HARK, MY LULAV SHAKETH

Gesticulating with a bunch of shrubbery marks the true believer from the absolute kofer, the apikoros, and the mechutzif.
There is ONLY ONE correct way of vibrating.
And you had better leave green crap all over the floor of your shtibl, or you're doing it wrong.


The differences qua minhag:

ESWNUD: Per the Mechaber, the Rama, the Taz, one shakes east, south, west, north, up, down (clockwise: al derech yemin), which is Ashkenaz, Sefarad, and Mizrahi.

SNEUDW: Chassidim follow the Ari, as cited by the Mogen Avrohom, who paskenned south, north, east, up, down, west.

ESNUDW: The Levush preferred east, south, north, up, down, west.

ENSWUD: The Ba'al HaTurim preferred east, north, south, west, up, down.

NSEWUD: And Rashi preferred north, south, east, west, up down.


It is up to you to figure out which of these is the only true and correct tradition.
If you cannot, you are undoubtedly a kofer, an apikoros, and a mechutzif.
And boy, will your mother-in-law have something to say about that.


"We must move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!"
-----Kodos, one of the two aliens on the Simpsons.


According to heilige ancestral minhag, handed down ever since the Springfelder and rebbe Homer ben Avraham Simpson (reputedly a direct descendent of Harav Elisha ben Abuya) started their weekly shiurim, we follow Harav Kodos on this one.

Forward, not backward: because there must be progress.
Upward, not forward: as it says 'kol be yedei shomayim'.
Always: eternally; because of the Eternal One, blessed be He.
Twirling, twirling, twirling: with joy and kavanah combined.
Towards freedom: steadfastly concentrating on the objective, as Rebbe Nachman teaches, and also as a zeicher of the yetzias mitzraim.

Everything davka like that tarnegol a few days ago.
Ve ha maiven yaiven.


As for the esrog, we're somewhat baffled. It's a rather pointless addition.
What? Lemonade? Squeeze it over the Friday fish?
If the first, say borei pri ha eitz.
If the latter, shehakol.



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NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
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TORQUEMADIC NARISHKEIT

Please note this post on Dovbear's blog, in reference to this post on Jacob Stein's blog.
Dovbear is on my blogroll. It is unlikely that Jacob Stein will ever be there.


-------------------------------------------------
Jacob Stein: Secret Orthodox Atheists and How to Catch Them
http://jewishphilosopher.blogspot.com/2008/10/secret-orthodox-atheists-and-how-to.html
Dovbear: Jewish Philosopher: Soft on Atheists?
http://dovbear.blogspot.com/2008/10/jewish-philosopher-dangerous.html]
-------------------------------------------------


Not all orthodox Jews are orthodox Jews.

Not all gilgulim of grand inquisitors are Catholic.


There are these four sons, one of whom is wise, one wicked, one simple, and one sheino yodeah lishol......
An atheist is not a rasha, much more likely one of the latter two.
Or, on the other hand, either a myrtle branch or a willow branch. Few people are entirely etrogish.

VIRTUAL SUKKAH

Imagine that you are a new visitor to this blog. You have never been here before, and you just wandered in.

You probably did so because many of your favourite blogs are somewhat quiet right now, it being Sukkos, and the bloggers being preoccupied.

According to the Zohar, when a person is sitting in his sukkah, Avrohom and six noble guests (Yitzchok, Ya'akov, Yosef, Moshe, A'aron, and Dovid) keep him company. Seven ushpizin. One for each night. So please, take a seat. Stay for a while. With the other bloggers not posting anything, my blog may be the only game in town.


I wish I could offer you something to eat...... Some pomegranate, dates, figs, or olives. But unfortunately you are probably not reading this in your own sukkah.
Unless you have a laptop. If that is the case, and you actually ARE inside a sukkah, you can recite "Boruch Attah Adonoi, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu b' mitzvosav ve tsivanu leishev ba sukkah", while I sit here imagining that I can hear it, or let my mind wander through some of the scenes from the movie Ushpizin - please visualize my reposing in respectful silence while you make brocho.


In lieu of my actually saying anything new and exciting about sukkos today, I would direct you to three posts from last year.

