Chol Ha'Moed Sukkot
Exodus 33:12-34:26
By Rabbi Jonathan Kraus,
.
First, a quick explanation of terminology. The phrase "Chol Ha'Moed" refers
to the intermediate days of a festival (either Sukkot or Pesach).
Traditional Jews observe Sukkot for nine days with the first two and last
two days as full holidays. The five, in-between days are known as "Chol
ha'moed" ("ordinary/mundane part of a holy time") because of their lower
level of sanctity. This is the Sabbath which falls during the intermediate
days of Sukkot, which has been assigned its own special Torah portion.
The beginning of the portion focuses on a poignant moment in the
relationship of Moses and God. It is the moment where Moses, seeking
reassurance, asks to see God's face. After God explains that human beings
can't see God's "face" and live, God offers Moses an intimate experience of
the Divine presence. Moses responds to this experience by proclaiming God's
13 attributes. God goes on to teach Moses the obligation for dedicating
first fruits of the field, the flock and the womb to God and also ordains
the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot). The last
section accounts for the portion's assignment to this particular Sabbath.
In his Torah commentary*, Rabbi Plaut includes the following interpretation
of the thirteen attributes of God (in Exodus 34:6-7). The Tosefta** notes:
"A person sins once, twice, three times and is forgiven, as it says (Exodus
34:7), "forgiving inquity, transgression and sin"--three times, but
thereafter, God no longer remits punishment.
This interpretation startles us, coming on the heels of the Days of Awe,
whose message seems to be of the constant possibility of repentance and
renewal. Of course, the Tosefta does not say that repentance is not
possible after a third incident of the same sin, only that God will no
longer withhold punishment. Still, the text raises the provocative and
troubling question of limits on the possibility for repentance and
forgiveness.
One way of hearing this interpretation is as a sobering reminder that
although God's capacity for repentance, forgiveness and renewal may be
infinite, ours is not. Because of our fragility and limitation as human
beings, we eventually reach a point of no return. We can find ourselves no
longer able to muster sufficient will, energy and creativity to fight our
way back to wholeness. I hear this Tosefta text as a warning that if we
continue down the wrong path, "punishment" for sin eventually overwhelms us.
If we sin continually, eventually, we will be hurt by our choices, sometimes
irreparably.
It is a sobering but important reminder for these weeks and months following
Yom Kippur. We are not, now, finished with the work of repentance for
another year. In fact, we are just beginning.
*"The Torah: A Modern Commentary" ed., Rabbi W. G. Plaut (New York: UAHC,
1981).
**Tosefta (lit., "supplement") refers to additions to the Mishna (the
earliest layer of classical Rabbinic teaching). Some of the material in the
Tosefta is contemporaneous with the Mishna (from the period of the Second
Temple trhough the end of the 2nd century CE) but was not included in the
canon of the Mishna. Other material appears to be later. In its present
form, the work is generally dated to the sixth century of the Common Era.
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