Sukkah as Protection and Test for Seekers

כתיב למען ידעו כו'.

It is written, "so that your generations shall know..." (Vayikra 23:43).

The mitzvah of Sukkah is given "so that your generations shall know" that Hashem settled Bnei Yisrael in sukkos. The Sefas Emes will explain why this protection was needed.

כי בסוכות הושבתי כו'.

"For I caused them to dwell in sukkos..."

The verse continues that Hashem caused Bnei Yisrael to dwell in sukkos when He took them out of Mitzrayim.

דאחר יציאת מצרים היו בנ"י כברי' חדשה וקטן שנולד.

For after the Exodus from Mitzrayim, Bnei Yisrael were like a new creation and like a newborn child.

Yetzias Mitzrayim was a complete rebirth; Bnei Yisrael emerged as a brand-new being, as vulnerable and undeveloped as a newborn.

וקודם שבאו לדרך ישרה ולקבלת התורה הי' תעו במדבר כו'.

And before they came to the straight path and to the receiving of the Torah, they wandered in the wilderness.

Until they reached a settled, "straight" path and received the Torah, they were still wandering and unestablished in the desert.

ולכן היה להם רודפים כדאיתא וישמע הכנעני כו' שמע שנסתלקו ענני הכבוד וקסבר שניתן רשות להלחם.

Therefore they had pursuers, as it is brought, "And the Canaanite heard..." — he heard that the Clouds of Glory had departed and reasoned that permission had been granted to wage war.

Because they were still unsettled, enemies attacked. When the protective Ananei HaKavod (Clouds of Glory) temporarily lifted, the Canaanite king took it as a sign that he was permitted to fight them.

היינו שהיו עומדין ומצפין כל שהי' לבנ"י קצת עירבוב.

That is, the enemies stood waiting and watching for whenever Bnei Yisrael had even a slight confusion (irbuv).

The hostile forces lay in wait, ready to pounce the moment Bnei Yisrael experienced any inner disorder or weakening of focus.

כמ"ש ויבוא עמלק כו' ברפידים כל שרפו ידיהם קצת מיד נלחם עמהם.

As it is written, "And Amalek came... at Refidim" — whenever they slackened (rafu) their hands a little, immediately he warred with them.

Chazal read "Refidim" as "rafu yedeihem" (their hands grew slack in Torah). The moment Bnei Yisrael let their grip on avodah loosen even slightly, Amalek attacked.

כמ"ש חז"ל הוא סיחון הוא ערד שדומה לסייח ולערד במדבר.

As Chazal said: he is Sichon, he is Arad — for he resembles a wild colt (sayach) and a wild ass (arod) in the wilderness.

Chazal identify these enemy kings with wild desert beasts, hinting that the "pursuers" are really like the dangerous wild creatures of the wilderness.

היינו שהם החיות רעות שנמצאין במדבר כמ"ש נחש עקרב וצמאון.

That is, they are the dangerous beasts found in the wilderness, as it is written, "snake, scorpion, and thirst" (Devarim 8:15).

The enemies symbolize the perils of the spiritual "wilderness" — the snakes, scorpions, and parching thirst that threaten one before he is firmly established in avodah.

ולכן הוצרך הקב"ה להגן עליהם במקומות הללו בענני כבוד.

Therefore the Holy One needed to protect them in these places with the Clouds of Glory.

Precisely because of these dangers in the wilderness, Hashem surrounded them with the Ananei HaKavod for shelter and protection.

ואיתא [בספרים] (במד') כי בסוכות אבדו בנ"י את סיחון וארצו ע"ש פ' חקת.

And it is brought [in the seforim] (in the Midrash) that through the sukkos Bnei Yisrael destroyed Sichon and his land — see Parshas Chukas.

The protective power of the sukkos/Clouds was itself what ultimately enabled Bnei Yisrael to overcome Sichon and conquer his land.

ומסתמא כן הוא בימים הללו אחר יוכ"פ שנעשין כברי' חדשה וצריכין לקבל התורה מחדש.

And presumably it is so in these days after Yom Kippur, when we become like a new creation and need to receive the Torah anew.

The same pattern repeats every year: after Yom Kippur we are spiritually reborn and must, in effect, receive the Torah afresh — just like Bnei Yisrael after the Exodus.

וקודם שבאין לכלל ישוב יש רדיפות וצריכין הגנה.

And before we come to a settled state, there are pursuits, and we need protection.

In this fragile post-Yom Kippur rebirth, before we are firmly settled, we too face "pursuers" and require divine sheltering — which is the Sukkah.

ואח"כ יש שמחת תורה שנעשים ישרים בימים אלו כדאיתא במדרשות שבז' ימים אלו מתקנים כל מה שמתקנים בז' שבועות שבין פסח לעצרת.

And afterward there is Simchas Torah, for in these days we become "yesharim" (upright), as it is brought in the Midrashim that in these seven days we rectify all that is rectified in the seven weeks between Pesach and Atzeres.