Al Netilas Lulav
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/10/al-netilas-lulav.html
["A brief listing of things, which if you had not seen them before at this time of year, might baffle you. Such as waving palm-fronds and what looks like a lemon...."]

Shake Your Shrubbery
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/08/shake-your-shrubbery.html
["...because it is absolutely nowhere near Sukkos, I decided to refresh your collective memories ..."]

Ushpizin
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2005/11/ushpizin.html
["Exactly two weeks ago, in an e-mail to Tri-national Rabbi, I said "I think I'll stay away from the movie. The ads make it sound like 'Walt Disney Does Jews', for the family channel." A day later my friend the BookSeller gave me a free-pass to an advance screening at the Embarcadero Cinemas. So of course I went."]


In any case, chag sameach, and a gitte shabbes.
And see you here again next week, I hope.

AL NETILAS LULAV

This post is a brief listing of things, which if you had not seen them before at this time of year, might baffle you. Such as waving palm-fronds and what looks like a lemon, followed by a thrashing of willows a few days hence, which will leave the floor of the shul looking like a forest crawled in and had a tantrum. Do not worry. It is normal.


Part of the observance of the season is shaking shrubbery. Which is a beautiful thing.
The shrubbery is a lulav (palm frond), with willow and myrtle. The lemony thing is an esrog (a fruit related to the lemon and to the Buddha's Hand Citron). The willow-thrashing happens this Friday.


The blessing recited upon taking up the lulav and the esrog (al netilas lulav) is: "Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha olam, asher kidshannu be mitzvosav ve tzivanu al netilas lulav" (Blessed are you, our Lord our G-d, king of the universe, who sanctifies us with your commandments, and who commands us to take up the lulav).


The waving, per the Mechaber, the Rama, and the Taz, is east, south, west, north, up, down (clockwise: derech yemin, al pi Chazal).
Nusach Ashkenaz, nusach Sefarad, and nusach Mizrahi – all follow this order.

Mechaber = Author. Appellation of Yosef Karo (1488 – 1575), author of the Shulchan Aruch and the Beis Yosef.
Rama = Rav Moishe Ben Yisroel Isserless (born 1525 or 1530 in Krakow, died 1572). Ashkenazic commentator, author of the Mappah (tablecloth), a supplement to Joseph Karo's Shulchan Aruch (the Set Table).
Taz = Turei Zahav (Rows of Gold), an explicatory commentary on the Shulchan Aruch by Rabbi David Ben Shmuel HaLevi (Krakow 1586 - Lvov 1667), one of the foremost rabbinical authorities in seventeenth-century Poland. The Taz was the son in law of the Bach.


Chassidim usually follow the Ari (nusach Yerushalayim), as cited by the Magen Avraham, who paskenned south, north, east, up, down, west.

Ari = The Arizal, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria, born 1534 in Yerushalayim, nifter 1572 in Sfat (Safed).
Magen Avraham = The Shield of Abraham – a commentary on Orach Chayim (the first section of the Shulchan Aruch by Yoisef Karo, which handles prayers, shuls, sabbaths, and holidays) by Rabbi Avraham Gumbiner of Kalitch, Poyland (1637 – 1683).


The Levush preferred east, south, north, up, down, west; the Tur – east, north, south, west, up, down; Rashi – north, south, east, west, up down.

Levush = The Ba'al HaLevushim, Rav Mordechai Ben Avraham Yaffah (1535 - 1612), Talmudist and Kabalist, chief Rabbi of Grodne, who wrote a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch known by this name, short for Levush Malchus (Royal Vestment), and in reference to its ten divisions - the levushim (vestments).
The TUR = Also called the Baal HaTurim ( Master Of The Rows). Rabbi Yakov Ben Asher (1270 – 1340), author of a Halachic compendium entitled Arba Turim (four rows), which consists of four divisions - Orach Chayim (Path of Life; worship and ritual), Yoreh Deah (Teach Knowledge; prohibitions and impurities), Even Ha Ezer (Rock of the Helper; marriage and family, plus divorce), Chosen Mishpat(Breastplate of Judgement; administration and civil laws).
[The title ‘four rows' is an apt reference to the rows of precious stones on the breastplate of judgement (chosen mishpat), which is part of the outfit worn by the high priest.
Rabbi Yakov Ben Asher often follows the opinions of his father Rabbi Asher Ben Yehiel (the Rosh), but also refers to opinions of the RIF (Rabbi Yitzhak El Fassi, 1013 – 1103), as well as the scholars of Tzarfas (France) and Ashkenaz (Germay). Rabbi Yosef Karo (the Mechaber) based his work the Beis Yosef on the Arba Turim.]


