Sukkot – We Really Have You Covered From All Sides!!

Six Mitzvot. Six Directions. Six Holidays. One Divine Space.

There are 613 mitzvot in the Torah, but among them are six constant mitzvot—commandments that can accompany us every moment of every day.

They are:

1. Know that G-d exists.
My life has a Creator, a Source and a purpose.

2. Recognize no other independent power besides G-d.
Money, success, nature and human power are never the ultimate source.

3. Know that G-d is One — Hashem Echad.
Behind all the seemingly separate pieces of existence stands one Divine reality.

4. Love G-d — Ahavat Hashem.
Judaism asks not only for obedience, but for relationship, attachment and a desire to come closer.

5. Stand in awe of G-d — Yirat Hashem.
Our choices matter because every moment is lived in the presence of the Creator.

6. Do not stray after the heart and eyes.
We need not become prisoners of every desire, temptation or impulse.

There is a beautiful way to visualize these six mitzvot: as the six directions surrounding a person—above, below, right, left, front and back.

Together they create a spiritual room, a Divine space in which a Jew can live wherever he or she goes.

This reflects one of the great teachings emphasized throughout Chassidus and by the Lubavitcher Rebbe: G-d does not want us to escape the world. He wants us to make the world His home.

In the language of Chassidus, Dirah Betachtonim—a dwelling place for G-d in this physical world.

And remarkably, we can see six great Jewish holidays expressing these same six ideas.

ABOVE: ROSH HASHANAH — KNOW G-D

Look upward.

Rosh Hashanah proclaims: Hashem Melech—G-d is King.

The universe is not an accident, and neither are we. There is Someone above us who created us and gave our lives purpose.

The Rebbe often emphasized that Rosh Hashanah is not primarily about what we want from G-d. Before asking for health, livelihood and blessing, we crown G-d as King.

Before asking, “What will this year bring me?” we ask, “What will I bring to G-d this year?”

That is our “above.”

BELOW: PASSOVER — THERE IS NO OTHER POWER

Passover gives us the ground beneath our feet.

Pharaoh believed he controlled Egypt, the Nile and the Jewish people. The Ten Plagues shattered that illusion.

Pharaoh wasn’t G-d.
The Nile wasn’t G-d.
Nature wasn’t G-d.

Pesach reminds us: Don’t build your life on false gods.

Money matters. Success matters. People matter. But none of them is the ultimate Source.

Chassidus takes this even deeper with the words Ein od milvado—there is nothing besides Him.

That doesn’t mean the world doesn’t exist. It means that nothing exists independently of Hashem.

That is solid ground to stand upon.

RIGHT: SHEMINI ATZERET — LOVE G-D

The right side represents love.

After seven days of Sukkot, our Sages picture Hashem saying to the Jewish people: “Stay with Me one more day; your departure is difficult for Me.”

That is Shemini Atzeret.

No grand spectacle. No special mitzvah like shofar or lulav.

Just Hashem and His people.

The Rebbe frequently emphasized that beneath everything else, the relationship between Hashem and every Jew is essential and unbreakable.

Sometimes we think Judaism is only about what we do for G-d.

Shemini Atzeret reminds us of something beautiful:

Hashem wants us close.

LEFT: SHAVUOT — STAND IN AWE OF G-D

The left represents reverence and awe.

At Sinai there was thunder, lightning, the sound of the shofar and a trembling mountain.

The Jewish people understood that Torah isn’t merely good advice or ancient wisdom.

We are standing before the Creator.

Yet the Rebbe emphasized another extraordinary lesson from Sinai.

G-d descended onto the mountain.

The Divine came down into this physical world.

From Sinai onward, holiness was no longer something found only in heaven. A piece of leather could become tefillin. Wool could become tzitzit. Food could become a mitzvah. Money could become tzedakah.

The purpose isn’t to run away from the world. It is to elevate it.

Love draws us close; awe reminds us Who we are approaching.

BEHIND: YOM KIPPUR — GUARD THE HEART AND EYES

Every home needs protection at the back door.

Throughout the year things quietly enter our lives—ego, jealousy, temptation, anger, resentment and unhealthy habits.

Yom Kippur allows us to stop.

For one day we step away from physical pleasures and discover:

I have desires, but my desires don’t own me.
I have made mistakes, but my mistakes don’t define me.
I can change.

Chassidus teaches that beneath all the mistakes there remains a neshamah, a Divine soul, that never loses its bond with Hashem.

That is why teshuvah is possible.

We are not creating a brand-new Jew on Yom Kippur.

We are uncovering the Jew who was there all along.

IN FRONT: SUKKOT — G-D IS ONE

And now look forward.

Life can appear to be thousands of disconnected pieces—joy and pain, success and disappointment, blessings we understand and challenges we don’t.

Sukkot says:

Keep moving forward. Behind all the pieces stands One G-d.

And this is where the Sukkah itself becomes such a powerful Chassidic lesson.

Most mitzvot involve one part of us.

Tefillin goes on the arm and head.
We light Shabbat candles with our hands.
We speak words of Torah with our mouths.

But when you enter a Sukkah, your entire body enters the mitzvah.

Your shoes are in the mitzvah!

You eat there. You drink there. You talk there. You laugh there.

The Rebbe emphasized again and again that Judaism is not supposed to occupy only one corner of life.

The entire person belongs inside holiness.

Business can be holy.
A meal can be holy.
A family conversation can be holy.
Even ordinary daily life can become a dwelling place for Hashem.

That is Dirah Betachtonim.

We don’t merely believe that G-d is One.

We walk inside His Oneness.

NOW STAND IN THE MIDDLE

Picture yourself standing in the center of this spiritual Sukkah:

Above me — Rosh Hashanah: G-d exists.

Below me — Passover: There is no independent power besides Him.

To my right — Shemini Atzeret: Love G-d.

To my left — Shavuot: Stand in awe of G-d.

Behind me — Yom Kippur: Guard my heart and eyes.

Before me — Sukkot: Hashem Echad. G-d is One.

Six mitzvot.

Six directions.

Six holidays.

And in the middle stands the Jew, surrounded by Hashem.

And perhaps this explains something remarkable.

The Sukkah itself is intentionally fragile.

The walls may shake.
The wind may blow.
The schach may move.

Yet Sukkot is specifically called Zman Simchateinu—the season of our joy.

Because Jewish security does not mean that nothing around us will ever shake.

It means that even when things shake, we know what surrounds us.

This is deeply connected to the Rebbe’s message throughout his leadership: A Jew should never underestimate the power of one mitzvah.

One candle can illuminate a dark room.
One mezuzah can sanctify a doorway.
One coin placed into a pushka can transform an ordinary moment into a mitzvah.

And one Jew, wherever he or she may be, can create a Dirah Betachtonim—a home for Hashem.

Above us, below us, beside us, behind us and before us is the presence of Hashem.

The safest place isn’t necessarily the building with the strongest walls.

The safest place is a life surrounded by G-d.

And that may be the great gift of the Six Constant Mitzvot.

They don’t simply give us six commandments.

They give us a place to live.

A spiritual Sukkah that doesn’t come down after the holiday.

A Sukkah we carry into our homes, our businesses, our relationships, our challenges and our everyday lives.

Because ultimately, the Rebbe taught us that our mission is not merely to find G-d in heaven.

Our mission is to reveal G-d right here on earth.

Six mitzvot.
Six directions.
Six holidays.
One G-d.
One Jew.
One Divine home.

Chag Sameach!