Shulchan Aruch (OC 625:1) rules that the festival of Sukkos is to commemorate the Clouds of Glory that surrounded and protected (and according to some, transported) the Jews during their four-decade sojourn in the Sinai desert.
Unlike other festivals that are tied to actual events such as Pesach and Shavuos, Sukkos could be held at any time, so why set the timing for Sukkos after Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur?
A suggested answer derives from the blessings that Yaakov and Esav received from their father, Yitzchak (Bereshis 27). Yitzchak promises Yaakov that he and his family will receive spiritual blessings in the World to Come, whereas Esav was blessed with physical munificence.
If that is the case, how do Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur fit in? These are days that we ask G-d to bless us with material objects such as food and money. Are we not therefore disproving the blessings of Yitzchak?
Therefore, immediately after Yom Kippur, we set up and live in a Sukkah, an uncomfortable rickety outdoor dwelling which is far from the height of materialism. This demonstrates that we do acknowledge that our real goal is not the physicality of this world, but the next world. We abandon the physical.
PEOPLE ARE FOREVER making promises about what they will do, but ultimately it is not the words that count, but the subsequent actions.
This may be a lesson from the Sukkah – to look at how we behave after Yom Kippur as our true selves.
