There is a custom each evening of Sukkot to invite special guests – ushpizin – into the sukkah. Every evening the patriarchs, matriarchs, and their families are welcomed.
Ushpizin sets the tone for the holiday of Sukkot. The sukkah itself is built outdoors, open to the public. And the four species – the lulav and etrog –represent all types of Jews. If any one of the species is missing, the mitzvah is invalid, teaching the critical importance of each and every person.
In a real sense, the ushpizin parallels the paragraph recited at the outset of the Passover Seder, wherein we invite guests to the table.
In Jewish history there have been towns that were especially hospitable; some were actually called ushpizin. My father was raised in Oswiecim, which the Nazis later transformed into the notorious Auschwitz death camp. He once told me that Jews referred to the town as Oshpitzim, a Polish corruption of the word ushpizin, in tribute to the well-known hospitality of the Jewish residents to travelers and wayfarers.
We follow this approach by affectionately referring to our synagogue, the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, as The Bayit. Just as a bayit, a home, is a place of love and welcome, so too does the very name of our synagogue convey our basic credo of endless love and welcome.
Not coincidentally the custom of ushpizin falls just days after the high holidays. Many Jews primarily identify with their Judaism on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. And so, immediately after the holidays, we leave the synagogue and build the sukkah. In a sense we’re saying that even if you find it difficult to come to the synagogue, the synagogue will come to you.
This invitation is meant for all Jews – even an apikorus, one who rejects fundamental principles of faith. Note each of the words in the text presented by Rabbi Elazar: “Know what to answer a heretic – Da ma sh-tashiv l’apikorus” (Avot 2:14).
Da, “to know,” in the biblical sense means to love. In other words, react to the apikorus with love. Ma, of course, means “what.” When dealing with an apikorus, one ought to listen closely and respectfully to his or her questions and learn from them. Sh as a prefix asks us to pause. Tashiv can be related to the word teshuvah, which from a mystical perspective means to encourage the wrongdoer to return to the inner good he or she possesses. The prefix lamed of l’apikorus denotes that one is to have a direct I-thou encounter with the person who has gone astray.
Of course, wisdom and Torah knowledge are crucial in order to respond to an apikorus. Still, the approach should be one of endless love, using persuasive rather than coercive arguments. To those who have challenged a nonjudgmental approach to an apikorus, suggesting it leads to situation wherein there is neither tzaddik nor rasha, I would argue that when it comes to one’s relationship to God, God must be that judge.
And that should be our approach as we recite the ushpizin: To embrace our people regardless of affiliation, commitment or background; to welcome them in with endless and infinite love.