The Sukkah: A Prime Location of Joy

The holiday of Sukkot has the unique power of Joy. The Bible repeats THREE times the special connection this holiday has with joy. Over the holiday, the people enjoyed the grains and fruits harvested and the atonement received over the holiday of Yom Kippur.

The holy book of Mysticism, the Zohar, says that when entering a Sukkah, we sit under God’s shadow. In Hebrew, the word “Sukkah” has a numerical value of 91, and the two names of God that describe God’s attribute of mercy are also equal to 91. The Holy Baal Shem Tov says when a person spends time in a Sukkah, he is refined and draws a Godly light, similar to when immersed in a Mikvah, a ritual bath.

“Strength and joy are in the place of God.” There is complete joy where there is God’s perfection, clarity, and fullness. When one sits in a Sukkah, “God’s right hand embraces [him].” Just as a person embraces his friend out of great love, in a Sukkah, the four walls, which correspond to the four letters of God’s name, and the roof, God’s shadow, surround the person from every side with holiness and closeness to God.

Once, a student of the Tzemach Tzedek wrote to tell him that he (the student) had difficulty feeling joy. The Rebbe responded, “Your thoughts, speech, and actions greatly influence your behavior. Therefore, one must think only thoughts that evoke happiness, refrain from speaking about the negative and gloomy things, and behave joyfully even if one feels he is not up to it.”

The Baal Shem Tov taught that worry and sadness are the sources of all negative energy. One cannot truly serve God without joy. The evil inclination tries to find excuses to make a person sad.

The main goal in getting a person to succumb to temptation is not so much the sin, as the guilt and sadness afterward. Once we identify this strategy of the evil inclination, we can learn to ignore its malicious efforts. Even when one fails, he can always learn from the experience and get back up again, whereas being sad is a prescription for further failure.

By focusing on all the good in our lives, we can more easily be joyous. Every morning when we wake up, right from the start of the day, we should realize that God has faith in us and has given us another day and another chance.

The Talmud says if a person worries in his heart, he should “suppress it.” The word “suppress” in Hebrew can also be interpreted in two other ways: potent techniques for getting rid of worrying thoughts. One possible reading is to divert the mind away from worrying thoughts by focusing on more positive thoughts i.e., on the solution rather than the problem. A second interpretation is to speak things over with a trusted friend.

Once, after Yom Kippur, the Baal Shem Tov made every effort to accomplish a particular spiritual outcome but was unsuccessful. The students, happy the fasting was over, broke out in a dance, and the desired objective of their teacher was realized. The Baal Shem Tov said, “What I could not bring about through my prayers and deep concentration, the students were able to accomplish with the power of Simcha — joy.”

The great Rabbis taught that even if it takes pointless activities to spark the engine of joy, as long as we are far from frivolity, this might often break the ice and eventually lend itself to a deeper and more meaningful joy.

Enter the Sukkah and allow God to embrace you. Feel the Godly energy envelop you and come into your life. In the Sukkah, under the shadow of God — Joy and strength are in His presence.

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Chapter 208 www.aspiritualsoulbook.com