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Every Shabbos Chol Hamoed Succos we read the Haftorah (Yechezkel, Chapter 38) about the final confrontation at the end of days between Gog and the nation of Israel. How does Succos connect with Gog, Magog and the end of days? It is ironic to note that after the exodus from Egypt, while travelling in the desert, a place that offers absolutely no natural security or protection, the Jewish people experienced their greatest sense of true security, protected from their enemies and entirely provided for by G-d. Every year, when theJew leaves his home for a week to eat, sleep and live in a succah; an often flimsy structure with a roof made of bits of wood, reed, bamboo, etc., he actualizes this idea that ultimate care and protection come only from G-d. By virtue of the closeness to G-d he has achieved during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, he can now experience a sense of true security. The word “Gog” in Hebrew means roof. Modern man, divorced from a belief in G-d, deeply believes that a good job, a big bank account, a solid economy, a high tech army, in short, a strong solid “roof over his head,” is the source of true security. These two world views cannot co-exist forever. We are told by the prophets that armageddon is inevitable, a final confrontation that will witness the destruction of mankind’s false faith. Succos teaches us that our apparently flimsy roofs will ultimately be triumphant over modern man’s misguided sense of security.
Rabbi Chaim Salenger from Ohr Somayach
Hidden and Revealed
The essence of Rosh Hashanah is our crowning of G-d as our “king.” A coronation, explain the Chassidic masters, is effected by two things — unity and joy: a people joyously unite to select, accept and submit to an exalted figure who embodies their collective identity and innermost strivings (if the coronation lacks either joy or unity, chassidic teaching explains, it results not in a true king, but merely in a “ruler”). But there is also a third element without which the coronation could not happen — awe. And the nature of awe is that it eclipses and mutes the joy. Sukkot, then, is simply the revelation of Rosh Hashanah. The joy and unity that are the essence of our commitment to G-d, and which were “concealed” by the awe that characterizes the first days of Tishrei, erupt on the 15th of the month in the form of the festival of Sukkot.
In the words of the Psalmist, “Sound the shofar on the new moon, in concealment to the day of our festival.” Our crowning G-d king with the sounding of the shofar on the 1st of Tishrei (“the new moon”) remains in concealment until “the day of our festival,” the full moon of Sukkot, when it manifests itself in a seven-day feast of joy.
Reality Therapy
The holiday of Sukkot is an exercise in faith. True faith is not the belief that because God runs the world, everything will turn out the way we would like it to. True faith is the belief that because God runs the world, however things turn out is an expression of His love for us and is for our ultimate good.
When we leave our houses to dwell in the sukkah, we leave behind the illusion of security fostered by our cozy homes. After all, our houses may be invulnerable to rain, but they are vulnerable to the bank’s foreclosure. All physical security is an illusion. In this sense, Sukkot is a week of reality therapy.
Instead, the sukkah offers the comfort (and joy) of dwelling within the Divine Presence. The mystical Clouds of Glory surround the sukkah, creating a place of Divine immanence. The nature of spiritual reality is that it is eternal, imperishable, and invincible.
Regarding TG’s comment above:
“Due to greater visibility in the desert, security should have been almost completely assured for the shvatim.”
Visibility goes both ways. An enemy would have the advantage of seeing the Israelite camp if it was not fortified. The Clouds of Glory provided the camp with concealment, except for anyone excluded for some reason from the cloud cover—such as Israelite stragglers.
“It still means roof, but has nothing to do with the proper name Gog.”
OK, what meaning do you assign to “Gog” ?
As for Amalek, they clearly had an actual fighting force (the one Joshua had to defeat in battle), not only disguised infiltrators who could scout out the camp and kidnap people. It appears that this fighting force managed to mount a surprise attack.
“It is ironic to note that after the exodus from Egypt, while travelling in the desert, a place that offers absolutely no natural security or protection” – actually the desert, particularly the Sinai desert, is a place of far greater security than most places on the planet. Security is derived from the ability to foresee something and prepare for it. Due to greater visibility in the desert, security should have been almost completely assured for the shvatim.Gog only means roof in the Ashkenazi pronunciation. Pattah is however sounded as an a (as in far) for most speakers of Ivrit. It still means roof, but has nothing to do with the proper name Gog. By the way, a desert is quite a good comparison with a roof since in those days roofs were flat.
“Modern man, divorced from a belief in G-d, deeply believes that a good job, a big bank account, a solid economy, a high tech army, in short, a strong solid “roof over his head,†is the source of true security.” – the modern man or woman prefer warning as a form of security to allow preparation for expected downturns. Time to find a new job, time to take money out of a failing bank, time to save more or move investments. High tech armies are now mostly about giving more warning, satellites, pilot-less aircraft, Internet surveillance, etc.
Interestingly the Midrash says that Amalekites used to pose as Israelites and sneak in under kissei hakavod individually to kidnap Israeli women and children. In fact I would extrapolate this further to suggest that they would have been perceived as stragglers and were mekarev by the very Israelites that they would later kidnap. Very little high tech can do about that…