I often find that after the first night of Sukkos, my excitement to live and eat in the sukkah already starts to fade away. Sometimes, it even becomes uncomfortable. How can I keep that first-night geshmake throughout the rest of Yom Tov?
A mitzvah which is a chov (requirement/obligation) means that one cannot sustain himself spiritually without it. It is required for his spiritual nutrition, just like bread and water are needed to live. But we all understand that if one eats only bread and water, even though he can live, he is far from being happy, content, and healthy. The same with mitzvos: if we only connect to the mitzvos that are a chov, we are only eating bread and water, not living in a blissful spiritual way.
Another example of this — one fulfills his chov to learn Torah by learning once in the morning and once in the evening, but clearly, this is the bare minimum. Anyone who wants to have a geshmake spiritual life knows that more learning is needed. So it is in every area, there is a bare minimum, and then there are additions.
The seven days of Sukkos are “Elokus concentrated.” These are seven days when one can change his whole spiritual perspective, living in Hashem’s house, where the Shechinah dwells. As the Arizal teaches, the word is the numerical value of shem havayah and shem adnus together [91]. We walk into the sukkah and enter a totally new atmosphere!
If we focus on this, that these days give us spiritual nutrition, we will be able to work a little harder to connect to the mitzvah and grab as much as we can. These days can change the entire year ahead!
This is why Sukkos lasts for seven days: a full week is a set amount of time in which one can build a real connection. It is like sheva brachos with Hashem, a time to build our relationship with Him in the most intimate way. That is why, even though it isn’t an actual chiyuv to eat in the sukkah during the rest of Yom Tov, it is still prohibited to eat outside the sukkah. That would be like a chassan who tells his kallah during sheva brachos, “Oh, today I’m going out for lunch with some friends,” or, “Today I’m going to sleep at my parents’ house.” That would be a terrible betrayal! But if he stays home with her, it wouldn’t be a betrayal for him to choose to simply not eat. The same is true of the sukkah: we are building our connection with Hashem, so let’s be excited about it. It isn’t just another item on our to-do list; it is a precious opportunity.
As the chag continues, it’s normal that our excitement will dissipate, and we will start noticing some discomfort. This is our opportunity to show Hashem true loyalty. We can refocus and say, “even if it is a little hard, I deeply want this connection. I am not ready to give up this opportunity!”
This is also like a wedding. Most guests attend just to show their faces and show respect and affection for the baal simcha, and they usually try to think of the shortest way to go in and out. But a true friend who is genuinely happy for the ba’al simcha tries to attend as much as possible and not miss a thing!
I find myself thrown off by the various aspects of Hoshana Rabba. It is still zman simchaseinu, but there is a yamim nora’im type of atmosphere in the air. And then there are the hoshanos, and so on. Why are there so many different aspects in one day, and how do I connect to it all properly?
First of all, there really are a lot of things happening on this day, and by understanding each of the avodos separately, one can gain lots of clarity. We will not go into these details now (everyone should do that on their own, using a sefer they connect to). Let’s focus on why it is that so many things come together on this day and why we tend to get thrown off.
Sukkos is made up of seven days. These days correspond to the seven sefiros, the seventh one being malchus. Malchus always corresponds to emunah, and therefore, there is a particular avodah of strengthening our emunah on this day.
Why do we say “hoshana” so many times? Isn’t it repetitive? My Rebbi, Harav Yitzchok Meir Morgenstern shlit’a, likened it to a small child in need of help. He comes to his mother and calls out, “Mommy, mommy, mommmmmyyyy,” again and again! This is what we are doing on Hoshana Rabba. On this day, the avodah isn’t with big mochin and explanations; it is with simple, steadfast emunah. We are like a baby begging his mother to help him.
Now, during the yamim nora’im, we also have this emunah, of course. We believe that Hashem does everything and we need to ask Him for help. But we also do lots of hishtadlus. There is vidui and teshuvah, a certain feeling of dealing with our own actions. On Hoshana Rabba, we go back to simple emunah with zero mochin, like a little baby crying to his mother!
This explains that lack of clarity on this day, since it is a day when we don’t use our intellect. We simply connect with Hashem since He is our father and mother. And just like a baby, when in his mother’s arms, cries and laughs all at once, so too, we are in our dear Father’s hands, so we cry and laugh together!
This also explains why some have a minhag to be awake on Hoshana Rabba, even though this often brings one to be tired or doze off during Shacharis. On Hoshana Rabba, we aren’t driven by that intellectual calculation, we are driven by the passionate desire for real, deep emunah and closeness to Hashem.
This avodah prepares us for the great yichud of Shemini Atzeres.
I know that all the seforim say that Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah are the culmination of all of the yamim nora’im, but I find it very hard to focus on this, since everything is so chaotic. One guy is singing in your ear from one side, another one is pulling you into the circle, people are fighting with the gabbai about the length of the hakafos, etc. How can I connect with the great yichud within this balagan?
The reason for these bilbulim (spiritual confusions) is that we tend to think that the great yichud is dependent on some outer action. If only I would be able to sing the song I wanted or dance to the beat I wanted, I would be able to connect with the great ohr. This is yet another myth of the yeitzer hara, who makes a big deal out of small matters in order to steal the show.
The truth is that the great light of the yichud is accessible to everyone at his level and isn’t dependent on anything — not on when you woke up, not on the guy next to you who is annoying you, not on anything!
The light of the yichud teaches us that ein od milvado; there is nothing but Hashem. He is everything, including all these things that are bothering us. The day is a mixed-up one specifically so that we should find Hashem within everything we do. We should have a takeaway from Simchas Torah that everything in our life is Hashem. Not only when we are davening or learning, but even when we are feeding or cleaning our children, we are also fully connected to Hashem.
This is why on this day we are very much dependent on things or people outside of us — the shul, the gabbai, and baal korei, etc., since our avodah is to realize that there too, everything is really Hashem.
This is also why on Shemini Atzeres we say tefillas geshem, since rain is a type of shefa that Hashem controls in a clearly independent way. The rain comes however and whenever He wants it to, even if it isn’t convenient for us. We are supposed to realize that this is everything in life — Hashem orchestrated everything the way He wants!
When this is clear to us, we will always connect to Hashem and always have a great Simchas Torah, never getting boxed in by any of the chitzoniyus!
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 100 – Sukkos.