The Three Names of Sukkos

When we leave our comfortable homes and enter the fragile Sukkah that is unprotected from the elements, we demonstrate that the commitments we made on Yom Kippur were genuine and enduring. When the Jew goes against the natural order of “ingathering” and goes out with his food and other needs into the Sukkah, this is the sign that our love for G-d is complete, and that our prayers to G-d on Yom Kippur were sincere and emanated from the depths of our heart and soul.

Sukkos, Ingathering and Rejoicing

Sukkos is known by three different names in the Torah and in our liturgy. Sukkos is the name it was given because of the central Mitzvah of dwelling in the Sukkah during this Festival.

The Holiday is also known in the Torah by the name Chag Ha’asif, the Festival of Ingathering, because it was the season that all the crops that were left outside during the summer would be gathered and brought into the house.

In our liturgy, Sukkos is referred to as Zman Simchateinu, the Season of Our Rejoicing. This reason for this name is self-evident; it is the time for celebration and joy. And though all the Festivals are Festivals of Joy, nevertheless only Sukkos is designated as the Season of our Rejoicing.

When we reflect, even superficially, on these three names, we come to the conclusion that they are problematic and contradictory.

The Sukkah is the structure that reminds of the time we were housed by G-d in the desert after our Exodus from Egypt.

Joy for a “half-baked” measure?

At first glance, one could ask a rather obvious question. Imagine a person who was unjustly taken away from his home and thrown into a slave-labor camp. The liberator, who promises to take him back home, comes through for the person, but only half way. He is taken out of bondage, but is not allowed to go home.

Furthermore, the individual is taken to a desert, but provided for with huts. While the liberated slave ought to be grateful for being liberated, it is hard to imagine that he would be ecstatic and would want to commemorate that expression of gratitude by dwelling in a similar hut every year for posterity.

Why then is Sukkos designated as the Season of our Rejoicing?

If anything, Passover, when they were actually taken out of Egyptian bondage, was certainly a significant event for which erstwhile slaves would be eternally grateful. While they were not yet back home, the mere sense of freedom is exhilarating.

The Festival of Shavuos, the anniversary of the giving of the Torah, is also a major reason for celebration and joy. It was our wedding day with G-d. It was the day about which G-d says that He had chosen us and appointed us as a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” It is the day in which we experienced the most sublime spiritual feelings; it is certainly a day for rejoicing.

But to designate the Festival of Sukkos as the most joyous of the Holidays because G-d sheltered us in huts is hard to comprehend. While we should be grateful for every kindness, it hardly warrants the dramatic and unparalleled display of joy that is required on Sukkos.

The designation of Sukkos as the Festival of Ingathering and the theme of the Sukkah also seem to be diametrically opposite themes. Ingathering involves bringing things into one’s home, whereas the Sukkah involves going out of our homes into the temporary dwellings of the Sukkah.

The Wedding Canopy

Upon deeper reflection, all three names are complementary.

The joy of the Holiday of Sukkos is the ultimate joy because it is related to sitting in G-d’s home, enveloped by Him.

During Yom Kippur we reconciled with G-d after our “marriage” to Him was shattered by our worshipping of the golden calf. Moses finally procured G-d’s consent to forgive us and give us a second set of tablets in place of the ones that were shattered by Moses.

If Shavuos, the anniversary of the giving of the Torah, is a time for extreme joy, then Yom Kippur, when we reconciled with G-d and cemented our relationship with Him, the joy of reconciliation is indescribable. And this is what the Sukkah represents. It is the chupah, the wedding canopy. It is symbolic of G-d’s embrace of us, and the showering of His love on us.

But what does this have to do with the booths in which the Jews dwelt when they were in the desert?

The ultimate test and expression of G-d’s love for us was not when He saved us from Egyptian slavery and persecution. At that point, if He did not save us we would have been lost for all eternity. When G-d provided us with our basic needs after we were saved, and there was then no emergency; that was a sign of the depth of G-d’s love for us.

Moreover, G-d’s providing us with booths in the desert was at a time when we were in transit. It was a temporary situation; it was not so crucial to take care of us as much as it would become necessary when we finally reach our destination. That was the sign that G-d’s love is all pervasive.

The love that He showed us in the desert was consistent and commensurate with the giving of the second tablets on Yom Kippur. It was an expression of profound love.

Sign of Our Love for G-d

The same is true from our perspective. When we leave our comfortable homes and enter the fragile Sukkah that is unprotected from the elements, we demonstrate that the commitments we made on Yom Kippur were genuine and enduring.

There is added poignancy to our act of leaving the Sukkah considering the fact that this is precisely the time when we gather everything into our homes. The winter season is approaching and it is natural to withdraw from the outside world into the comfort and security of our homes. At this time we gather our food from the outside and bring it in our homes with us.

And precisely then, the Jew goes against the natural order of “ingathering” and goes out with his food and other needs that are usually reserved for the home. This is the sign that our love for G-d is complete, and that our prayers to G-d on Yom Kippur were sincere and emanated from the depths of our heart and soul.

Messianic Peace, Ingathering of the Exiles and Unadulterated Joy

All three names of the Festival are related to the future Redemption.

Our liturgy, based on prophetic verses, speaks of the Sukkah as a symbol of peace, and that G-d will spread His Sukkah over us in the Messianic Age. It symbolizes ultimate peace because it represents the expression of total love between G-d and us, which leads to total peace.

The name the “Festival of Ingathering” alludes to the ingathering of the exiles that will occur. As an expression of G-d’s love for us, He will return the Jews who were alienated and lost. He does not give up on anyone, and no Jew will be left behind.

The Season of our Rejoicing alludes to the Messianic Age because then, and only then, will we experience unadulterated joy, as the Psalmist says: “Then our mouths will be filled with laughter.”

Dwelling in a Sukkah, rejoicing and gathering in all the inspiration of Yom Kippur this Festival of Sukkos, will certainly be the catalyst for the true and complete Redemption.

From the book Light from the Future: Sukkos by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.