Enjoy this excerpt from a shiur given by Rabbi Reuven Brand.
Sukkah Insights From Our Special Guests for the First Three Days of Sukkot
One way to experience the Sukkah is to view the experience through the prism of the Ushpizin - the seven guests who visit us over the course of the seven days of Sukkot. There is an energy that exists in the Sukkah on each day that we can channel into our own lives and experiences. Below we have highlighted the first three: Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.
Avraham Avinu is referred to as the rosh hamaaminim, the first of those who had emunah. The idea of being an eved of Hashem and having emunah through ahava, loving Hashem and feeling connected Avraham’s Chessed fits with the mitzvah of Sukkah. The Sukkah reminds us of when we traveled in the desert and Hashem surrounded us with the ananei hakavod. It's the shade of emunah and of our connection to Hashem. We were the ones who traveled and followed Hashem into the desert, לכתך אחרי במדבר בארץ לא זרועה. The memory of the Sukkah is not just the memory of the love of Hashem that He showered upon us, but it's our love, אהבת כלולותיך. It's the love that when we first began our relationship with Hashem, the initial love of Avraham Avinu is the love that we demonstrated when we went into the desert; that's what we do when we leave our house. The Gemara tells us, צא מדירת קבע - leave your permanent fixture, and לכתך אחרי במדבר. Go out into the scary, uncomfortable, unknown; like going out into the desert. When we leave the comfort of our home, we are expressing that love and commitment that we gave to Hashem all those years back, the ahava which is rooted in Avraham Avinu, the rosh hamaaminim, the זרע אברהם אוהבי.
When we sit in the Sukkah on the first day, there is a special connection with Avraham Avinu and the love that we have for Hashem. Hashem protected us, but we were the ones who showed up for Him by following Him into the desert with our commitment of love..
Yitzchak Avinu lived a rarefied, unique spiritual existence after the akeidah. Yitzchak wasn’t able to leave Eretz Yisroel because he had the sanctity of the Beit Hamikdash and a korban, because he was brought on top of the mizbayach for the akeidah. Even though he was not slaughtered, he had the kedusha of the olah temimah.
There is a connection between Yitzchak and the kedusha of a place. Yitzchak is the olah temimah; he's קדוש בקדושת ארץ ישראל - he can't leave the land. The kedusha of the Sukkah is connected to the kedusha of Eretz Yisroel. The Vilna Gaon says that there are only two mitzvot that a person can fulfill with their entire body and be fully immersed in a mitzvah. One is dwelling in a Sukkah and the other is dwelling in Eretz Yisroel. And the same is true in the actual structure of the Sukkah.
We are connected to Hashem in the Sukkah, and it's fitting that the guest of Yitzchak, who reminds us that when we step into the Sukkah, we have inherited from him the kedusha of mikdash. When we sit in the Sukkah, we're tapping into the kedusha of Yitzchak, of Eretz Yisroel, and of kedushat Beit Hamikdash.
Yaakov Avinu is connected to the Sukkah because he built Sukkot. He was also referred to as the יושב אוהלים, because he was always traveling and moving; he wasn't stationary.
First Yaakov ran away from his brother and ended up in the house of Lavan, and then he went down to Egypt. The fact that he lived in tents and built Sukkot reminds us of the portability of our relationship with Hashem. You might think that there has to be a Bayit, a fixed house, and if you don't have that house and you live in exile and on the run, you can't feel connected to Hashem. What happens when the Beit Hamikdash is not standing and the person finds themselves in Lavan's or Paraoh's house?
Yaakov Avinu says, don't worry, you can take Hashem with you. Hashem tells Yaakov, don't worry, אנכי ארד עמך מצרימה, I'm going to go down to Egypt with you, and Yaakov takes that with him wherever he goes.
Yaakov maintained his spiritual perspective everywhere when he was in galut, even when he went to live with Lavan. When Yaakov was living with Lavan and dreamt about sheep, he immediately told his wives and children that they need to leave. He doesn’t want to dream about sheep.
ולמקנהו עשה סוכות, he built Sukkot for the cattle and the property, because that's not the ikar chayot. The ikar chayot of a person is יושב אוהלים, of sitting with Hashem. We sit in the Sukkah and let go of some of the formality of this world. There’s a mitzvah to make a nice Sukkah and bring the nicest kaylim to the Sukkah, but we don't have all of the modern conveniences of life.
We can connect to Hashem anywhere, and the main thing is connecting and leading a life which is rooted in ruchniyut, and to let go a little bit of the gashmiyut. We learn from Yaakov that we can live with Hashem anywhere in the world.
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