Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann
Sukkah - Finding the Real You
In huts (Sukkos) you shall dwell for seven
days. (Vayikra 23:42)
Sukkos, the Festival of Huts, commemorates the shelters Hashem
provided for the Jewish nation when they left Mitzrayim (Egypt) and
entered the Wilderness (Midbar). Yet we may ask: What is really so
noteworthy about these temporary booths that they deserve everlasting
recognition? Normally one commemorates an event of distinction or
inspiration, perhaps a miracle, but why commemorate the seemingly
insignificant huts used by the 'leavers of Mitzrayim'?
To understand this, we must realize that Yetzias Mitzrayim/the
Exodus from Egypt is significant on two levels. Simply, Yetzias
Mitzrayim was our freedom from bondage. As we say in the Pesach
Haggadah, "And had the Holy One, Blessed be He, not removed us
from Egypt, we and our children would [still] be slaves to Pharaoh
Yetzias Mitzrayim, however, was more than just freedom from
physical bondage. It was also our release from spiritual bondage. Not
simply that the Jews in Egypt were not free to practice their religion
openly - that is likewise a result of physical bondage. Rather the Jews
in Mitzrayim found themselves so steeped in pagan culture that they
were unable to free themselves from the throes of their own yetzer
hara/evil disposition. As Chazal, our Sages, describe it: They had
sunken to the 49th level of tumah/impurity. Hashem, in taking them
out of Mitzrayim, removed from them the shackles and chains of their
own immorality , so that they could begin to serve Him and receive
Thus Yetzias Mitzrayim carries for us two distinct meanings: It
commemorates our release from both physical and spiritual bondage.
This second type of Yetzias Mitzrayim is in fact somewhat of an
ongoing process. Our release from physical bondage was a one-time
deal - it has lasted to this very day. But spiritual bondage as we have
explained it - the spiritual limitations one experiences through captivity
to his own physical/material/base desires - is a slavery from which
most of us have yet to attain our ultimate freedom.
Everyone's yetzer hara is different. But everyone knows that certain
aspects of his character prevent him from achieving the spiritual
heights to which he aspires. For some it may be laziness. For others
pride, anger, lust, overindulgence, lack of self-confidence,
shallowness, etc. We struggle with these and other types of spiritual
bondage every day.
Then comes Yom Kippur. The one day of the year where everyone
tastes a bit of freedom from his yetzer hara. We don't eat, drink, or
indulge in other pleasures - basically all we do is daven (pray) and
spend our day re-connecting with Hashem, from Whom we have
drifted throughout the year. It is a day, if you will, of Yetzias
Mitzrayim - each person's release from the bondage of his own
So what do we do after experiencing a day that so uplifts our spirits?
A day of freedom from the physical desires and passions which so
often cause us to sway from the straight path? It is written in
Shulchan Aruch (624:5), "One should begin building his Sukkah
immediately after Yom Kippur." We build a Sukkah. Simply explained,
we do this to go straight from one mitzvah into the next.
But there's more. Sometimes, Yom Kippur sends us into an identity
crisis: Is this the real me? I mean, this is all very well one day a year -
a day devoid of all the physical pleasures and yetzer haras I'm used
to - but that's all. It can't be the real "me". I am human, and have
certain limitations and weaknesses which just can't be avoided. Aren't
Therefore, says the Sanzer Rav (Rabbi Chaim Halberstam z"l, Divrei
Chaim p. 20), the Torah instructs us to build a Sukkah. The Sukkah
is a temporary dwelling place; an abode devoid of all the luxuries and
comforts to which we are accustomed. Yet this hut is to become our
dwelling place. "Ba-sukkos teshvu, In Sukkos (huts) you shall
*dwell*," as the Gemara describes it: One must dwell in his Sukkah
as he would in his primary residence (Tractate Sukkah 27a). The
Torah is sending us a message: This is where you really belong. This
is the real you! The "you" of Yom Kippur. The "you" minus the bad
habits and the focus on materialism. The "you" for whom a simple
Sukkah - lacking in physical grandeur yet rich in spiritual qualities
and infused with Hashem's Presence - is more than enough. It's
where you really belong.
As we sit this Yom Tov in our Sukkos, surrounded by the "Shade of
the Faithful One," perhaps it's appropriate to allow our thoughts to
drift back to the sublime sanctity of Yom Kippur, to remind ourselves
how right it felt to spend our day in total dedication to Hashem,
without all the frills and luxuries of life in the Western world. And to
absorb the holiness that permeates the wall's of every Jew's Sukkah.
And to remember - this is where I really belong.
Text Copyright © 1998 Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann and Project Genesis, Inc.