Tonight we begin the Festival of Sukkot by leaving the comfort of our homes and going out to eat and sleep in the Sukkah for the next 7 days. The commentators point out that the commandment to observe Sukkot is described as being at the "time of gathering the harvest". This was generally a very happy occasion in an agriculture based economy, in our times it might be comparable to getting "the year end bonus". It is time when a person sees the fruits of all of their work and can bask in the prosperity that they have enjoyed. Naturally though this is a time when people are more prone to haughtiness and a feeling that they have accomplished so much.

It is precisely at this time that Hashem commands us to leave our houses of comfort to go out to a temporary housing which exposes us to the elements. We leave our house and enter "G-d's House" so to speak. It helps us realign our perspective and realize that all of the prosperity that we have is really only because of G-d's Blessing. The commandment is worded with the language that "every resident" should dwell in the sukkah. The Kli Yakar points out that the word "resident" is in contrast to a "foreigner", it is precisely because we begin to feel and act like residents in this physical world that we must go out and see the true reality. A reality in which we see our physical world and pleasures as fleeting and temporary symbolized by the temporary housing we enter. We then can understand that our true purpose here is for a much greater cause. Everytime we enter the sukkah we should stop just for a moment and think that we are really only foreigners in this physical world.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!

Heath