The mitzvah of succah certainly brings with it many blessings and benefits. One berachah that is particularly associated with the mitzvah of succah is arichas yamim, long life. The Torah says: חג הסבת תעשה לך שבעת הימים – “you shall make the festival of Succos for a seven-day period" (Devarim 16:3). The Abarbanel and the Ran both quote a Pesikta stating that we derive from the word תעשה, that if one sits in the succah this year, he will once again merit to sit in the succah the next year: אם עשית בן עכשיו יהי רצון שתעשה כן לשנה אחרת - “if you do so now, may it be the will of Hashem that you will also be able to do so in the following year."
Succah = the Names of Hashem
The Cheshek Shlomah (end of Succah) records an oft quoted kabbalistic idea. The word succah is typically spelled סובה. The gematria of this spelling is ninety-one. The Four-Letter Name of Hashem – Yud Kei Vav Kei – is numerically equal to twenty-six, and the Name of Adnus – Aleph Daled Nun Yud – is sixty-five. Add these together and the sum is likewise ninety-one. Thus, succah reflects the combination and fusion of both of these Names of Hashem.
However, asks the Cheshek Shlomah, this is not the way the word succah is spelled in the Torah! Throughout the entire Torah, the word succah is always spelled without the vav: סבה. Spelled this way, the gematria is only eight-five.
Succah = Shalom
The Chida (Devash Lepi, Maʼareches 60, ois 27) also quotes this idea, that the word succah is the combined gematria of these two Names of Hashem. He adds that if your write Yud Kei Vav Kei on one line, and then Aleph Daled Nun Yud below it, the letters that line up over each other are significant.
The first pairing is yud over aleph. Yud multiplied by aleph is still ten. Hei times daled is twenty. Vav multiplied by nun equals three hundred. Finally, hei times yud equals fifty. The sum of these is three-hundred and eighty. This is the same gematria as the word shalom. This explains why the succah is often referred to as succas shalom.
The Dimensions of the Teivah
In Parshas Noach, the Torah records that the dimensions of the Teivah were 30 x 50 x 300 amos. Using the same pattern of multiplying the two Four-Letter Names of Hashem, the Malbim offers a fascinating explanation to the significance of these dimensions. As we said above, yud times aleph equals 10, and hei times daled equals 20. Adding these together gives the first dimension of the Teivah: 30 amos wide. Vav times nun equals 300: a second dimension of the Teivah; i.e., its length. Hei times yud equals 50: the third dimension of the Teivah; i.e., its height. Thus, similar to the succah, the dimensions of the Teivah can be derived from these two Names of Hashem. The Teivah, too, was a succas shalom, a succah of peace.
סוכה or סכה
But these calculations hold true only if the word succah is spelled with a vav, and it is never spelled with a vav in the Torah. Succah is always spelled chaseir, without the vav: סנה. One might note that in the pasuk: בסכות תשבו שבעת ימים - “you shall dwell in booths for a seven-day period” (Vayikra 23:42), the word בסכות does have a vav, but that vav is not part of the word succah; rather, the vav after the chaf serves only to make the word plural. The word succah itself, in the singular, however, is never spelled with a vav in the Torah.
סכה for Now; סוכה When Mashiach Comes
The Cheshek Shlomah writes that there is one place in Tanach where succah is indeed spelled with a vav. The pasuk states: ויהי בשלם סובו ומעונתו בציון - “Then His Tabernacle (succah) was in Yerushalayim and His dwelling in Tzion.” (Tehillim 76:3) Here the vav precedes the chaf.
Technically, the word succah should always be spelled with a vav between the samach and the chaf: סובה. However, there is an important reason it is never spelled this way in the Torah.
As noted, the word succah is numerically equivalent to two of the Names of Hashem. Until the Beis HaMikdash is rebuilt, “ein HaSheim shalem, Hashem's Name is not complete." Therefore, until the Beis HaMikdash is rebuilt and Hashem returns to Tzion, the word succah is not spelled in its entirety. However, when Hashem will return to Tzion, then succah will be spelled malei, in its entirety.
The pasuk in Tehillim quoted above is telling us ויהי בשלם סובו, when will the succah be complete, spelled with the vav, ומעונתו בציון, when the Shechinah will have returned to Tzion! Only then can the succah be complete, because only then will the Name of Hashem be complete.
Even though now the word succah is spelled chaseir, without the vav, we must still recognize and appreciate the fact that when we enter the succah we are going into a structure that comprises a combination of the two Names of Hashem. This is why it is shalom, since these two Names of Hashem, through the system of multiplication mentioned above, comprise the word shalom.
