Are illusions something to avoid? Do they counter reality? Are they nothing but lies? The intuitive answer to these questions might be yes. But that would be the wrong answer. The truth is that life without illusions would be very boring and depressing. Meaningless even. The fact is that many Halachos are tied to illusions.
Sukkos is replete with illusions. For example the concept of Lavud. When there is a break less then 3 Tefachim wide (about 15 inches) in a wall, it is considered as though it is not there. One of the wasy this applies to Sukkos is the following. If there is a 3 Tefachim wide space in the Schach (the Halachic roof of a Sukkah) it is considered a closed roof. An obvious illusion that nonetheless allows the fulfillment of the Mitzvah even if one sits directly under that break and considered a fulfillment of the Mitzvah.
Another example is this concept of Tzuras HaPesach. A Sukkah requires a minimum of three walls to be considered valid. If one has only two walls one may erect two poles and affix a fishwire atop the two poles across the distance between them. That is considered a wall. Even though in reality it is nothing more than an open space between 2 poles.
Are these lies? Not at all. They are illusions that we are allowed to have in order to fulfill the Mitzvah.
Then there is the Mitzvah of Teshvu Kein Taduru. We are supposed to live in a Sukkah the same way we live in our homes. But even though we eat and many of us sleep in the Sukkah, we do not really move into the Sukkah and out of the house. Kein Taduru requires us to have the illusion of living in the Sukkah. We are supposed to feel like we live there all of Sukkos.
Illusions are not only the stuff of Halacha. Illusions affect our everyday lives If one were to live their lives based solely on facts, life would be pretty boring. In a scientific sense, a home is really just a house filled with furniture. People are objects made up of atoms and molecules. Relationships are impersonal. A wife is only a housekeeper. Children are tax deductions. Gifts are bonuses that part of the household budget. As though the home was nothing more than a commodity market. Beauty and sweetness is sterilized out of our lives by ignoring such illusions as dignity, love, hope, purpose, happiness, and humor.
Take the much abused word love for example. We can talk about sexuality in our post Freudian world all day long. But love is taboo and considered a comforting illusion.
A narrow factualism regards integrity and honesty as illusions because ‘they don’t pay’. An idealistic appreciation of illusion considers that in the long run there is justice. Maybe a thief will prosper in business butlike a worm borig its way into a luscious fruit. However, that same dishonesty will find its way into the innermost recesses of the home.
Of course some illusions are harmful and even dangerous. Like race superiority. Or the idea that might makes right. But these are myths. They are false. Substitutes for facts.
Illusions do not ignore facts. They build upon them and see them from a broader perspective.
What are some of the noble illusions that Judaism teaches? The principle of Teshvu Kein Taduru provides us with some outstanding examples. One is that Man is basically good. In the words of Tehilim (8:6) VaT'chasrehu Me’at Me’Elokim – he was created but a little lower than angels.
Man was given a Neshama, a soul. The man who sees only the hard facts of body parts will not see a soul in the human personality. For this you must have an eye for larger illusions and a heart for great ideals.
How silly was a Russian astronaut who - after returning from a mission in orbit said, ‘I looked through the heavens and found no God.’ Same thing the surgeon who said he conducted a thorough search of the anatomy and found no soul.’ That’s like a someone saying he took apart the violin and found no music.
What a wonderful Yom Tov Sukkos is. Teshvu Kein Taduru teaches us the noble, beautiful, and precious exchange of illusions. No wonder it is called Z’man Simchaseinu – the time of our happiness. May it continue for all of Klal Yisroel and indeed for all of humanity.
*Based on a sermon delivered by Rabbi Norman Lamm - published in Fetivals of Faith