97. Waste of Granary and Winery

I heard

Goren [granary] means diminution of good deeds, when a person feels Gronot [throats] (Ger’onot [deficiencies]) with the Creator. Hence, he lessens the good deeds. Afterward, he comes to a state of Yekev [winery], which is “And he that blasphemes the name of the Lord.”

Sukkot is considered gladness, considered “rejoicing Gevurot,” which is repentance from love, when sins become for him as merits. Then, even the granary and winery are admitted into Kedusha [holiness]. This is the meaning of Sukkot’s primary discernment being Isaac, although everyone is included in him (and Passover is considered love, which is right).

This is the meaning of “Abraham begot Isaac.” The issue of father and son is cause and consequence, reason and result. Had there not been a discernment of Abraham first, which is the right, there could not have been the discernment of Isaac, which is the left. Rather, the left is integrated in the right, as in “For You are our Father.”

Abraham said, “will be destroyed over the sanctity of Your name.” And Jacob also said that it means that the sins will be destroyed over the Sanctity of Your name. And if it remains so, then there is a breach in the middle. In other words, the sins that were in the whole of Israel are like a breach in the Kedusha [holiness].

Isaac, however, said, “half over me and half over you,” meaning the part of the sins and the part of the Mitzvot, meaning that both will enter Kedusha. This can be through repentance from love, when sins become for him as merits. In that state, there is no breach, as it is written, “No breach and no… outcry,” but all is corrected for Kedusha.

This is the meaning of our sages’ words, “Greater are the dung and mules of Isaac than Abimelech’s money and gold.” Dung is something inferior, worthless, meaning that they consider the servitude of him as dung. Afterward, there arrives a state of separation. Because he does not appreciate his work, he falls into separation. This is called “the dung and mules of Isaac.” Since Isaac corrected everything in the form of repentance from love, and his sins became as merits, the profits that had come to him through his dung and mules are greater than “Abimelech’s money and gold.”

His Kesef [money] means Kisufim [longing] for the Creator. Zahav [gold] means Ze Hav [give this], meaning craving for the Torah, to attain the Torah. Since Isaac corrected everything, meaning achieved repentance from love, the sins, too, were considered for him as merits. And then he is very rich in any case, since in observing Mitzvot, there are not more than 613 Mitzvot, but sins and transgressions are endless. This is why Isaac became rich, as it is written, “And he found a hundred gates,” meaning that he had one hundred percent in Kedusha, without any waste, since the waste, too, was corrected in him.

This is why the thatch of the Sukkah is made of waste of granary and winery. (And you can say what our sages said, that Moses became rich from waste). Hence, Sukkot is named primarily after Isaac, who is the rejoicing Gevurot, and Sukkot is named after Moses, too.