The Mishnah (Uktzin 3:12) teaches: “Hashem did not find a vessel that holds berachah, except for shalom, peace.” Shalom – which can be interpreted as a reference to succah – is the greatest vehicle of berachah!
Two Unique Mitzvos
The Vilna Gaon (HaMaʼor HaGadol, Tehillim pg. 464) writes that there are two mitzvos in the Torah that one fulfills with his entire body, with all 248 limbs: Yeshivas Eretz Yisrael and sitting in the succah, where one's entire body enters into the cheftzah of the mitzvah. This, too, is hinted at in the pasuk from Tehillim quoted above. When can one do a mitzvah b’shleimus, with the entirety of his being? ויהי בשלם סובו ומעונתו בציון - in the succah and in Tzion, Eretz Yisrael. Furthermore, a person is not considered shaleim, complete, until he has fulfilled these two mitzvos.
Halachic Ramification of the Gra
Rav Shlomah Zalman Auerbach (cited in KeMotzei Shalol Rav, Succah pg. 101) writes that this concept may have halachic ramification. The Mishnah states (20a) that if one sleeps under a bed in the succah, he does not fulfill the mitzvah of succah. As Rashi explains, this is because there is an ohel between the person and the succah. Ohel is defined as a structure that is ten tefochim in height. According to the Gemara, the bed that is a hefsek between a person and the succah is one that is at least ten tefachim high. Following this reasoning, one who is sitting at a table in the succah may not be fulfilling the mitzvah b’shleimus! If the table is ten tefachim high, then it serves as an ohel over his legs. Hence the lower part of the body is not in the succah. Since, according to the Gra, the full fulfilment of the mitzvah is accomplished only when one is in the succah with his whole body, the mitzvah would not be ideally fulfilled under these circumstances. Standing or sitting at a table lower than ten tefachim would allow one to fulfill the mitzvah b’sheleimus according to the Gra.
Succah: Hashem's Embrace
Succah, which is numerically equivalent to two of the Name's of Hashem, affords one the opportunity to be completely enveloped by the Ribbono Shel Olam Himself. By entering the succah, a person's body is completely surrounded by and immersed in the Shechinah.
At the end of Neʼilah on Yom Kippur, we say: יחביאנו בצל ידו – “protect me in the shade of Your hand.” What does this petition refer to? Rav Shlomah Zalman Auerbach (cited in Mevakshei Torah, Vol. 3, pg. 442) explains this tefillah by noting that when one wraps his arm around another person in a hug, his arm surrounds the other person on three sides. The upper arm, forearm, and hand are actually symbolic of the precise dimensions of a halachic succah: two full walls and a tefach. This tefillah is thus referring to the mitzvah of succah; we are asking Hashem to embrace us in the succah, with which we are surrounded on three sides. Sitting in the succah, representative of two of His Names, is tantamount to receiving a hug from Hashem.
A Breath of Fresh Air
Picture a patient who seeks a consultation with a physician. The doctor informs him that his symptoms represent a significant abnormality for which he will require heart surgery. After the surgery is performed, the patient is told that all went well and that the surgery was a success. His heart function has been restored to normal. However, the patient returns to the doctor after a few weeks stating that while he definitely feels better than he had prior to surgery, he does not feel that he has returned to how he felt prior to getting sick. The doctor reassures him that all the tests came back with excellent results, and tells him that he is simply weak from the surgery, and that he needs to convalesce. The doctor advises the patient to travel to a location where he can relax, rest, and be rejuvenated by the clear, fresh, mountain air.
Says Rav Yosef Nechemiah Kornitzer (Droshos, Rabbeinu Yosef Nechemia, pg. 97), during the Yamim Noraim we underwent surgical repair of our neshamos, but we are still in a weakened spiritual state. The Ribbono Shel Olam then tells us not to worry; our neshamos have been cleaned by experiencing Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Now we merely need to convalesce and breathe in the spiritual air of the succah.
We go into the succah, breath in the Yud Kei Vav Kei and the Name of Adnus, inhale the Shalom, and receive the hug from Hashem – and this helps to restore us to our maximal strength – spiritually and physically.
The above parable helps further our understanding as to how the succah helps us achieve arichas yamim: Going out of the house and immersing our entire being in the succah – in the Ribbono Shel Olam – where we can inhale the kedushah and be embraced by Hashem gives us the zechus for arichas yamim.
