Opinion & Comment
What is a Succah For?

A succah could be used for many things. Yaakov Ovinu, for instance, built succos for his livestock. Although this is not a recommended use for a succah made for the festival, Yaakov Ovinu's animal-succah is the basis for our succos today.

The Tur writes: "And I heard from my brother the Ri . . . that the festivals were established corresponding to our Forefathers. Pesach corresponds to Avrohom . . . Shavuos corresponds to Yitzchok . . . Sukkos corresponds to Yaakov, as it is written, `And for his possessions (his livestock) he made succos'" (Bereishis 33:17; Tur Orach Chaim, Hilchos Rosh Chodesh 417).

What does this minor point about how Yaakov housed his animal possessions have to do with the festival we celebrate today?

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There are three ways to love Hashem: with all your heart, with all your life, and with all your possessions -- as we recite in the Shema. Yaakov Ovinu's greatness was in the third way. Uvechol me'odecho, "with all your possessions." For Yaakov Ovinu crossed back over the Yabbok River in order to retrieve little jars (Bereishis 32:25, Rashi ad loc). And Chazal see from this incident that his possessions were more precious to him than was his life (Chulin 91a).

Why did he care so much about the jars? Because "with all your possessions" was Yaakov's unique way of serving Hashem (Tzidkas Hatzaddik by R. Tzodok HaKohen of Lublin, sec. 199). And he shows us how to do it today, through the festival of Sukkos.

A Parable

R. Simcha Zissel, the Alter of Kelm, explains this with a parable. Soldiers may take with them only one change of clothing when they enter a battle zone, so their packs will be light and they will be able to move freely. For this reason soldiers are very concerned about their garments. They don't want them to get ripped and ruined. When in war they cannot easily attain a new article of clothing.

Thus tzaddikim, who are engaged in battle with the yetzer hora, care deeply about their possessions. They take from this world only what they need to serve Hashem. They "travel light," so they take care of their every object. For if something happens to it, this will really impede them in their Divine service until they can replace the missing item.

HaRav Mattisyahu Solomon, Mashgiach Yeshivas Lakewood, adds depth to this matter of the tzaddikim's special concern with their possessions. He also tells a parable.

"There was once a very poor man. He longed to keep the mitzvos properly. But he had nothing; not even a cup fitting for netilas yodayim. One night he dreamed that Hashem saw his poverty and, since he longed so much to do the mitzvos, Heaven decided to grant him a cup and bowl for netilas yodayim.

"As he dreamed, so it was. In the morning he found a cup and bowl for netilas yodayim next to his bed. He was overjoyed.

"As time passed, the poor man became rich. He had a house filled with expensive furniture and fine silver pieces. He decided to move to a new residence and hired workers to move all his possessions. They transferred everything. The job was finished and the workers came to be paid.

"Then the man starting looking all around the house. He yelled at them, saying: `I am missing a very important item. Why did you leave it behind?'

"The workers answered that they had taken all the furniture and all the various objects out of the old house, and nothing was missing.

"But the man went back to his old home and searched for a long time until at last he walked out of the house with the missing object in his hands. It was something very simple and cheap.

"The workers were quite surprised. `This is what you made such a big fuss about? You are really rich. What do you care about that lousey thing?'

"The man answered them: `You do not know how important this object is. I received it straight from Heaven. That is why I care more about it than about anything else.'"

HaRav Solomon explains that this idea was originally expressed by the Arizal: "Their possessions are precious to them [the tzaddikim] because they are bestowed upon them from Above. So it is improper to treat possessions lightly. If a person had no need for them, the Holy One blessed be He would not have given them to him . . . . So Yaakov went back, to show that they were precious to him" (Likutei Torah, R. Chaim Vital, Bereishis 32:25).

The tzaddikim care so much about their possessions precisely because they realize that possessions have no intrinsic value at all. They are merely the implements with which to worship Hashem, and are bestowed personally by the Holy One, blessed be He, for that express purpose. The wicked, whose whole lives consist of material pleasures and attainments, see no great significance in them. Their possessions are as meaningless to them as are their lives.

Expressing the proper relationship to possessions, an odom godol once said: "A Jew should have a lot of money in his pocket. But in his heart, not even a penny."

This is a fine point. So much so that when Yaakov Ovinu went back for the jars, Eisov's guardian angel decided that it was time to test him whether his trait of loving G-d "with all your possessions" was really 100 percent pure.

