You shall dwell in booths seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in booths.
The deeper meaning of the Sukkah...
The Ohr Hachaim, in his Sefer מאור החיים quotes the Gemara (Sukkah 11b) that explains the reason that we sit in the Sukkah on Sukkos. One opinion is that when we were redeemed from Mitzrayim, we traveled through the dangers of the desert and were protected with divine clouds of glory that prevented any danger from reaching us. In memory of those days, we build sukkos and live in them for seven days.
There were seven clouds of glory, four in each direction, one on top, one underneath, and one that traveled ahead of them to show them the way. The seven days of the week correspond to the seven clouds.
The secrets of the Sukkah and the Yomtov of Sukkos are absolutely amazing, and the Ohr Hachaim explains some of them. The unsuspecting simpleton may think that a sukkah is mere walls and branches, and the Ohr Hachaim uncovers the layers of depth that we should see in these innocent boards of wood.
The Hebrew spelling of the word סוכה has כ"ו - twenty-six in the middle, which is the numerical equivalent of the tetragrammaton (י'ה'ו'ה'), and ס"ה - 65 on the outside. The numerical equivalent of the name of Hashem that is אדנ"י, is also 65. The very name of the Sukkah alludes to the name of Hashem. When we sit in the Sukkah and celebrate Yomtov, we are living under the name of Hashem and His protection.
The seventy oxen that are offered up to Hashem on Sukkos represent the seventy ministers in Heaven, and the seven Chagiga korbanos allude to the seven Tzadikim of the Ushpizin – Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Yosef, Moshe, Aaron, Dovid. There are seven days of Yomtov throughout the year – two days Pesach, one day Shavuos, one day Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkos and Shmini Atzeres, which also correspond to the seven Tzadikim.
Another of the awesome secrets of the Sukkah is its laws. A sukkah must have two full-sized walls and one partial wall. This is similar to the Hebrew letter ף. This letter is shaped like a hug that Hashem gives his nation.
When we sit in the Sukkah, we should remind ourselves that we are drawing close to Hashem, we are surrounded by his Holy Name, and are being hugged by Him. He has forgiven our aveiros, he has accepted us as we are, after cleaning up the mess that we made. Now he wants us to stay with Him and never forget Him. He hugs us close in His Sukkah, and we can enjoy it, if we want to.
