La mitsva d'Aravah —comment? Il y avait un endroit en dessous de Jérusalem appelé Motza. [La gemara déclare qu'elle s'appelait Kalanya (une colonie), par quel nom elle est encore appelée. Les Aravoth y sont nombreux. Ce n'est qu'à une petite distance de Jérusalem. «Kalanya» signifie «libre d'impôt», raison pour laquelle on l'appelait aussi «Motza», «libéré» de l'impôt royal à cause des aravoth qui en avaient été enlevés.] Ils allaient là-bas chercher les jeunes aravoth et venaient et placez-les sur les côtés de l'autel, la tête penchée. Ils sonneraient (sur le shofar) tekiah, teruah, tekiah. Chaque jour (du festival), ils faisaient le tour de l'autel une fois en disant: "Je prie, Toi, OL rd, (" Ana Hashem "), sauve, je prie"; "Je te prie, OL rd, prospère, je prie." R. Yehudah dit: "Ani, Veho, sauve, je prie." [("Ani Veho" :) la gématrie (équivalent numérique) de "Ana Hashem." En outre, ce sont deux des noms (du L rd) dans la formulation des soixante-douze noms (Exode 14: 19-21). Une autre interprétation: moi (ani) et Lui (ho) sommes dans l'affliction, "comme dans (Psaumes 91:15):" Je suis avec lui dans l'affliction "," sauve, je prie. "] Et ce jour-là (le septième ) ils feraient sept fois le tour de l'autel. Quand ils prendraient congé (de l'autel), que disent-ils? "Cette beauté est pour toi, ô autel; cette beauté est pour toi, ô autel! »R. Eliezer dit:« À lui et à toi, ô autel; à Lui et à vous, ô autel! "
Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
נקרא מוצא – In the Gemara (Talmud Sukkah 45a) it states that its name is KALANIA. And even today such is its name, and the willow is found there, and the place is a little bit distant from Jerusalem. And the explanation of KALANIA is free from taxation. And therefore, it is called Motza which is removed from the taxation of the king for the willows that they take from there.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
Introduction
This mishnah teaches how the special mitzvah of the aravah (the willow) was performed in the Temple. This ritual is not mentioned at all in the Torah and according to the majority opinion in the Talmud it is either an ancient halakhah, a prophetic enactment or a custom. However, others derive the mitzvah of the aravah from the Torah by using a midrash.
It seems likely that the Sadducees, a group that rivaled the Pharisees while the Temple stood, did not believe that this was indeed a mitzvah. There is a story in the Talmud that one time the Baytusim (the name of a sect possibly synonymous with the Sadducees) covered the aravot with a heap of rocks to prevent the mitzvah from being performed. The fact that other sects of Jews opposed this mitzvah explains why it was performed with so many verbal demonstrative acts (recitations and shofar blasts). This was a way to demonstrate that this mitzvah should be performed and a way to convince others to do so.
After the destruction of the Temple, the custom developed to circle around the synagogue one time each day of the week while holding the lulav and seven times on Hoshanah Rabbah, the last day of Sukkot.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
מרביות – large and tall branches eleven cubits high, and they place them on the base of the altar and their tops are upright and stretched on the altar by a cubit.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
The mitzvah of the aravah how was it [performed]? There was a place below Jerusalem called Moza. They went down there and gathered tall branches of aravot and then they came and stood them up at the sides of the altar, and their tops were bent over the altar. They then sounded a teki’ah [long blast], a teru’ah [staccato blast] and again a teki’ah. Most of this ritual is self-explanatory. The aravot would need to be about 11 cubits high (more than five meters) so that their tops would go over the altar which was ten meters high. The shofar blasts were meant to give the ritual great publicity and great authority. They were also a sign of rejoicing.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
אני הוא – in Gematria (the numerical value) of “We beseech you, O LORD”, and furthermore they are two names which are part of the name of “the world of creation. Another explanation: when he and I are in trouble, I am with him on the path when in trouble, “Save us.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
Every day they went round the altar once, saying, “O Lord, save us, O Lord, make us prosper” (Psalms 118: 25). While circling the altar the people would recite Psalms 118:25, which is a plea to God to save us and bring us prosperity. Since Sukkot is the holiday on which we pray for the beginning of the rainy season, it is likely that the prosperity which they were praying for was rain.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
Rabbi Judah says: “Ani vaho, save us.” According to Albeck, Rabbi Judah pronounced the beginning of this verse differently. Whereas we pronounce it “ana adonay”, he would pronounce it “ani vaho.” However, the meaning of “ani vaho” is not clear. Others read “ani vehu” which would mean “I and God”, meant to express the idea that God also participates in the sorrows and sufferings of His people Israel.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
On that day they went round the altar seven times. On the seventh day they would circle the altar seven times. This is the origins of “Hoshanah Rabbah”, the last day of Sukkot on which we circle the Torah, which is placed in the middle of the synagogue, seven times.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
When they departed, what did they say? “O altar, beauty is to you! O altar, beauty is to you!” Rabbi Eliezer said: [they would say,] “To the Lord and to you, O altar, to the Lord and to you, O altar.” The end of this seven day ritual was also accompanied by recitations, again meant to emphasize the importance of the aravah ritual and our sadness that the joyous occasion is completed. The people are actually paying homage, in a sense, to the altar. Through the altar the people of Israel receive atonement and hence it is desirable for us to praise it. We should note that we often think of Judaism as an anti-iconic religion God is transcendent, has no body or image, and we therefore deemphasize religious artifacts and emphasize intentions, emotions and our intellect. While this is not the space to enter into a thorough examination of these issues, it does seem to me that this is largely a Maimonidean concept of Judaism. In our mishnah we see that most rabbis had no problem directly speaking to the altar itself. Rabbi Eliezer adds that the praise should not go only to the altar, but to God as well.
