Sukkah Is The Ultimate Vehicle for Da’as
The Torah tells us, ישראל, בני את הושבתי בסוכות כי דורותיכם ידעו למען so that your generations will know that I caused the Children of Israel to sit in sukkos. The sefarim hakedoshim teach us that from here we learn that the sukkah has the ability to bring us da’as, knowledge of Hashem; it infuses us with the wisdom and understanding as to how to properly serve Hashem.
It is a great avodah for every Yid to explore and understand his purpose in This World. Indeed, in the berachah of Hashkiveinu, in which we ask Hashem to spread His “sukkah of peace” over us, we also ask Him to טובה, בעצה ותקננו grant us good wisdom. For when a person merits to be in the protective “sukkah” of HaKadosh Baruch Hu—that is, he submits himself to Hashem’s authority—he merits that Hashem will send him the eitzos for how to properly serve Him.
Sukkah: Abandoning Certainty
The Kotzker Rebbe taught that the sukkah brings da’as (wisdom and understanding) to a person, because when a person enters the sukkah, he proclaims that he is leaving everything else behind and entering the home of the Aibishter, agreeing to His terms and His dictates. Thus, he is connecting with the da’as of Hashem.
This person leaves his comfortable home and enters a ramshackle booth with flimsy walls... the rain can seep in, and the cold or heat can penetrate... but it doesn’t matter to him: He is in the home of the Ribbono shel Olam. He is mevatel himself to the Ribbono shel Olam.
The Kotzker Rebbe added that for this reason, a מצטער, someone who is uncomfortable, is absolved from sitting in the sukkah. For if you’re uncomfortable in the sukkah, you evidently have a complaint about the situation (it’s too cold/hot/noisy/etc.), which stems from a lack of bittul and acceptance of what Hashem wants. A person who lacks bittul doesn’t belong in the sukkah.
Sitting in the Shadow of Hashem
A person must work on himself so that even when he finds himself in an unexpected or undesirable situation, he will say, “If Hashem wants that it to be this way, then this is the best thing for me. This is perfect, and I have no complaints.” He didn’t expect to be in this condition, and he wanted it to be otherwise, but he is now mevatel himself to Hashem’s program.
The Ropshitzer Rov explained that we sit in the סוכה, צל the shadow of the sukkah. Sukkah has the numerical value of two of the Names of HaKadosh Baruch Hu אדנ»י); (הוי»ה thus, by sitting in the sukkah, we sit in the shadow and the protection of Hashem, submitting ourselves completely to Him. When a person is mevatel himself and enters the sukkah, he enters the shadow and the protection of the Ribbono shel Olam Himself.
Knowing or Not Knowing?
When we contemplate this, it seems to be a bit of a contradiction. On the one hand, we say that the sukkah infuses us with da’as, i.e., wisdom, understanding, and depth. At the same time, we say that the entire avodah of the sukkah is the epitome of bittul, of not having our own understanding! That is, “I don’t know, I don’t need to know, it’s not how I wanted it, and I don’t need it to be how I wanted it.” This is called bittul, nullification—he shuts off his brain entirely. He decides, “I don’t need to understand why Hashem wanted it like this, and I don’t do mitzvos for any reason other than that HaKadosh Baruch Hu commanded me to do so, and I am His loyal servant.”
Bittul for Da’as
This question brings us to a major yesod in avodas Hashem that was taught by the Ba’al Shem Tov and his talmidim, a yesod that must be repeated often: The way that a person merits da’as is davka through nullifying his sechel and submitting himself completely to the Ribbono shel Olam. This is an art that every person must learn: the art of meriting Heavenly da’as. When the Ribbono shel Olam chooses to grant us an idea or an understanding, it is an incredible ohr. A person cannot come up with ideas through his own kochos. He can look into as many sefarim as he wants, but if the Aibishter doesn’t want him to understand what he is learning, his mind remains sealed. But when Hashem bequeaths the person with wisdom and understanding, everything becomes illuminated.
More Bittul—More Wisdom
The Ribbono shel Olam in His kindness gives us da’as. We ask for it three times a day, because we don’t have it on our own. A person doesn’t have his own sechel; he has the vessels to hold the sechel. But how does he obtain sechel? For this he must daven to Hashem, and do everything he must do so that Hashem will gift him with sechel.
Says the Torah: The more you will insert yourself into the “home” of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the more you will submit yourself to His plans and programs for you, the more you will shut off your mind when Hashem commands you to do so, the more sechel and wisdom you will receive. Thus, not only isn’t there a contradiction, but one brings the other! Bittul actively brings da’as.
