Synagogue Sermon
Peace in Pieces (1973)
In speaking on the theme "Peace in Pieces," I refer not only to the fragile peace in the Holy Land that has been so cruelly shattered this past Yom Kippur, but to a related idea that in some ways is untimely and in other ways most timely. Perhaps the whole thing can be summarized in one statement of the Midrash (מדרש רבה נשא) that גדול השלום שאפילו בשעת מלחמה צריכין שלום, "So great is peace, that even in time of war, one needs peace." Even a little piece of peace is precious beyond words. The late Rav Kook, of blessed memory, put it this way. In our prayers we ask ופרוש עלינו סוכת שלומך, "spread over us the sukkah (tabernacle) of Thy peace." What is the relation between sukkah and shalom, between the booth or tabernacle which we build on this festival, and the concept of peace?Rav Kook answers by pointing to the Halakhah, which did strange things with the commandment of sukkah. One would imagine that the observance is quite simple; one must build four walls, place over it the covering or סכך, and that is it. However, the Halakhah took a rather different approach. It told us that even if there are not four walls, but only three, that is adequate. Even more: "three walls" does not mean three whole walls but a third wall, i.e., if the booth consisted only of two full walls and a small piece of a third wall, that too is sufficient. And then, by a series of legal fictions, and utilizing such abstract ideas as לבוד, גוד אחית מחיצתא, and דופן עקומה, it expanded the legal concept of sukkah by minimizing the requirements to the very core. The conclusion that we derive from Halakhah is that even if one does not have a whole sukkah, but at least a little piece of it, that too is good. So wonderful, so vital, so significant is the commandment of sukkah, that one must strive for whatever he can get out of it.So it is with peace, shalom. I do not know if the classical ideal of total and universal peace ever really existed. I believe it is more of a myth than a reality. One schol…
