Holy Hut

Question:

Why do we celebrate Sukkot immediately after the High Holidays?

Answer:

We have all made resolutions to become better people for the new year. But have we really changed? Whether we have promised to curb our temper, become more generous, go to Shul more often or quit a bad habit, it is much easier to say than to do. Often a sincere resolution is forgotten as quickly as it was made.

The reason for this is compartmentalization. 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 solution: enter a Sukkah. When we enter a Sukkah, we enter with our entire being -- our body and our soul, our heart and our mind. It is one of the only mitzvas that we do with our whole person.

The Sukkah experience is one of wholesomeness. And only when we bring our whole self into a holy space, our resolve from Yom Kippur can be translated into reality.