ADDENDUM

ARBA MINIM
The four species waved about on Sukkos.  Esrog = Citron (1). Lulav = Palm frond (2). Hadassim = Myrtle branches (3). Aravos = Willow branches (4).).

Last year, the complete arba minim could be found for as low as $20.00 on the Lower East Side (corner of Essex and Canal street), up to forty dollars in Boro Park. Also try Main Street, Queens, or the tables in the diamond district, 47th street near 7th avenue.


1. ESROG
The esrog is described as the most beautiful of the four minim - pri eitz hador. The greater the fruit, the greater the mitzvah. As there are esrogim which are not true esrogim (being the result of cross-breeding with other citrus fruits), only an esrog which is bulbuous, bumpy, and ridged, can be assumed to be kosher le sukkos.
Esrog has both taste and fragrance, and symbolizes the understanding and wisdom behind all of our actions. As it says in Psalms 104:1 "barachi nafshi et yehva Adonai Elohai gadalta meod, hod ve hadar lavashta" (Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my G-d, you are extremely great, clothed with glory and majesty).


2. LULAV
The lulav (date palm frond) is waved when we recite the blessing ‘Al netilas lulav’, again during hallel, when we say ‘hodu l’Hashem’, and also at ‘yomar na’ (the reminder by the sheliach tzibbur to repeat ‘hodu l’Hashem’), but not at ‘yomru na’.
Lulav has taste (that is, the fruit of the tree, which is in part symbolized by the frond) but no fragrance, and represents someone with knowledge of the Torah but no good deeds. But by a different interpretation, the lulav symbolizes upright conduct and character. As is written in Psalms 92:13 "tsadik ka tamar yifrach" - The righteous like the date palm shall bloom (tamar = Date-palm).


3. HADAS
Myrtle, which smells lovely, symbolizes good deeds, but no knowledge of Torah. The hadassa represents straightforwardness and common sense, such as an uncomplicated person would have. It says in Zecharia 1:8 "raiti ha laila ve hine ish rochev al sus adom ve hu omed bein ha hadasim" (I looked in the night, and behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees).


4. ARAVOS
Arava (brook-willow) is not associated with either taste or smell, and represents someone who has neither good deeds nor knowledge of Torah. As is written in Psalms 68:5 "shiru l'Elohim zamru shemo solu larochev ba aravot be ya shemo ve ilzu le fanav" (Chant unto God, sing praises to His name, extol Him who rides upon the clouds, whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him). And, like the clouds upon which He rides, the willows represent the lips that praise, the prayer that is His service – these being all that a person with neither deeds nor knowledge can offer. Note the similarity between ‘aravot’ (clouds) and ‘arava’ (brook-willow).

SHAKE YOUR..... 'SHRUBBERY'!

Llike a knight-errant of old, I was wandering through the dark and somber woods (here: http://stillinthewoods.blogspot.com/) when I ran into a fabulous beast (here: http://stillinthewoods.blogspot.com/2006/08/shulchan-aruch.html ).


O..... tay.


Steg (http://boroparkpyro.blogspot.com/) asks "Does the Shulhhan ‘Arukh of Lyadi have lists of 10 in it? I have no idea. I do know, though, that it doesn't have instructions on how to shake a lulav... "


I am flabbergasted ("Baruch atta Adonoi Eloheinu, melech ha oilum, asher flabberei et-gasteinu...") that the RASMIB™ has a lulav-related question!

Especially after the kashei-lulav were hammered out in detail last year (at least, I seem to remember that happening - didn't feel like re-reading all relevant blogs during lunch, though - but you may do so, there's nothing stopping you).

So, because it is absolutely nowhere near Sukkos, I decided to refresh your collective memories (well...., also because I have nothing else to post about - zip ben diddly, Jack bar all).


