Faith Of The Rich and Poor

We dwell in our Sukkot for seven days. For seven days we leave our permanent homes for temporary ones, to fulfill G-d's command in the Torah. In doing so, we recall the sukkot in which our forefathers dwelled in the wilderness and the clouds of glory which protected them.

Reflecting on the sukkah gives us a deep insight into the meaning of trust in G-d and the extent to which man must place his security in Divine providence.

The Festival of Sukkot is also called Chag ha-Asif, the Festival of the harvest, for it comes at the very time that we have completed the harvest and our crops are gathered in.

If one has been blessed by G-d and his land has yielded its fruit bountifully; his storehouses and wine cellars are full; and satisfaction and trust fill his soul -it is at that moment that the Torah bids him to leave his home to dwell in a frail and insubstantial booth, thereby teaching him:

Neither wealth, nor possessions, nor land, are life's safeguards. It is the Almighty alone Who sustains all, those in palaces as well as those in tents and booths.

One should reflect upon the fact that all his wealth and glory came to him only from G-d's Hand, and that they will endure and remain his only as long as it is G-d's will that they do so; that the shelter of Divine providence is the only shelter under which one finds protection.

And if one's toil has not known Divine blessing and his land has not yielded its fruit; and his cellars are empty of the fruit of his trees; if he faces the approaching winter forlorn and fearful for his sustenance; then he, too, as he enters the sukkah, will find rest for his troubled soul.

He should recall how the Almighty settled our forefathers in sukkot in the wilderness; how He sustained them there, until they lacked nothing. The sukkah will teach him that Divine providence is more reliable than all wordly wealth, for it will not forsake one who trusts in G-d. The sukkah will renew his strength and courage and teach him and inspire him with joy and perseverance, even in affliction and travail.