Wisdom Is Only from Hashem
We must explain this concept a bit more—for we’re not discussing this in the abstract; it is something that is practical and relevant to each of us on a daily basis. The only way we can connect with the essence of the avodah of the Yom Tov is by studying and analyzing these concepts.
This is the reality. The Ribbono shel Olam did not give a person the ability to “take” sechel on his own. We see people who have an incredible and sharp grasp. Even when they were children, they were outstanding in their abilities. They could brush up on the material half an hour before a test and get 100. Everyone was envious of them.... And this gave us the erroneous idea that we have the ability to take sechel for ourselves, that we don’t need the Ribbono shel Olam to place it into our brains. We think that those with weaker abilities were ordained to have mediocre levels of wisdom for their whole lives, and conversely, the wise people with a quick grasp can decide for themselves to put sechel into their own minds.
Da’as: Living with the Truth
But now that we see what became of these people, we see that it doesn’t work this way at all. When we analyze our surroundings, we see that those brilliant people didn’t necessarily arrive at the destination that everyone had foretold for them. Perhaps in their youth, they were able to present themselves as successful and even make a wealthy shidduch as a result... and at certain times and places in their lives, they were able to amass the necessary knowledge. But da’as is something much deeper. Da’as means that a person connects to the truth. He lives with the truth and he is completely transformed by the truth.
Moreover, da’as is needed when a person must decide and determine right from wrong, proper from improper. And it is here—in these crucial aspects of life, the moments for which a person came down to This World— that we see those whom Hashem did not endow with da’as make many mistakes and blunders. Here he makes a mistake with ga’avah.... Here he gets into an unnecessary interpersonal complication.... There are so many important aspects of Yiddishkeit in which we see these “brilliant” people stumbling; they are not behaving consistent with the ratzon of Hashem—all because they have not merited da’as. For true da’as cannot be taken on our own—even by the most brilliant person—it is endowed by Hashem alone.
You Give Da’as
HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells us that there are certain mitzvos and methods by which we can acquire da’as—there is no other way. When a person doesn’t merit da’as, he will err and stray his entire life. It makes no difference if he has a bright mind or if he grew up in this environment or that. Nothing matters. Wisdom and understanding ובינה) (חכמה may be dependent on one’s natural abilities and the people he spent time with, but da’as—which means connecting to knowledge of the truth and connecting to the Aisbishter—and its main manifestation—which is to know how to make the right decisions in life situations—isn’t dependent on us, but on Hashem. It’s impossible to acquire it by any other method. No one, and no book, can give it to a person. Thus, it is important for a person to do the right things in order to acquire da’as from Hashem.
The Yom Tov of Sukkos teaches us what we need to do to acquire da’as. A person who is mevatel his own opinions and desires to Hashem, saying, “Ribbono shel Olam! You gave me the vessels for da’as, infuse them with da’as so that I will know how to serve You,” will merit da’as from Above.
Ingraining Bittul Through Mitzvos
We must make a great effort in this area—and convey it to our children as well. Many neshamos can be saved if they could learn from an early age to be mevatel themselves to the Ribbono shel Olam. We have been given many mitzvos that guide us clearly on how to be mevatel our da’as. One of these is the mitzvah of kibbud av v’eim. Another one is respecting a rav. The point behind these types of mitzvos is to ingrain in a person that he doesn’t know everything. My rebbeim and my parents know better than I do. When Hashem commands me to think, I think. When He has not commanded me to think for myself, I shut off my brain and I am mevatel my da’as in order to acquire true da’as.
What Happened to That Brilliant Kid?
The avodah of a person is that he should become a proper vessel for da’as. We must understand this. HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us incredible keilim so that we can accept da’as. The idea was not to give a person small keilim, for if he has only small vessels, everything will spill over and be lost. Indeed, many times we see a bachur who was incredibly gifted in his youth. He knew so much about so many things. According to his level of knowledge, according to the environment he grew up in and according to his abilities, he should have become an incredibly accomplished person. But in the end, nothing much came of him.
What happened? When a person doesn’t have the vessels to accept knowledge and wisdom, they spill out and they don’t become part of the person. And so, our avodah is to ensure that we become proper vessels to accept what Hashem wants to give to us. When a person is mevatel himself to the Ribbono shel Olam and His servants (Rabbanim, tzaddikim, parents, etc.), he becomes a vessel for accepting the sechel Hashem wants to give him. This temimus doesn’t diminish from his wisdom; to the contrary, this is what makes him wise! By having bittul to Hashem and doing the ratzon Hashem, the world will become illuminated for him.
