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"To Sleep or Not to Sleep?"

Bang the Rabbi, "Bang-a-Chag" Series, Presents:

Succos: Wanna Sleep Over?

by  Lower East Side Correspondent, Steven Wind

It was the custom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to never sleep in the sukkah. When asked about the reason behind this, he responded with the following logic. First, he maintained that when Jews celebrate Sukkot, the Shechina dwells in the sukkot with them. Also, we learn from the stories of Yaakov Avinu that it is distressing to sleep in the place where the Shechina is dwelling. This theme is evidenced when Yaakov becomes distressed after awaking from his dream upon realizing that he had slept in the presence of the Shechina. Furthermore, it is a general rule that Jews are exempted from dwelling in the Sukkah when it is raining because the rain will cause them distress and it is forbidden to be distressed on Yom Tov. For the same reason, the Rebbe held that it is not appropriate to sleep in the Sukkah—because sleeping before the Diving Presence would distress us.

However, his followers contested this ruling. They argued that perhaps it was indeed inappropriate for the saintly Rebbe to sleep in the sukkah, because such a holy person can actually feel the presence of the Shechina dwelling in the sukkah. But they maintained that the average Jew is not on a high enough spiritual level to realize that the Shechina is dwelling in the sukkah, and so sleeping there would not distress him. The Rebbe would then respond that it would distress those Jews to realize that they are not on high enough spiritual levels to recognize when they are in the presence of the Shechina. Hence, all Jews, regardless of their level of spirituality, are discouraged from sleeping in the Sukkah to avoid being distressed.

While the logic behind this custom may seem sketchy, it is actually rooted firmly in halacha. The last halacha in the Mishna Torah’s Hilchot Sukkah describes the obligation for Jews to be happy on the holiday of Sukkot. The Rambam writes that a Jew who uses the celebration of the holiday as an opportunity to glorify himself is actually violating the essence of the festival. Rather, the appropriate way to celebrate the holiday is to belittle oneself, for compared to Hashem we are already belittled. The festival should be devoted to glorifying Hashem--and exemplifying our understanding that we are His humble servants accomplishes this goal. When a person commits to knowledge that he is a faithful servant of Hashem, he will reach a state of true happiness, and hence will fulfill the mitzvah to be happy on Sukkot.

When the Lubavitcher Rebbe discouraged Jews from sleeping in the Sukkah, he was teaching that we should devote the holiday of Sukkot to negating our tendencies to think highly of ourselves, and instead realize that we are nothing without Hashem. It should be our goal to become spiritual enough to feel the Shechina in our sukkot. And if we are successful in this endeavor, then it should distress us to sleep before the Divine Presence, and if we are unsuccessful, then it should bother us that we are too arrogant to properly serve Hashem.

Furthermore, if we can recognize that the Shechina is dwelling in our sukkot, then it should be no mystery to us why we add the words in our after-meals benching “May the Merciful One raise up the fallen Sukkah of David”. We can fairly compare our sukkah to the Beit Hamikdash, because both places are fit to be graced by the Divine Presence. Yet, there is another reason for equating the Beit Hamikdash with a Sukkah. When a sukkah falls down, it is an easy thing to put it back together and raise it back up. So too, it is easy for Hashem to reestablish the Beit Hamikdash—if only we are worthy enough.

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Steve Wind.

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