On Sukkos, we wave shrubbery at the sky and live in a lean-to out in the open. After a week of doing this we have an all-night dance party with a bunch of bearded men.

This means something.


The shrubbery, however, is key.


It's a compound shrubbery. An "arba minim". Which is waved in a particular way. Most confusing.


The waving, per the Mechaber, the Rama, and the Taz, is east, south, west, north, up, down (clockwise: derech yemin, al pi Chazal).
Nusach Ashkenaz, nusach Sefarad, and nusach Mizrahi – all follow this order.

Chassidim usually follow the Ari (nusach Yerushalayim), as cited by the Magen Avraham, who paskenned south, north, east, up, down, west.

The Levush preferred east, south, north, up, down, west; the Tur – east, north, south, west, up, down; Rashi – north, south, east, west, up down.

[Kodos (the brother of Kang) put all of this odd gesticulation into perspective, when he paskenned "We must move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling! Twirling! Twirling! Towards freedom!"
How wise is that vort. He draws a clear link between this, the autumn festival, and the chag ha heruteinu (Peysach). ]

The Rebbe of Prolicz said "I once heard a talmid ask our Master ‘Do you believe that one’s avodas Hashem will be enhanced by purchasing such odd fruit?’
The Rebbe answered ‘if you aver that this is a question of bechol levavcha, I would ask why it is not a question of bechol meodeicha. And if you say that it is indeed a question of bechol meodeicha, I happen to have some esrogim for sale’."

Which, of course, is firmly in line with the teaching of Rav Chai Gaon, Rav Sherira Gaon, the Rambam, Rav Hirsch, and others.


In mittn drinnen, tayere rabbosai, I heard what you were up to at the end of last Sukkos! Being besimches over ‘nosson lanu Toireh’ does NOT mean singing 'Mipi El' and 'Yankif Der Gonif ' at the top of your lungs under Jodi’s window at four o’clock in the morning!

Just because you decided to exchange simches b’ruach for shikker ad-reiyach, and spontaneously held a comparative tasting of single malts, is no excuse!

It’s a good thing she has no idea what y’all meant when you praised her 'etrogeyn m’tukeyn'!


Damn hippies.



The rest of this post is a pointless and interrelated explanation of relevant terminology, for reference purposes (taken from 'Likutei Ha Yeshiva Chippas Emess' - an unpublished seifer by the Rabam). You may find it usefull. Or not.


Al netilas lulav = The blessing upon taking up the lulav and the esrog: "Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha olam, asher kidshannu be mitzvosav ve tzivanu al netilas lulav". Blessed are you, our Lord our G-d, king of the universe, who sanctifies us with your commandments, and who commands us to take up the lulav.


Arava = Brook-willow is not associated with either taste or smell, and represents someone who has neither good deeds nor knowledge of Torah. As is written in Psalms 68:5 "shiru l'Elohim zamru shemo solu larochev ba aravot be ya shemo ve ilzu le fanav" (Chant unto God, sing praises to His name, extol Him who rides upon the clouds, whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him). And, like the clouds upon which He rides, the willows represent the lips that praise, the prayer that is His service – these being all that a person with neither deeds nor knowledge can offer. Note the similarity between ‘aravot’ (clouds) and ‘arava’ (brook-willow).


Arba minim = The four species waved about on Sukkos (Esrog = Citron. Lulav = Palm frond. Hadassim = Myrtle branches. Aravos = Willow branches. Collectively, this is refered to as 'a shrubbery' (see Rav Monty Python's first Hagadah: Ha Kli Ha Kodosh.).

The complete arba minim (four species) go for as low as $20.00 on the Lower East Side (corner of Essex and Canal street), up to forty dollars in Boro Park. It is possible to get all four species, of a reasonably hiddur-mitzveyish quotient, for around $30 (with a little haggling – Main Street, Queens).

Or try the tables in the diamond district, 47th street near 7th avenue.


