Why Isn't the Festival of Sukkah Named After Another Mitzvah

From the Teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Zt”l

There are a number of mitzvot (commandments) performed on the festival of Sukot. We sit in the suka and partake of holiday meals there. We bring together four species of plants (two of which are the lulav and etrog) and make a blessing on them each day of the festival (except Shabbat). We say additional prayers and fulfill special customs. And yet, the festival is called "Sukot," after the temporary booths we dwell in during the holiday. Why doesn't the Torah call the festival "lulav" or "etrog," or choose a name for the holiday after another mitzva connected to our celebration of Sukot?

The mitzva of suka has a virtue not shared by any other mitzva of the holiday. The obligation to sit in the suka begins immediately when it gets dark on the very first night of Sukot, whereas the mitzva of the Four Species - taking an etrog, lulav, myrtle and willow branches and making a blessing over them - is not done until the following morning.

Another characteristic of the suka is that it must be prepared ahead of time. The walls of the suka must be built with the specific intent to perform the mitzva, and the suka may not be erected once the holiday itself has begun. In fact, building the suka is considered to be part of the mitzva as well. The Four Species, on the other hand, can be readied on the holiday itself and their procurement is not part of the mitzva.

Another advantage that the mitzva of suka has over the Four Species is the fact that one can perform it at any time of the day or night, and its obligation continues even after one has sat in it. Unlike the taking of the lulav and etrog, a person can never say that he has already performed the mitzva of suka, and he needn't enter once again that day! The suka is considered our temporary dwelling for the entirety of the festival, and we eat, drink, read, study and relax in it just as we would our own home.

But perhaps the most salient characteristic of the mitzva of suka is the fact that it is unlike any other in its encompassing nature. Other mitzvot are performed with a particular limb of the body pertaining to that mitzva, such as tefilin, which are placed on the arm and head. The mitzva of suka, however, totally envelops the person and is done with the entire body. The very same activities that were done in the house a week previously are elevated when done in the suka.

Our Sages said that a person who has no home "is not a person"; that is, he is not complete and whole without a place to live. The home affects the person not only when he is in it, but also when he is out in the marketplace and doing business as well. During the holiday of Sukot, our home is the suka, and it is through the performance of the mitzva that we reach our wholeness and perfection. Therefore, even when we are not physically inside the suka we remain connected to it once we have declared it to be our primary dwelling for the duration of the festival.

Reprinted from the 2003/5764 Parashat Succos edition of L'Chaim, a weekly publication of the Lubavitch Youth Organization.