The Booth of Glory

There’s a debate in the Talmud (Sukkah 11b) as to exactly what our Sukkot commemorate. 

The Torah says:

“You shall dwell in Sukkot for a seven day period; every native in Israel shall dwell in Sukkot. So that your generations will know that I caused the Children of Israel to dwell in Sukkot when I took them out from the land of Egypt; I am Hashem, your God.”

 (Leviticus 23) 

The literal translation of the word ‘Sukkot’ appears to be ‘booths’.

Indeed, one of the opinions in the Gemara is that the Sukkot being referred to in the verse are ״סוכות ממש״/“literal booths” that the Israelites built for themselves. The other opinion in the Gemara, which is also brought by Rashi, is that it’s referring to the ענני הכבוד — the Clouds of Glory. 

In Kabbalah we often say that there are no disagreements, just different ways of expressing the same thing. Perhaps we can apply that same concept here. 

The Clouds of Glory represent God’s imminent and divine protection over us, yet according to one opinion in the Gemara here we are representing it with a man assembled booth? Is this some sort of sad commemoration attempt? Or are we saying that in our very own man made Sukkah we are experiencing the divine! Indeed, God surrounds us and protects us all year round. Whether in the holy or in the mundane, whether in the light or in the dark, whether we sense it or not, God is there. But at this particularly auspicious time of feeling His presence we leave our everyday house to which we’ve become so accustomed that we don’t even notice it anymore, and we move out into the Sukkah in order to sense it anew. What a blessing it is to have a home to live in! What an incredible gift it is to feel safe. And who do we have to thank for these if not Hashem.

Now let’s look at the other opinion in the Gemara for a second. That we are commemorating literal booths which the Israelites built in the desert. Look again at the verse in the Torah though:

“So that your generations will know that I caused the Children of Israel to dwell in booths when I took them from the land of Egypt; I am Hashem your God.”

Yes, we are commemorating literal booths, according to this opinion. But it is in those literal booths, that we see the protection of God!

Our job in this world is to unite heaven and earth. Whether we are bringing Heaven down or Earth up is really one and the same. (The חיצוניות of the עליון becomes the פנימיות of the תחתון.)

Indeed, both opinions agree that the סכך, the roof of the Sukkah, has to derive from things which have "grown from the ground", such as palm leaves, bamboo sticks and tree branches. We take that which comes from the ground and we lift it up, putting it above our heads. We take the mundane, and we make it holy. And in so doing we create a Sukkah! In so doing we take that which is holy, and bring it down to earth.

Chag Sameach!