Ari = The Arizal, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria, born 1534 in Yerushalayim, nifter 1572 in Sfat (Safed).
A major Kabalist, whose thought dominates Jewish mysticism even today, except for that version of Kabala dabbled in by celebrities. The Arizal’s intellectual inheritance was collected and published by his pupil Rabbi Chayim Vital Calabrese (1543 – 1620) in an eight volume collection, the Shemoneh Shearim (Eight Sections), otherwise known as the Etz Chayim (which means ‘Tree of Life’, but also refers to both Rabbi Chayim and the diagram of the ten sefiros).


Bach = Rabbi Yoel Sirkes (1560?-1640), author of the Beis Chadash, which parallels the Beis Yosef as a commentary on the Tur.


Esrog = A citrus fruit grown on the margin of edibility, and quite lumpy. One can turn it into an aromatic preserve, but given the price we paid, better we should have it bronzed or sunk in clear plastic.

Esrog, or lump-lemon, has both taste and fragrance, and symbolizes the understanding and wisdom behind all of our actions. As it says in Psalms 104:1 "barachi nafshi et yehva Adonai Elohai gadalta meod, hod ve hadar lavashta" (Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my G-d, you are extremely great, clothed with glory and majesty).

A perfect esrog comes only to those who yearn for it and toil in study, "in accordance with the pain is the reward, in accordance with the knowledge is the love of Hashem".

The esrog is one of the four species (arba minim) required for the feast of tabernacles (Sukkos), as it says in Vayikra (Leviticus), Parshas Emor, psook 23:40 "...u lekachtem lachem ba yom ha rishon peri ets hadar kapot temarim va anaf ets avot ve arvei nachal u semachtem lifnei Adonai Eloheichem shivat yamim" (And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of splendid trees (esrog), fronds of palm trees (lulav), and twigs of thick trees (hadas: myrtle), and branches of brook willows, and you shall rejoice with them before the Lord, seven days).

This means that one needs to buy them BEFORE the first day - there is a parallel with Peysach, when the last of the chometz is destroyed before the first day.

As it says in Shmois (Exodus) 34:21 "sheshet yamim taavod u vayom ha sheviyi tishbot, be charish u va katsir tishbot" (Six days you shall labour but on the seventh day you shall rest; (even) at plowing and at harvest, rest.). Shmois (Exodus) 34:22 "ve chag shavuot taase lecha bikurei ketsir chitim, ve chag ha asif tekufat ha shana" (And the feast of weeks shall you observe, the first fruits of the wheat, and the feast of reaping at the turn of the year.).

Why are these juxtaposed?

To tell us that shabbes takes precedence, whatsoever feast or season it is. And, as in every seven days, one is shabbes, for a seven day feast, we need eight days. Rejoicing with them is taken to mean frantic gesticulating and shaking, in a specific manner, as if to say "see what I have!"

If a man waves his arba minim in the forest, and there are no witnesses to see him, has he really rejoiced?

The esrog is described as the most beautiful of the four minim - pri eitz hador. The greater the fruit, the greater the mitzvah. And, as there are esrogim which are not true esrogim (being the result of cross-breeding with other citrus fruits), only an esrog which is bulbuous, bumpy, veiny, can be assumed to be kosher le sukkois. And much to be admired, envied even.


Hadas = Myrtle, which smells lovely, symbolizes good deeds, but no knowledge of Torah. The hadassa represents straightforwardness and common sense, such as an uncomplicated person would have. It says in Zecharia 1:8 "raiti ha laila ve hine ish rochev al sus adom ve hu omed bein ha hadasim" (I looked in the night, and behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees).


Levush = The Ba'al HaLevushim, Rav Mordechai Ben Avraham Yaffah (1535 - 1612), Talmudist and Kabalist, chief Rabbi of Grodne, who wrote a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch known by this name, short for Levush Malchus (Royal Vestment), and in reference to its ten divisions - the levushim (vestments).


Lulav =Palm frond has taste but no fragrance, and represents someone with knowledge of the Torah but no good deeds. But by a different interpretation, the lulav symbolizes upright conduct and character. As is written in Psalms 92:13 "tsadik ka tamar yifrach" (The righteous like the date palm shall bloom).

The lulav is waved when we recite the blessing ‘Al netilas lulav’, again during hallel, when we say ‘hodu l’Hashem’, and also at ‘yomar na’ (the reminder by the sheliach tzibbur to repeat ‘hodu l’Hashem’), but not at ‘yomru na’.