HaRav Solomon continues: "When the guardian angel of Eisov saw Yaakov returning for the little jars, and that this showed how precious his possessions were to him, he wanted to seduce him. Perhaps he is connected to this world more than what he needs to be for his Olom Habo? Then he would be able to overcome him, for Yaakov would in that case be stealing from Eisov's portion [since Yaakov had agreed to give Eisov this world, as is written in Tanna Devei Eliyohu Zuta 19].

"When the angel realized that all of Yaakov's care about possessions stemmed from the pure approach of the tzaddikim whose possessions are more precious to them than are their lives, `he saw that he cannot overcome him.' Instead, `he struck the socket of his thigh.' This means that the angel affected the coming generations so that they would be influenced by the hashkofoh of the wicked Eisov: to grab the things of this world for the sake of this world. And when they do that, he will be able to overcome them! But as long as the descendants of Yaakov go in the way of their forefather, and utilize the good of this world which Hashem bestows upon them only for the preparation for Olom Habbo, Eisov's hand is powerless and he cannot overcome them at all.

"Yaakov understood all this through his struggle with Eisov's guardian angel, and through his subsequent debate with Eisov himself during which Eisov declared: `I have plenty,' which Rashi explains as `I have much more than I need'-- showing the typical disdain of the wicked for their possessions. Then Yaakov was very concerned about the generations that would come after him, that they should know the danger that awaits them.

"This was Yaakov's intention when, immediately after parting with Eisov and coming to a place of rest, he established the principle by which his descendants will live forever. This is what is written in the Torah: `And Yaakov traveled to Sukkos and built himself a house. And for his mikneh (his animal possessions), he made succos. Therefore he called the name of the place "Sukkos" . . .'"

HaRav Solomon cites the Targum Yonoson which translates `built himself a house" as "built himself a beis medrash." He then writes, in the name of the meforshim, "Yaakov Ovinu wanted to show that for setting up a beis midrash, one builds a complete house. For this is the essence of our lives.

"But for his livestock, which are his possessions and his business, one makes only a temporary dwelling, that is, succos. And Yaakov firmly fixed this lesson by calling the name of the place `Sukkos,' thus saying that the possessions of this world have no permanent place in our lives. We should not run after them at all. We should only take what we need for our Olom Habbo. All of this was to save his descendants from the influence of Eisov, lest they be lured by the yetzer of this world.

"The essence of the festival of Sukkos is to teach Israel that their permanent place in life is the Torah. Hashem says to us, `Go out from your permanent dwelling, and live in a temporary dwelling'-- so we will understand well that this world is only temporary. Is this not the very same form of Divine service that Yaakov performed, when he made succos for his livestock? (Matnas Chaim, Mo'adim, pp. 29-34).

By rating his possessions as secondary, by putting them outside under temporary roofing, Yaakov Ovinu thereby elevated them to eternity. They entered the succah. Such possessions are surely precious.

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This idea blends beautifully into the feeling of hashgochas Hashem that surrounds us in the succah. R. Isaac Sher zt"l wrote: "There is a disagreement among the Sages about what type of succah our forefathers dwelt in when they left Egypt (Succah 11b). R. Eliezer says that the succos mentioned in the verse are the Clouds of Glory that surrounded them and sheltered them in the wilderness. R. Akiva explains them as actual succos, which protected them from hot winds and sun. This is what we are to be thinking of when we fulfill the mitzvah of succah.

"But today I was thinking about it more deeply, and I had the feeling that R. Akiva's explanation is more inspiring to the heart than is the explanation of R. Eliezer. For the Clouds of Glory, although they were very lofty and contained deep secrets, were not given on an individual basis to each and every Jew. They were for the community as a whole, since all together they constituted Hashem's am seguloh. Each individual benefited from them by virtue of the community. He was sustained, so to speak, from the "community fund" -- since they merited as a people to have the Clouds of Glory.

"But R. Akiva came and taught us that the Holy One blessed be He brought Israel to dwell in actual succos in the wilderness. This means that every individual set up for himself and his family a separate succah of wood. This demonstrates Hashem's love for each and every Jew. For this way, each member of the people saw the miracles and wonders that Heaven was bestowing upon him individually, with hashgocho protis.

"He saw how he was provided with everything he needed to erect his succah in the wilderness: wood, tools, etc. He had everything he required to build it himself according to his own personally designed plan. He was enabled to set it up in its place so it will provide shelter and protection from the searing heat of the great desert . . . Through this, each individual Jew saw how Hashem was taking personal care of him, in a way both lofty and unique . . ." (Leket Sichos Mussar 2, pp. 133-134).

Hashem provides every Jew with his own precious succah, the whole year round.

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