Shaarei Tzedek - Orthodox Judaism in Downtown Toronto

[via Rabbi Yitchzak Ginsburgh, inner.org]

The holiday of Sukkot (”Tabernacles”) is the most joyous holiday of the year. There are four levels of joy on this holiday, corresponding to the four letters of God’s Essential Name, Havayah.

1. The Celebration of the Drawing of Water (Simchat Beit Hashoevah): In this festive ceremony in the Temple, water was drawn from the Shiloach spring, simultaneously drawing God’s Holy Spirit (ruach hakodesh) into the souls of Israel. This level of joy corresponds to the letter yud of God’s Name and to the attribute of (the fountain of) chochmah.  
2. The joy of the sukkah (”tabernacle”) that protects us, both physically and spiritually. This level of joy corresponds to the first hei of God’s Name and to the attribute of binah.
3. The joy of the Four Species, which activate the emotions of the heart with love and unity of Israel. This level of joy corresponds to the vav of God’s Name and to the emotions of the heart.
4. The joy of the harvest, the natural joy of the farmer when he reaps the bounty that God has showered upon him. This level of joy corresponds to the final hei of God’s Name that enlivens all nature.

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[via inner.org, Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh]

The names of all the months in the Hebrew calendar are originally from Babylon. The Jewish people adopted these Babylonian names during the 70 year exile in Babylon. Yet, of all the Babylonian names adopted, Tamuz stands out as peculiar: it is the name of an actual Babylonian deity and idol. Why would the sages allow the adoption of the name of idolatry into the holiness of Judaism?

The short answer is that our role is not only to combat idolatry by defacing it, because the psychological motivation that draws people to idolatry is not cured that way. Instead, in the long run, we have to transform the negative psychological proclivities that lead to idolatry and transform them into positive ones.1 It seems therefore, that the sages’ choice of the false god of the Tamuz provides us with a case study of the problem of idolatry and its solution. The month of Tamuz is thus the time of year best suited for understanding and practicing the process of transformation (or, ithapcha as it is called in Chassidut) in the psyche.

As we will see, the Tamuz is a parasite that lives off of the human tendency to self-pity and our sense of the tragic—two sentiments that are intrinsically linked to this time of the year.

Read more at inner.org …