Ushpizin Overview:
Ushpizin is synonymous with Sukkos. It means guests in aramaic and symbolises the seven spiritual guests, one for each day, that come to visit our sukka. They are Avrohom, Yitzchok Yakov, Moshe, Aaron, Yosef and Dovid – each night a different guest enters followed by the other six. This is the kabbalistic order paralleling the seven sefirous. However there is another chronological order of: Avrohom, Yitzchok Yakov, Yosef, Moshe, Aaron and Dovid. (Although this is the accepted order, it still needs an explanation since Aaron was older than Moshe and therefore should come before him?)
Ushpizin and Us:
What practically does this mean? The Avos where the markova, chariot, for the Shechina. A person who wishes to have these Ushpizin, guests, must make then feel welcome by emulating their actions. The Sukka represents the Ananei Kovoid, clouds of Glory, the place where the Shechina resides. Each of these seven great people brought out another divine attribute into the world and together revealed the Shechina – seen in the seven clouds, six in all directions plus one leading the way. Perhaps this is why each night someone else is the leader, paralleling the seventh leading cloud, followed by the six others, paralleling the six surrounding clouds.
Ushpizin and Sukkos:
We have seven Ushpizin on Sukkos. Why do we also not have them throughout the seven days of Pesach. Why only by Sukkos? These seven people became so great due to working on themselves throughout their lives. Pesach is the birth of the Jewish Nation, the initial stages where like a baby we were given miracles as a present. Sukkos comes after the Yomim Noiroim and Yom Kippur after sinning and teshuva. It comes after working on ourselves. Therefore by Sukkos we merit to have these guests when we emulate and copy their righteous actions and desire to remove sin and instead come close to Hashem.
Ushpizin all together:
Why do we have all seven every day? Why not have a different one each day? The answer is the principle of unity that is the theme of Sukkos. When we say that each of these seven has a different attribute, it does not mean that that is the only one they have but rather that they have all the others but proportionally this attribute overrides the others. For example, Avrohom was the pillar of chesed. This does not mean that he did not possess the opposite attribute of din, as testified by his actions by the akeida being willing to suppress his feelings of chesed to his son by evoking the attribute of din. Rather the meaning is that his main revelation throughout his life was seen through his chesed. The same applies to all these Ushpizin.
Ushpizin Questions to think about and discuss:
- Why are there two orders of the Ushpizin?
- Why are there only Ushpizin on Sukkos and not also on the seven days of Pesach?
- What is the significance of these particular people more than many others like the twelve shevotim?
- Why do we invite all seven every night and not simply only one on each night?
- If all seven are invited every night then why do we associate one particular one with each night? What does it mean for naming one more than the others each night?
Ideas for Ushpizin answers:
- Everyone agrees that there are seven Usphizin. However , there is an argument as to their order. Some say that it goes according to the chronological order while according to Kabbala, Yosef is taken out of this order and moved into sixth position.
- Perhaps the idea here is that Pesach is where the speciality is only in the time while by Sukkos it is also in the place. The Ushpizin are guests that come to a special place – this is only provided by Sukkos in the Sukka.
- This is based in kabbala but the basic idea is that they parallel the seven lower sefirous.
- The idea of inviting all Ushpizin every night instead of one per night is based on the idea of unity. Unity is where all parts unify. Having only one per night expressing that each one is separate. What then makes us name each night after one in particular? This is because each part and one of them is given extra importance on one night.
- See answer 4.