Sukkot — Tabernacles
Hebrew: סֻכּוֹת | When: 15-22 Tishrei
Sukkot: The Joy of Complete Surrender
Sukkot is called “zman simchateinu” — the season of our joy. This is the time of complete simcha — after the penitential intensity of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, one emerges purified and experiences the authentic joy of total acceptance.
The Sukkah: Sitting in Divine Shadow
The sukkah is a temporary dwelling — its roof must have more shade than sunlight. In Chabad: the sukkah represents the experience of living under the tzeil haShechinah — the shade/shadow of Divine presence. The requirement that the sukkah be impermanent (dira arai) signifies that one must occasionally be jarred from the false security of the permanent.
The seven ushpizin (guests) who visit the sukkah (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, David) represent the seven lower sefirot — all seven Divine emotional attributes make the sukkah their home.
The Four Species: Unity of Israel
The arba minim (four species — lulav, etrog, myrtle, willow) represent four types of Jews:
- Etrog (fruit + fragrance) = Torah and good deeds
- Lulav (fruit, no fragrance) = Torah without good deeds
- Myrtle (fragrance, no fruit) = good deeds without Torah
- Willow (neither) = neither Torah nor good deeds
All four are bound together — no Jew is left out of the covenant. The Rebbe taught this as the ultimate statement of ahavat Yisrael — even the “willow” Jew has an essential role.
Simchat Torah: The Highest Joy
The conclusion of Sukkot, Simchat Torah, celebrates completion and recommencement of the Torah cycle. In Chabad, this is the one day when the joy of Torah transcends intellectual comprehension — the dancing is the yechidah’s rejoicing, beyond all rational categories.
Sources
- Tanya, Iggeret HaKodesh
- Alter Rebbe, Likkutei Torah — Sukkot discourses
- The Rebbe, extensive Sukkot teachings