Lot and the Malachim: A Lesson in Bitachon
In Parshas Vayeira the Torah relates the incident of the malachim who came to save Lot and his family. The men of the city surround Lot's house, demanding that he hand over his guests. Lot offers the mob his daughter's instead, beseeching them to leave his guests alone. After all, he says, these men came to my home trusting me to protect them. הנה נא לי שתי בנות אשר לא ידעו איש אוציאה נא אתהן אליכם ועשו להן בטוב בעיניכם רק לאנשים האל אל תעשו דבר בי על כן באו בצל קרתי – “See, now, I have two daughters who have never known a man. I shall bring them out to you and do to them as you please; but to these men do nothing, in as much as they have come under the shade of my roof” (Bereishis 19:8). Lot told the rabble, “Since they placed their trust in me, please do not harm them at all."
The Chofetz Chaim (Al HaTorah) advances an incredible idea. Let's analyze what Lot is telling the people of Sodom. He offers them his two unmarried daughters, but denies them access to his two guests. His stated reason for protecting the visitors was not because of the immoral and degenerate act that the residents of Sodom wanted to perform with them. He tells the people of Sodom that his visitors should be safeguarded for the simple reason that they had put themselves under his protection, and there is a moral obligation to protect someone who comes to you and trusts in you to provide protection. I must protect them, says Lot, כי על בן באו בצל קרתי, for that is why they came under the shade of my home.
Says the Chofetz Chaim, this gives us an incredible insight into the mechanism of bitachon. We are able to say to the Ribbono Shel Olam, “Whether we deserve it or not, we are coming under Your protection. We are coming under Your Tzeil, Your Shade." Lot understood that if someone puts himself under your protection, you are then obligated to honor that trust. How much more so if we turn to Hashem and place our trust in Him, that He will surely come through for us. If we truly have bitachon in Hashem, then Hashem must honor our trust and provide what we are trusting Him to provide for us, simply because we are trusting Him to do so.
When Lot when to live in Sodom, he was looking to distance himself from Hashem, as the pasuk says: ויסע לוט מקדם “And Lot traveled from Kedem” (13:11). His emunah had dramatically deteriorated. Yet he still understood that if someone places their complete trust in another, then that person is obligated to provide for him.
A Revolutionary Insight Into the Succah
Rav Nosan Meir Wachtfogel (Leket Reshimos, pg. 141) suggests a revolutionary dimension of the mitzvah of succah. When we come under the shade of the succah, we are conveying an unspoken message to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. We acknowledge that we do not know the outcome of the Yamim Noraim. When we enter into the succah, we are saying to Hashem that since we are placing our trust in Him, we should be provided for, whether or not we deserve it. By entering the succah, we show that we are coming under His protection. After all, the succah is the Tzeil, the Shade, of the Ribbono Shel Olam.
Lot said that he must provide for the malachim בי על כן באו בצל קרתי, because they came under the shade of his roof for refuge. How could he turn them down? We, too, come under the protection of Hashem when we enter the succah, and for that reason alone, we warrant to be protected and answered. He is now obligated to provide for us, even if we did not merit a favorable outcome on Yom Kippur.
Rebbi's Yissurim Reinforces This Lesson of Bitachon
The Gemara (Bava Metzia 85a) discusses the yissurim that Rebbi suffered at the end of his life. Rav Yehuda HaNasi endured great suffering because of an event that occurred involving a calf that was being taken to be slaughter. The calf came to Rebbi, burying its face under his cloak and crying. Rebbi told the calf to go to be slaughtered, since that is why it was created. The Gemara tells us that since Rebbi did not show mercy towards the calf, he was subjected to yissurim.
Asks Rav Nosan Meir Wachtfogel: What did Rebbi do that he deserved to be punished? What he said was true; animals are indeed created for people to consume. As the Gemara (Berachos 17a) states: “An animal is destined to be slaughtered.” Will each and every shochet, then, be subjected to yissurim?
With the yesod we have introduced, Rav Wachtfogel answers that indeed it is a mitzvah to shecht and animal; there is nothing improper in slaughtering an animal in order to eat it. However, if an animal seeks refuge under a person's cloak, crying and pleading for its life, then one must have rachmanus, mercy on the animal. It does not matter that the animal was created to be shechted. Because it sought your protection, trusting in you, the animal creates a moral obligation for you to provide that salvation. Therefore, Rebbi should have offered the calf protection and prevented it from being slaughtered.
Lot's Shade ... an Actual Succah
This principle that Lot asserted to the people of Sodom has uncovered a new dimension in the mitzvah of succah. We put ourselves under the protection of the succah, under the protection of Hashem, and therefore, regardless of whether we are worthy, we should receive salvation. Regardless of what we deserve, our bitachon in Hashem dictates that we should receive protection.
