַמְשִׁיכִין עַל עַצְמֵנוּ קְדֻשַּׁת הַבֵּית - הַמִּקְדָּשׁ עַל כָּל אֶחָד שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת עַנְנֵי כָּבוֹד, בְּחִינַת סֻכָּה כַּנַּ"ל. שֶׁזֶּהוּ בְּחִינַת שֶׁעַל - יְדֵי סְלַח נָא שֶׁל יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים זוֹכִין לַחֲנֻכַּת הַבַּיִת, דְּהַיְנוּ בְּחִינַת סֻכָּה וְכַנַּ"ל. …, כִּי עַל - יְדֵי קְדֻשַּׁת יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים שֶׁזָּכִינוּ לִפְעֹל בַּקָּשַׁת סְלַח נָא וְנִמְשָׁךְ עָלֵינוּ קְדֻשַּׁת הַבֵּית - הַמִּקְדָּשׁ שֶׁנִּכְנַס בּוֹ הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל לִפְנַי וְלִפְנִים עַד שֶׁאָנוּ זוֹכִין שֶׁכָּל אֶחָד מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל נִכְנָס לִבְחִינַת קְדֻשַּׁת הַבֵּית - הַמִּקְדָּשׁ לְחַנְּכוֹ, שֶׁזֶּהוּ בְּחִינַת סֻכָּה הַקְּדוֹשָׁה כַּנַּ"ל. וְעִקַּר הַקְּדֻשָּׁה שֶׁל הַבֵּית - הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הוּא בְּחִינַת כְּלָלִיּוּת בֵּן וְתַלְמִיד שֶׁמִּשָּׁם בְּעַצְמוֹ הֵם בְּחִינַת מְחִצּוֹת הַסֻּכָּה שֶׁהֵם בְּחִינַת מְחִצּוֹת הַמַּקִּיפִים הַנִּמְשָׁכִין עַל - יְדֵי הֶאָרַת בֵּן וְתַלְמִיד. וְעַל - כֵּן אָז זוֹכִין לֶאֱכֹל בַּסֻּכָּה, כִּי זוֹכִין לַאֲכִילָה קְדוֹשָׁה הַנַּ"ל לִזְכּוֹת עַל - יְדֵי הָאֲכִילָה
[15] See Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Chaver (1789–1853), a prominent Lithuanian Kabbalist and Torah scholar. He was indeed a disciple of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov, who was himself a primary student of the Vilna Gaon.Sefer Si’aḥ Yitzḥak, Part II – Derush for Shabbat Parashat Beshalach (continued):
(49) The dominion of Esav’s ministering angel was aimed at nullifying Torah from Israel, as it is written, “He struck the socket of his hip”(Genesis 32:26), and as the Zohar explains, this refers to “those who support the Torah”. It is in the merit of these two pillars—Torah and acts of lovingkindness (gemilut ḥasadim)—that the “leg” of Esav is broken. Therefore, the Sages said in Sanhedrin, Chapter Ḥelek: “Whoever engages in Torah and acts of kindness is saved from the birth pangs of the Messiah.” And this is the meaning of the phrase “in the horn of the ox and the donkey”—that is, in the horn of the ox, referring to Mashiach ben Yosef, and in the donkey, referring to Mashiach ben David. Then, “Behold, kings assembled, they passed together” (Psalms 48:5), as the Midrash at the beginning of Parashat Vayigash explains: the entire matter of the separation of the tribes—Yosef being sold to Egypt, Yehudah descending from his brothers—was all a hint and preparation for the future division between the two messianic kings and the nature of this exile.Afterward, Yehudah approached Yosef, and Yosef revealed himself to his brothers—this is a preparation for the Messianic era, as it says in Yeḥezkel (Ezekiel) 37: “Take one stick and write upon it, ‘For Yehudah’… and take another stick and write upon it, ‘For Yosef, the stick of Ephraim’… and bring them close to each other… and they shall become one in your hand…”And this is what the verse means: “Happy are you who sow beside all waters, who send forth the feet of the ox and the donkey” (Isaiah 32:20). “Those who sow” refers to acts of kindness, “beside all waters” refers to Torah, as the Sages said: “Water” always refers to Torah. And through these, “send forth the feet…”—these are the two legs, the two Messiahs.
ספר שיח יצחק חלק ב - דרוש לשבת פרשת בשלח (המשך)
מט) ושליטת שרו של עשו היה לבטל תורה מישראל, כמ"ש "ויגע בכף יריכו", וכמ"ש בזוהר "אלו תומכי אורייתא", ובזכות אלו, תורה וגמ"ח, ב' רגלים דקודשא, ישבר רגלו של עשו, ולכן אמרו בפרק חלק, "כל מי שעוסק בתורה ובגמ"ח, ניצול מחבלי משיח". וז"ש "בקרנא דחמרא", ר"ל בקרן השור של משיח בן יוסף, ובחמור משיח בן דוד, שאז "הנה מלכים נועדו עברו יחדיו", כמ"ש במדרש ריש פרשת ויגש, שכל ענין פירוד השבטים זה מזה, יוסף הורד מצרימה, וירד יהודה מאת אחיו, הכל היה רמז והכנה למחלקותם של ב' המלכים, וענין גלות הזה, ואח"כ נתקרב יהודה אל יוסף, ויוסף התודע אל אחיו, הוא הכנה לימות המשיח, וכמ"ש ביחזקאל "לקח לך עץ אחד וכתוב עליו ליהודה וכו', והיו לאחדים בידיך", וע"ז אמר הכתוב "אשריכם זורעי על כל מים משלחי רגל השור והחמור", ש"זורעי" הוא גמ"ח, "על כל מים" הוא תורה, כמ"ש רז"ל "אין מים אלא תורה", ועי"ז "משלחי רגל" וכו', הם ב' רגלים, הם ב' משיחים:
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