Hillel opines that we "wave at ‘Hodu l’Hashem’, beginning and end (twice), and at ‘Ana Hashem, Hoshiyana’", while Shammai adds "at ‘Ana Hashem, hatzlichah na’". Rabbi Akiva remarks, in reference thereto, that Rabban Gamaliel and Rav Yehoshua only waved their lulavim at ‘Ana Hashem, hoshiyana’.

"A lulav of three handbreadths in length (is) long enough to wave (and) is valid."


Magen Avraham = The Shield of Abraham – a commentary on Orach Chayim (the first section of the Shulchan Aruch by Yoisef Karo, which handles prayers, shuls, sabbaths, and holidays) by Rabbi Avraham Gumbiner of Kalitch, Poyland (1637 – 1683).


Mechaber = Author. The nickname of Yosef Karo (1488 – 1575), author of the Shulchan Aruch (Set Table), and the Beis Yosef (House of Joseph). Beis Yosef is a compilation of discussions on the laws (hilchois), often printed alongside the text of the Arba Turim (the Four Rows - a compilation in four sections of Halacha, by Rabbi Yakov Ben Asher (1270 - 1340), containing specifically those rules which are still applicable in golus).


Ramah = The Ramah (the ReMah); Rav Moishe Ben Yisroel Isserless (born 1525 or 1530 in Krakow, died 1572). Ashkenazic commentator, author of the Mappah (tablecloth), which is a supplement to Joseph Karo's Shulchan Aruch (the Set Table). The Shulchan Aruch is probably the most well known compendium of Jewish law, but is decidedly Sephardo-centric, which is why the Mappah is always printed alongside for the Ashkenazic bias.


Rashi = How, at this point, can you NOT know who Rashi is? You were chapping a shlof?


Taz = Turei Zahav (Rows of Gold), an explicatory commentary on the Shulchan Aruch by Rabbi David Ben Shmuel HaLevi (Krakow 1586 - Lvov 1667), one of the foremost rabbinical authorities in seventeenth-century Poland. The son in law of the Bach.


Tamar = Date-palm.


Tur = Both the Arba Turim (The Four Rows – in reference to the rows of semi-precious stones on the breastplate of the high priest, because the book consisted of four parts), a legal compendium by Yakov Ben Asher (1270 – 1343), and a short form of his book-name – Ba’al Ha Turim (the Master of the Rows). The Arba Turim much the model that Yoisef Karo followed when composing his Shulchan Aruch.

USHPIZIN

Before I speak of this movie, I must explain two things.

Exactly two weeks ago, in an e-mail to Tri-national Rabbi, I said "I think I'll stay away from the movie. The ads make it sound like 'Walt Disney Does Jews', for the family channel."

A day later my friend the BookSeller gave me a free-pass to an advance screening at the Embarcadero Cinemas. So of course I went.

--- --- --- --- ---

In short: likeable characters, utterly simplistic story. It has a predictable happy ending, and even the two rogues are, more or less, in the good lights of the movie maker when it finishes. There are no bad guys, everything works out for the best. Enjoyable, but missing real meat. Sweet fluff.

Not that I want buckets of existential angst, complexity, and despair over the fate of the world, but I don't normally watch fairytales.


The movie starts off by introducing us to the characters, in such a way as to tell us what to expect from there on in. Moishe, a Breslover Chossid, is first seen in a shop where three Yiddish speaking gentlemen are evaluating esrogim, it being just before sukkos. Naturally he wants the prize specimen they are pricing at elf shekelim (1,000), but cannot afford it (so you know that, through some miracle, he will be able to buy it later - it is indeed a lovely esrog).
Turns out Moishe is jobless, penniless, poor as a shul-mouse, and hasn't even the wherewithal to construct a sukka for the upcoming chag.
But he has faith!! And hope!! Hashem will provide!!

And for the next hour and a half, Hashem is the leading character in this miracle-play. Occasionally assisted by the wisdom of the Rebbe at Moishe's yeshiva.


