This class was&nbsp;presented by Rabbi YY Jacobson on Tuesday, 11 Tishrei, 5784, September 26, 2023, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

Sukkos is called the &ldquo;Festival of Joy&rdquo;, but what exactly is so joyful about it? The other major holidays are named after their very essences: Passover is the &ldquo;Festival of Our Redemption,&rdquo; and Shavuot is the &ldquo;Festival of the Giving of Our Torah.&rdquo; What&rsquo;s the deep connection between joy and Sukkot?

And how can we understand the mystery of the four plants we shake on Sukkos? If someone unfamiliar with our tradition were to stop you today walking down the street with your four species and say, what are you holding in your hand? You would say: &ldquo;This is my ritual bouquet!&rdquo; Then they ask: What do you do with it? &ldquo;Well, we shake it.&rdquo; Hu?

What is more, the Torah states that when you take these four plants, &ldquo;you shall rejoice before your G-d seven days.&rdquo; Why? How does holding on and shaking these four plants generate happiness?

Who was the first person to take a fruit from a beautiful tree? Of course, Eve and Adam. What fruit was it? The Midrash says: the Esrog. It would appear that on Sukkos we are repeating the same story: we are again taking the Esrog off the tree, but this time around, we take it, shake it, swing it, but don&rsquo;t eat it. It is almost like G-d is telling us, I want you to do this over again.

In the case of Adam and Eve, they were cursed with sadness. This time around we are blessed with joy. Also, after Adam and Eve eat the fruit they feel like they have to hide from G-d. On Sukkos, when we take the fruit, we &ldquo;rejoice in the presence of G-d.&rdquo; What is going on here? &nbsp;

The class (based on this wonderful class by Rabbi Ami Silver: https://www.alephbeta.org/playlist/arbaminim) provides us with a deep reflection on how Sukkos and the Four Species can help us calm our nervous system, reorients our brains, change our paradigms, and ease up the tension in our life, by going away from dissociation to connection. The Sukkah is the virtual &ldquo;Garden of Eden,&rdquo; and the four plants allow us to repair what happened millennia ago in the original Garden of Eden, once again reclaiming the joy and ecstasy of life.

The story of the raffle that happened in the IDF captures the timeless unity of our people who were chosen to unite the entire world under the sovereignty of Hashem.

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sukkah

garden of eden

serenity

lulav

four minim

happiness

esrog

hadas

aravah

From Isolation to Attachment: Re-Creating Rapture In Our Lives

Women's Sukkos/Bereishis Class

Returning to the Garden of Eden: The “Four Plants” & the Sukkah

https://cdnd.theyeshiva.net/content/customitems/default/9099/1056_5784_women_transcript_sukkos.7289.pdf

https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/download-file?path=content%2Fcustomitems%2Fdefault%2F9099%2F1056_5784_women_transcript_sukkos.7289.pdf&item_id=9099

This class was presented on Tuesday &amp; Wednesday Parshas Terumah, 30 Shevat &amp; 1&nbsp;Adar, 5780, February 25 &amp; 26, 2020, at the Ohr Chaim Shul, Monsey, NY&nbsp;

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eitz hadaas

The Moment Addiction Was Born

Chassidus: Torah Ohr Lo Teheye Meshakala #6

The Tree of Knowledge: The Genesis of Self-Consciousness

This class was presented on Monday Parshas Chukas, 5&nbsp;Tammuz, 5779, July 8, 2019 at the Ohr Chaim Shul, Monsey, NY&nbsp;

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Why Is Harvesting on Shabbos So Serious a Violation?

Likkutei Torah Shlach Mekosheish Eitzim #7

Friday Night -- The Tree of Knowledge; Shabbos Day -- The Tree of Life

This class was presented on Tuesday Parshas Chukas, 6&nbsp;Tammuz, 5779, July 9, 2019 at the Ohr Chaim Shul, Monsey, NY&nbsp;

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tree of knowledge

shabbos

tree of life

snake

mekoshesh

harvesting on shabbos

When the Snake Invented the False, Narrow Sense of Self

Likkutei Torah Shlach Mekosheish Eitzim #8

From the Tree of Knowledge to the Tree of Life

An excerpt of a class by&nbsp;Rabbi YY Jacobson, for full class:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theyeshiva.net/jewish/7247">https://www.theyeshiva.net/jewish/7247</a>

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YY Moment

Ayekah?!

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The Snake

Reb Meir, the second-century Talmudic sage, was seen as one of the greatest scholars of his day. Yet, unlike his friends, he chose to remain loyal to his teacher, Elisha ben Avuya, who became a heretic. Why?

There are three schools of thought. We are a victim of our past; we are the fathers of our futures. The unique position of Judaism extends man&rsquo;s reach not only forwards, but even backward in time. We can retroactively redefine or recast our previous bad deeds into good ones, by peering through the &ldquo;husk&rdquo; of the negative and seeing it from the vantage point of the Divine. This was the secret of Reb Meir.

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teshuvah

kelipah

reb meir

acher

elisah ben avuyah

pesach sheni

Pesach Sheni and the Power of Teshuvah

Pesach Sheni/Behaaloscha

Seeing Through the Husk: Reb Meir & the Heretic

This women&#39;s class was presented on Tuesday Parshas Ki Savo, 17 Elul, August 28, 2018, Ohr Chaim, Monsey, NY

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teshuva

atah

"A Person Never Finds Himself in a Situation"

Women's Elul/Ki Savo Class

The Power of Now

source sheets

This class was presented on Tuesday, 27 Tishrei, 5784, October 29, 2024, Parshas Noach, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

Get Me Out of My Crazy Brain: Why Did Noach Get Drunk?

The Snake, Eve, & the Tree: The Invention of Self-Consciousness

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