The Sukkah Is Our Reminder
On the holiday of Sukkot we have the mitzvah (commandment) to dwell in the Sukkah (a temporary structure with branches or other natural materials as a roof) for seven days. The Torah (Leviticus 23:42-43) directs us to do so, “in order that your descendants should know that I placed the children of Israel in booths when I took them out of the land of Egypt.”
When the Jews left Egypt, they traveled in the desert for forty years without any permanent residence. Additionally, they dwelled in temporary booths and tents. What is it about these booths that is so memorable that we ourselves must dwell in similar structures annually for seven consecutive days?
God Reminds Us
The Malbim explains the significance of this as follows:
“The future generations should not have their hearts swell at the time of the harvest (the time of year when Succot is observed) when they fill their homes with goods and think that this world is the main setting for their lives and their ultimate place. They should know and pay attention to the fact that God settled them in booths to raise awareness of the fact that this world is an inn, a temporary home. And so they should go out of their permanent homes to temporary homes.”
The Malbim is hereby revealing to us a great insight in understanding the lesson of the booths which the Jews dwelled in when travelling through the desert. Living in temporary structures upon becoming a free nation wasn’t a matter of practicality.
As the Jewish nation became independent and began their development to be the kind of elevated people which God intended them to be, God saw to it that a very important message should be imbedded in the nation’s consciousness. A fundamental principle in the mentality of the nation should be that this world is only a temporary residence, and therefore we must not get too carried away with acquiring material possessions.
Getting Sidetracked
Imagine a man who went away on a business trip. He had a busy schedule planned for three weeks where he was to attend conferences, make contacts and meet with investors. Upon checking in to his hotel room, he decided that he was not pleased with its appearance and he received permission to decorate it as he pleased. He hired an interior designer and got to work on giving his living quarters a new look.
Naturally, as he was busy running to stores, selecting paint colors and analyzing furniture choices, he started cancelling meetings and missing sessions. Even those which he did manage to attend were not so productive, for his mind was absorbed with his decor project.
After a couple of weeks, he was satisfied with the new look, but before long he started packing
his bags and heading home. When he came back to his office to evaluate all that he had gained from his trip, to his dismay he found very little he could use to improve the business.
Instead of focusing on his true mission for which he set out for, he got caught up in improving his temporary lodgings and neglected to properly work on the success of his permanent business…
Our Stay In This World
Similarly, life in this world is like a very short hotel stay compared to our eternal life in the Next World. In this world, and only in this world, do we have the opportunity to work on ourselves and shape the eternal future of our souls. Whatever we accomplish in this world in bringing ourselves closer to God by following the Mitzvos (commandments of God) and incorporating Torah values into our lives, will determine the level of reward which we will enjoy forever.
This message is so important that God has commanded us to go out and live in such a temporary structure annually for a full week as an exercise to ingrain this concept in our hearts. Since the world which we live in is most familiar and comfortable to us, we have a hard time thinking about life in the Next World.
Something To Keep In Mind
Without a conscious effort to keep our minds focused on our ultimate destination, we will naturally gravitate toward pursuing the physical aspects of life on this planet as if this is it. While we certainly are allowed to, and should tend to the physical aspects of our lives in this world to live pleasantly and happily, it’s about the attitude in which we do so.
When we realize how temporary this world really is, we can start asking ourselves what kind of pleasures are worth pursuing and at what price.
Just like if we were to stay in a hotel and we were not satisfied with the furnishings, we would not invest too much time, energy and money into improving them for only a short stay. So too, when we think about how short-lived the pleasures of this world are relative to our eternal lives, it will become easier to forgo attaining all that we desire in this world and focus more on our spiritual growth and accomplishments in life.
By: Rabbi Yitzchok Aryeh Strimber
Feel free to email torah4every1@gmail.com for questions or comments.