Through a fortuitous sequence of events (a miracle), Moishe and his wife come into enough money to tide them over the holiday. Through a fortuitous sequence of events (a miracle), Moishe's friend Ben Baruch finds him an abandoned sukka (!). Through a fortuitous sequence of events (a miracle), they have two guests staying with them, which is a blessing on this holiday. Through a fortuitous sequence of events (a miracle), the guests don't stay the full eight days. Moishe's wife Mali (Malka: 'Queenie') finally becomes pregnant (another miracle). Nine months later there is joy, and the little fella is named Nachman (how predictable). Moishe and the two sukkos guests are reconciled.

The best part of the movie is what eventually happens to the ridiculously expensive esrog.
You will cringe.


Probably just as well that the movie takes our familiarity with Chassidism for granted - I don't think I could've sat still for the candy-striped taste that any explanation would've had in the context of this tale. There is more to Chassidus than you will see here, but you don't really need to know it to follow the story.


Visually it is excellent, and there are some very amusing parts. In particular, I enjoyed the horrible American accent of the neighbor-woman buying some snood-type thing from Malka early on in the movie, and the Jewish charity worker counting out bills in English - you'll understand why this tickled me when you see the movie. Also keep an ear out for Yiddish at the esrog sellers, and an eye for the fried potatoes Moishe makes for his guests.


Oh, and three types of Shtreimel are seen in the movie - Breslover flying saucers, Gallician pill-boxes and Russian kulpakim. Evidence of a veritable holocaust among the shualim.

--- --- --- --- ---

NOTES
Breslover Hasidim = The followers of Nachman Ben Simcha Ben Nachman mi Horodenka of Bratislava (Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, 1772 – 1811), who was a great-grandson of the Besht (Baal Shem Tov; Rav Yisroel Ben Eliezer, 1700 – 1760), and formulator of the concept of the Tzadik as the leader of a community who takes upon himself the suffering and striving of that community, who enlarges the blessings of that community by obedience to Hashem and shomerus ha mitzvos (preserving the commandments).

His talmid Reb Nosson wrote down the teachings which have come down to us (principal among these is the idea that sincere joy counts as devotional service).
Perhaps best known to outsiders is a form of meditation called Hisbodidus (to become solitary) – a free flowing personal prayer during which one pours out one’s heart to the almighty as if to a bosom friend. Often this shades over into mantra-like repetition of words or phrases of especial significance, such as "Ribboyne shel oylom!" (Master of the universe!).

Another Breslover concept is that of the Tzadik Ha Dor – the saint of the generation, the quintessence of the saintliness of that generation, who might be the Moshiach.


Sukkos = The Feast of Booths, when you are supposed to separate yourself from the secular world and dwell in huts. Sukkos is also when the Moshiach will come. It lasts eight days (a parallel with Peysach), and comes after Rosh Hashana.


Esrog = A lumpy ancestor of the lemon, which symbolizes understanding and wisdom.

The esrog is one of the arba minim (four species) required for the feast, the others are palm tree fronds (lulav), myrtle twigs (hadas), and branches of brook-willow (arava). Three of the arba minim are bundled with the esrog held separate, and all four are waved in all directions - the waving, per the Mechaber, the Rama, and the Taz, is east, south, west, north, up, down; this is the most common order.
But Chassidim usually follow the Ari, as cited by the Magen Avraham, who paskenned south, north, east, up, down, west. This is what you will see, briefly, in this movie.

Per the Levush it should be east, south, north, up, down, west; the Tur – east, north, south, west, up, down. Whereas Rashi believed that it should be north, south, east, west, up down.


Mechaber = Yosef Karo (1488 – 1575), author of the Shulchan Aruch (Set Table), and the Beis Yosef (House of Joseph).

Ramah = Rav Moishe Ben Yisroel Isserless (born 1525 or 1530 in Krakow, died 1572).

Taz = Referent to Rabbi David Ben Shmuel HaLevi (Krakow 1586 - Lvov 1667).

The Ari = The Arizal, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria (Yerushalayim 1534 - Sfat 1572).

Magen Avraham = Referent to Rabbi Avraham Gumbiner of Kalicz (1637 – 1683).

Levush = Rav Mordechai Ben Avraham Yaffah (1535 - 1612).

Rashi = Rabbi Shlomo Ben Yitzhak, the commentator ha commentatrim. But you already knew that.

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