This week we are celebrating the holiday of Sukkot. It is special in many ways, teeming with mitzvot and customs with far-reaching spiritual implications.
We were commanded by G-d to celebrate Sukkot as a reminder of the sukkah-booths in which we dwelled during our sojourn through the Sinai desert after our exodus from Egypt. According to some opinions, the Sukka commemorates the actual booths and temporary dwellings we lived in. Other opinions consider it as a reminder of the Clouds of Glory with which G-d surrounded and protected us during our sojourn through the desert. Obviously, the sukka itself is a major aspect of the holiday.
It is not surprising, then, that our upcoming holiday is known almost exclusively by the name Sukkot.
There are other mitzvot that we perform every day or most days of the festival, though, such as blessing the lulav and etrog and saying the special "Hoshana" prayers. Why, one might ask, is the festival known specifically for the mitzvah of dwelling in the Sukka?
The answer lies in the unique nature of the mitzvah of sukkah. Every other mitzvah a person performs involves a particular limb or part of the body: tefillin, for instance, are wrapped around the head and arm; Shabbat candles are lit using the hand; Prayers are said with the mouth.
The Sukka, however, is different. It surrounds and encompasses the entire person from head to toe. It envelops the person who sits within its temporary walls with the holiness of the mitzvah.
May the Jewish people merit to witness what we read in the "Grace After Meals" on Sukkot, "May the Merciful One Restore for us the fallen Sukkah of David" and as we also mention in our evening service prayer, may he spread his 'Sukkah' of peace over us, and over all of Israel and over Jerusalem.
