Dvar Torah for Chag HaSukkot

Based on Likutey Halakhot, Sukkah 1

The sukkah is very holy. We are commanded to eat, drink and sleep in the sukkah as we would normally do in our homes. In part, this is to teach us that all of life's activities are to be brought into the realm of holiness.

The mishna in Tractate Sukkah (2a) rules that if a sukah measures more than than 20 amot from floor to ceiling it is not kosher. (The ceiling is the underside of the skhakh, the thatch roofing material. Twenty amot is approximately 30 feet.) The Talmud explains this ruling by first pointing out that the SKhakh is so intrinsic to the mitzvah that it gives the SuKkah its name. It then teaches that the eye does not readily perceive an object that high up. Thus, if the fundamental part of the sukkah cannot be automatically peceived by the eye, then the structure is unfit to be a sukkah. =09

The letter yud connotes two ideas. One is its numerical value, 10, the other is thought, or intellect. Reb Nosson writes that both of these concepts relate to the 20 amot limit. The two yuds, numerically add up to 20. Even more telling, the two yuds refer to two types of intellect, panimi (internal) and makif (surrounding).

The internalized intellect is that which a person already knows. The surrounding intellect is that which a person is aware of, but doesn't yet know. Thus the sukkah is teaching us a lesson in serving God: All that we know and are aware of must positively impact on all of our deeds. However, just as important is to to admit that we are limited in what we can achieve at any given time. There are ideas which are at present "too high" for us. If we try to incorporate them into our life before we are ready we invalidate our "sukkah," our service of God.

Rebbe Nachman teaches that a Jew must always strive to get closer and closer to Hashem. He must exert himself to grow spiritually and come closer to kedushah (holiness), reveal the divinity of his soul and Hashem in the world. But again, as Reb Nosson warns, one must take care not to go too high, too fast. Your "sukkah" is allowed to be only 20 amot.

agut Shabbos! Shabbat Shalom!

agut Yom-tov! Chag sameach!

(Thanks to Shlomo Lipsey for his help in preparing this dvar Torah.)