Question:

Why do we celebrate Sukkos immediately after the High Holydays? Is there a connection between Yom Kippur and eating in an outdoor hut for a week?

Answer: 

The first thing we do in the new year is make resolutions. The second thing we do is break them. At a moment of inspiration we promise to curb our temper, become more generous, speak to G-d more or quit a bad habit, but soon after we go back to our old ways as if nothing happened. Often a sincere resolution is forgotten as quickly as it was made.

The reason: compartmentalisation. Our personalities are divided. One part of us truly wants to improve and grow, while other parts of us are lazy and complacent. My mind tells me one thing but my heart feels otherwise. My soul has good intentions but my body comes in the way. The resolution is being made by my higher self; it is being broken by my lower self.

The solution: enter a Sukkah. We sit in the Sukkah with our entire being - our body and our soul, our heart and our mind, our lowly side as well as our lofty side. It is one of the only mitzvas that we do with our whole person. On Yom Kippur we neglect our body to allow the soul's tru enature to shine forth; on Sukkos we invite our body to join in on the inspiration. Then the resolutions of the soul are implemented by the body.

The Sukkah experience is one of wholesomeness. By bringing our whole self into a holy space, our resolve from Yom Kippur can be translated into reality. Don't miss out on this festival, the one that brings the High Holydays down to earth.

 

~ Rabbi Aron Moss

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