The seven days of Sukkos accomplish the same straightening and refinement as the seven weeks of Sefirah between Pesach and Shavuos, leading to Simchas Torah, when we become "upright" and ready for the Torah.

דהתורה ניתנה אחר שבנ"י מתיישרין כדכ' ויהי בישורון מלך דרשו על משה רע"ה ועל התורה.

For the Torah is given only after Bnei Yisrael are made upright, as it is written, "And He was King in Yeshurun" — which they expounded as referring to Moshe Rabbeinu and to the Torah.

"Yeshurun" (from "yashar," upright) is the name for Bnei Yisrael when they are set straight. Only once they reach that state is the Torah — through Moshe Rabbeinu — given and "enthroned" among them.

ולכן יש שמחה בימים אלו כדכ' ולישרי לב שמחה.

Therefore there is simchah in these days, as it is written, "and to the upright of heart, gladness" (Tehillim 97:11).

Becoming "yashar" brings joy; hence the rejoicing of these days, for "simchah" belongs to the upright of heart.

ויתכן לרמוז על מצות הסוכה מ"ש ישרים דרכי ה' צדיקים ילכו בם שנמשכין אחר הקב"ה כמ"ש לכתך אחרי במדבר.

And it may be alluded to regarding the mitzvah of Sukkah, what is written, "The ways of Hashem are upright; tzaddikim walk in them" (Hoshea 14:10) — for they are drawn after the Holy One, as it is written, "your following after Me in the wilderness" (Yirmiyah 2:2).

The mitzvah of leaving one's home for the Sukkah expresses being drawn after Hashem into the "wilderness," like Bnei Yisrael's devoted following of Hashem at the Exodus. This is "walking in the upright ways of Hashem."

ופושעים יכשלו כמ"ש שלעתיד ע"י הסוכה יכשלו הרשעים.

"But transgressors will stumble in them" — as it is said that in the future, through the Sukkah the wicked will stumble.

The same verse ends that "posh'im" stumble. The Gemara relates that in the future the resha'im will fail the test of the Sukkah, while tzaddikim succeed.

כדאיתא מצוה קלה יש לי וסוכה שמה כו'.

As it is brought, "I have an easy mitzvah and its name is Sukkah..."

The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 3a) describes Hashem offering the nations the "easy" mitzvah of Sukkah as a test in the future; the resha'im abandon it.

א"כ סוכה הוא המבחין והעדות על אותן המבקשים דרך האמת.

If so, the Sukkah is the discerning test and the testimony concerning those who seek the path of truth.

The Sukkah thus serves as a touchstone that distinguishes and bears witness to who truly seeks the way of emes.

יש להם סיוע ועזר ע"י מצות הסוכה שהוא דרך ה'.

They have assistance and help through the mitzvah of Sukkah, which is the "way of Hashem."

For those who seek truth, the mitzvah of Sukkah provides real spiritual support, since it is itself "derech Hashem," the path of Hashem.

ועל היוצאים מביתם לסוכה נאמר ישמח לב מבקשי ה'.

And concerning those who go out from their houses to the Sukkah it is said, "Let the heart of those who seek Hashem rejoice" (Tehillim 105:3).

Leaving one's permanent home for the temporary Sukkah is an act of "seeking Hashem," and it brings the joy promised to those who seek Him.

ומצינו בפסוק כשנטל משה רע"ה אהלו מחוץ למחנה נאמר כל מבקש ה' יצא מחוץ למחנה ע"ש במדרש.

And we find in the verse that when Moshe Rabbeinu took his tent outside the camp, it is said, "everyone who sought Hashem would go out to outside the camp" — see the Midrash there.

When Moshe pitched his tent outside the camp (Shemos 33:7), those who "sought Hashem" went out to it. The act of going out itself defined them as seekers of Hashem.

שע"י הליכה זו נקרא מבקש ה'.

For through this going out one is called a "seeker of Hashem."

The very act of leaving the settled "camp" to go toward Hashem earns a person the title mevakesh Hashem.

וכמו כן במצות הסוכה:

And so too with the mitzvah of Sukkah.

Likewise, by leaving one's home for the Sukkah, a person enacts the same "going out toward Hashem" and is counted among those who seek Him.

Summary: After the Exodus, newly "reborn" Bnei Yisrael wandered the wilderness, beset by pursuers whenever their grip on avodah slackened, and so Hashem sheltered them in the Clouds of Glory. The same cycle recurs each year after Yom Kippur: spiritually reborn and not yet settled, we need the protection of the Sukkah, leading through the "straightening" of these seven days to the joy of Simchas Torah. The Sukkah is both Hashem's protective shade and a test that distinguishes the true seekers of Hashem — for whoever leaves his home to go out to the Sukkah is, like those who went out to Moshe's tent, called a "mevakesh Hashem."