Succos - Schach
This
first night of Succos this year was quite warm, so I slept in the
succah. When I woke up, I looked up at the sunlight shining
through the slats of the schach, forming a beautiful atlernating
pattern of light and dark, light and dark. Then I was struck with
the idea that the succah is a symbol for the world the way it really
is. The four walls of the succah represents the four corners of
the physical world, the 'tevah'. The roof with its schach
represents our relationship with Hashem, the way Hashem's 'hashpah',
influence, comes down into this world.
There are two
ways of looking at this relationship with Hashem. On one hand,
the light shining down represents the direct love and caring that
Hashem shows us with the countless miracles He bestows on us.
This alternates with the schach itself, that hides this direct
munificence, symbolizing the times that Hashem 'hides' His presence
from us, and is 'nistar', hidden. These times of 'darkness' are
also meant for our good, and might be when Hashem deems that we need
time when we are more self-reliant and less 'dependent' on Him, just as
when a parent lets go of a child's hand when the child is learning to
walk. Hashem knows that always giving us what we want may make us
too dependent on Him, so He alternates His shining love with times of
shadow. The dark times may also be periods of chastisement and
punishment, meant to tell us to mend our ways.
On the
other hand, the alternating pattern of light and dark of the schach
could have just the opposite meaning. The light coming through
the openings between the slats could represent the unbridled forces of
nature, such as the oppressive sun, the driving rain, and the bitter
cold and heat, while the shade afforded by the schach represents
the protection that Hashem gives us from these elemental forces.
From this point of view, we are protected from the stark world by the
shade of the 'Schinah', Hashem's Divine Presence. According to
this interprentation also, Hashem alternates between letting us battle
the forces of nature, and sheltering us from them, just as a parent
alternates between giving children freedom to explore on their own, and
providing a warm and loving home to return to.
So the rippling
pattern of light and dark can be interpreted in two ways, with the
light representing Hashems presence and the shade being his
'withdrawing', or just the opposite where the shade represents Hashem's
protection from the forces of nature. What is the 'correct' way of
looking at the schach?
We think the schach reprents both at the
same time. It is a 'paradox' where two opposites are
simultateously true. Therefore the rippling between the light and
dark of the schach ultimately represents the interplay between these
two pardoxical meanings of light and dark.
The one aspect of
the interpretation that is consistent is that Hashem's relationship
with us alternates between direct and indirect manifestation of His
love, shining and hiding, helping and withdrawing, supporting us and
giving us independence, freedom and protection. The deep and
profound secondary meaning is that we never know what in our lives
represents which aspect of Hashem's relationship. We don't know
if the light or the dark in our lives is good or bad. If we get
money, it might be a sign that Hashem loves us, or it could be a test,
and an example of Hashem's withdrawing from us. If we lose a job, it
might be a sign of Hashem's withdrawing, or it could be a time of
Hashem's love, encouraging us to find a better job.
Everything
in our lives oscillates between light and dark. Hashem alternates
between shining His love directly on us and withdrawing from us for our
own good. But it is very difficult to tell what events in our
lives represent what aspect of Hashem's relationship with us.
So
as we look up at the schach, we can watch the rippling patterns of
light and dark play off each other. The sunlight represents both
Hashem's love and its opposite, the untamed forces of nature. The
shade of the schach represents both Hashem's protection and His hiding
His presence from us. Both interpretations of light and dark play
off each other in our minds, just as the light and dark alternates in
the succah. The oscillating light and dark represents the alternating
modes in which Hashem relates to us, and how we never know at any
moment in which mode Hashem is relating to us.