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חג הסכות (יג: )טז:חג הסכת תעשה לך שבעת ימים באספך מגרנך ומיקבך You shall make the festival of Succot for a seven-day period, when you gather in from your threshing floor and from your wine pit. (16:13) The holy Kopishnitzer Rebbe was famous for his righteousness. He lived in greater New York and there he always served his Maker wholeheartedly. One year, before Succot, he came down with a severe case of pneumonia. As the festival of Succot approached, his trusted Gabbaim told him that in his condition, he simply cannot sleep in the succah, as one who is ill or uncomfortable are exempt from the mitzvah of succah (Succah 26a, Orach Chaim 640:4), but the Rebbe refused and he did not agree to this. His sons and the rest of his family went into his holy office and tried to convince him that he should not put his holy body in danger and he should forego sleeping in the succah this year. But even this did not help and the Rebbe insisted that his illness will not hold him back from fulfilling the mitzvah, and he would not forego such an elevated and important mitzvah as this one! When they saw the situation, they became very concerned for his health. They went to the holy Satmar Rebbe, Rebbe Yoel and asked him to call the Kopishnitzer Rebbe and convince him not to sleep in the succah. The holy Satmar Rebbe replied: “This is not something that is done by telephone… with the help of Hashem, I will visit him and speak to him in person.” And so, the Satmar Rav went to visit the Kopishnitzer Rebbe. During the course of the visit he brought up the topic of sleeping in the succah, and he said that due to his weakened condition, he does not have to sleep in the succah and it would be better for his health if he did not sleep in the succah this year. The Kopishnitzer Rebbe did not say a word and they continued their holy conversation on topical matters. When the visit ended, the holy Satmar Rav stood up to leave but the Kopishnitzer Rebbe held him back for a moment and whispered to him out of earshot of the Gabbaim: “If you were in my situation, would you also forego the mitzvah of succah?” The Satmar Rebbe smiled and did not answer him… And so, the holy Kopishnitzer Rebbe slept every night of the holy festival in the Succah and his health was not harmed at all! This teaches us the lengths one must go to be devoted to the mitzvah of Succah!
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The Chofetz Chaim had several places in his courtyard to put up his Succah. After marrying his second wife, he went to ask her, as per Chazal (Bava Metzia 49a) that when it comes to household matters one must confer with his wife. He went to ask her which corner of the courtyard she preferred that he put up the Succah. When she heard that he left this important decision up to her, she was quite pleased and she began considering which corner was more practical. She checked how strong the sun is, which way the wind blew, how close it was to the house, and every other aspect of the matter and after much contemplation, she decided on a certain spot, the best place to build the Succah. Immediately, Rabbeinu the Chofetz Chaim approached the holy task with fear and love. He worked hard to set it up since in those days, before the advent of prefabricated Succahs, this was quite a difficult task. When he finished building the Succah, his wife came out to see his beautiful job, and she was pleased with his amazing work. And as is the way of women, she was pleased with herself for her part of the decision-making process. Once she saw it built, she began to consider the various aspects of the location and the proximity to the house and the ability to serve the food, etc. She waffled with her decision all night long. Ultimately, she decided that it would be better if the Succah was located on the other side of the courtyard. The next morning, she told her dear husband: “Rebbe Yisroel Meir, I will tell you the truth! I thought about the question that you asked me yesterday regarding the best place to put up the Succah and now after seeing it up and thinking about it some more and weighing all sides of the situation, I regret that I did not decide to tell you to put it up on the other side of the courtyard. I am sorry, but I think it would be better if it were on the other side of the courtyard!” To her surprise, without saying a word, the Chofetz Chaim went outside to the large courtyard and began to take down what he had worked hard to put up the previous day. He began to build it again where she now decided that she wanted it. She did not think about this at all and this was not her intention. She was just saying how she felt, that she was sorry for her decision, since the other place was a better spot. But the holy Chofetz Chaim with his great midot [character traits] did not say: “Fine, next year we will put it there, but this year it can stay here”,
rather, he was strong like a lion and he controlled himself, took down his Succah and completely rebuilt it in the other spot! ***** When a Chassan once came to my father, my teacher [Rav Levi Rabinovich zt”l], author of ‘Ma’adanei HaShulchan’ and asked his advice for direction in marriage, my father told him this story and he would tell him: “In those days, you could not find readymade Succahs like you see today. The work involved in building a Succah was not easy at all. Another person surely would have tried to convince his wife not to move the Succah, especially since this year it was already built and standing, we should leave it. With the help of Hashem, next year we can build it somewhere else. The holiday is only seven days anyway… The foundation for a successful marriage is conditional on just one thing – always relent! Control your nature and negate the ‘self’ [ego]. Each and every person must always think what he [or she] can give or do for the other one and not how much he [or she] can receive from the other one. The more a person negates the ‘me’ and he can give to the other one, so too will the Shalom Bayit [peace in the house] increase and succeed, and the Shechina will hover in that house. This is a living example of how to control one’s nature, in his inner house! This is a living example how to approach marriage by negating the ‘self’ [one’s being]! Shabbat Shalom