Incredibly, Rav Chaim Kanievsky (Tama Dekra, Vayera) writes, based on Tosfos (Rosh Hashanah 11a) that the day that Avraham incited the malachim to sit under the tree was Succos. In that case, the next day, when the malachim came to Lot in Sodom, it was also the Yom Tov of Succos. How beautiful is it that Lot was not merely articulating the principle we have applied to the mitzvah of succah, but that when he uttered the words, בי על כן באו בצל קרתי, he was referring to an actual succah, articulating this principle, that the refuge of the succah is the refuge of those who place their trust in Hakadosh Boruch Hu.
The phrase Lot had used to declare this principle is כי על כן באו בצל קרתי, because this is why they came under the shade of my roof. This clearly describes the trust and faith we are placing in Hashem by sitting in the succah, coming under the shade of His roof. In the succah we enter under the tzeil d’mihemenusa, the Shade of Hashem.
Hashem Rewards Avraham with the Mitzvah of Succah
The Medrash (Bereishis Rabbah 48:10) teaches us that we are zocheh to the mitzvah of succah in the merit of Avraham. When the malachim came to visit Avraham Avinu after his bris milah, Avraham told them, והשענו תחת העץ, recline beneath the tree (Bereishis 18:4). Hashem told Avraham, “You told them to rest under the tree; I swear that I will repay you. In the Midbar I will envelop the Bnei Yisrael in the Ananei Hakavod, and in Eretz Yisrael I will give them the mitzvah of succah: בסבת תשבו שבעת ימים - "you shall dwell in succos for a seven day period” (Vayikra 23:42). When Mashiach comes, I will continue to repay you:וסכה תהיה לצל יומם "and there will be a succah as a shade from the heat in the daytime...” (Yeshayahu 4:6).
Thus, the mitzvah is a reward for Avraham having told the malachim to rest and sit under the tree. But what is the connection? Why should Avraham's act of offering them to sit under a tree be rewarded with the mitzvah of succah? Why is one reward for the other?
As we mentioned above from Rav Chaim Kanievsky, the very day that the malachim came to visit Avraham, was on Succos itself. However, asks Rav Chaim, if it was Succos, why was Avraham sitting at the pesach haʼohel, at the opening of the tent, and not in the succah? Rav Chaim answers that it was k’chom hayom; the day was exceptionally hot, and as a mitztaʼer, one who is pain, Avraham was exempt from succah! Rav Chaim offers another explanation: Avraham had moved closer to the open door because it was cooler there.
We know that Avraham Avinu kept the entire Torah. Therefore, explains Rav Chaim, when he invited the malachim to rest under the tree, he must have been referring to a tree that had been detached from the ground, and was therefore kosher as sechach.
The above lends an explanation as to why Hashem rewarded Avraham's hospitality with the mitzvah of succah. Avraham Avinu invited the malachim to sit and rest under the shade of his succah, which he referred to as an eitz, a tree. Since he invited them to sit in his succah, Hashem repaid him in kind by giving his descendants the mitzvah of succah.
The Reward for Gemillas Chessed
The Yalkut Shimoni (Rus 422) writes that the koach, the strength of those who are gomlei chessed is very great. The reward for one who engages in gemillas chassadim is that he will earn the ultimate place of refuge when he passes away. His final resting place will not be in the shade of the orb of the Earth, it will not be in the shade of the sun, and it will not be in the shade of the angels or animals. His final resting place will be in the shade of Hakadosh Boruch Hu.
The reward for doing chessed is protection under the shade of the Ribbono Shel Olam Himself!
Rav Boruch Simon (Imrei Boruch, Vayera pg. 79) beautifully applies this idea of the Medrash to explain why the reward for Avraham Avinu was that his descendants received the mitzvah of succah. Avraham Avinu was performing chessed for the malachim, and, in fact, he was the ultimate gomel chessed. Therefore, his reward was that his descendants would receive the protection of the Shade of Hashem, in the form of the succah. This is the perfect reward, as the Yalkut Shimoni taught us that the reward for chessed is basking in the Shade of Hashem.
As mentioned, when Lot said, בי על כן באו בצל קרתי, he was referring to his succah; that is why he argued that his guest warranted to be protected. Thus, a profound dimension of succah is that we beseech Hashem: We don't yet know what the outcome of the din on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur will be. But it should not matter. Lot told the people of Sodom that the malachim came into his home for protection, and he is therefore morally obligated to protect them. So, too, we come under the Tzeil, the Shade of Hashem, expecting and believing that He will protect us, and He has the same moral obligation to do so. Hashem, we place our trust in You, and therefore, as we are surrounded in the succah by two of the Names of Hashem, may we be zocheh to blessing of a long life, sitting in the succah for many years to come.