בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶך הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
בְּרוּךֶ אַתֶה חֲוָיָה שְׁכִינּוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדַשְׁתַנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתֶיהֶ וְצִוְתָנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָהּ אֱלֹהָתֵינוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קֵרְבָתְנוּ לַעֲבוֹדָתָהּ וְצִוְתָנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
Blessings for learning and studying Torah
Berakhot 11b:
Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu la’asok b’divrei Torah
Nonbinary Hebrew Project:
B’rucheh ateh Khavayah Shekhinu ruach ha’olam asher kidash’tanu b’mitzvotei’he v’tziv’tanu la’asok b’divrei Torah
Feminine God Language:
Brukhah at Ya Elohateinu ruach ha’olam asher keir’vat’nu la’avodatah v’tziv’tavnu la’asok b’divrei Torah
הָנִיחָא לְמַאן דְּאָמַר עַנְנֵי כָבוֹד הָיוּ. אֶלָּא לְמַאן דְּאָמַר סוּכּוֹת מַמָּשׁ עָשׂוּ לָהֶם, מַאי אִיכָּא לְמֵימַר? דְּתַנְיָא: ״כִּי בַסּוּכּוֹת הוֹשַׁבְתִּי אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל״, עַנְנֵי כָבוֹד הָיוּ, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: סוּכּוֹת מַמָּשׁ עָשׂוּ לָהֶם. הָנִיחָא לְרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא, אֶלָּא לְרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר מַאי אִיכָּא לְמֵימַר?
The Gemara asks: This works out well according to the one who said that the sukkot mentioned in the verse: “I made the children of Israel to reside in sukkot” (Leviticus 23:43), were clouds of glory, as it is reasonable that the roofing of the sukka is modeled after clouds. However, according to the one who said that the children of Israel established for themselves actual sukkot in the desert, and the sukkot of today commemorate those, what can be said? According to that opinion, there is no connection between a sukka and a cloud. As it is taught in a baraita that the verse states: “I made the children of Israel to reside in sukkot”; these booths were clouds of glory, this is the statement of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Eliezer says: They established for themselves actual sukkot. This works out well according to Rabbi Akiva; however, according to Rabbi Eliezer what can be said?
Prof. Rabbi Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, "The Sukkah and Its Symbolism,"
https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-sukkah-and-its-symbolism
In R. Eliezer’s view the Israelites dwelled in real sukkot when they came forth from Egypt, and the annual ritual observance reenacts this dimension of the Exodus. For R. Akiba, the Israelites did not build and live in booths made of wood and vegetation. Rather they resided in booths formed of the supernatural “clouds of glory,” and the ritual observance today commemorates, but does not reenact, this dimension of the Exodus. The sukkot we construct and inhabit symbolize the very different kind of sukkah that sheltered our ancestors in the desert.
dark thunderheads, dense clouds of the sky
were His pavilion round about Him.
Michael Strassfeld, "The Jewish Holidays," pg. 125
Like the other pilgrimage festivals, Sukkot also has an agricultural element. It marks the time of the harvest, of the final ingathering of produce before the oncoming winter. Hence, it is also called hag-ha-asif - the festival of ingathering. As it is written: "You shall celebrate the festival of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field" (Exod. 23:16). Some scholars maintain that the practice of living in huts comes from this agricultural background rather than from the wandering in the desert. During harvests, the workers would live in temporary huts in the fields. These scholars argue that our sukkot with their leafy roofs bear a greater resemblance to these harvesters' huts than to the dwellings of desert nomads.
(א) לוּלָב וַעֲרָבָה, שִׁשָּׁה וְשִׁבְעָה. הַהַלֵּל וְהַשִּׂמְחָה, שְׁמֹנָה. סֻכָּה וְנִסּוּךְ הַמַּיִם, שִׁבְעָה. וְהֶחָלִיל, חֲמִשָּׁה וְשִׁשָּׁה:
(1) The [shaking of the] lulav and the [ritual of the] willow [branches were each done, at times] on six [days of the festival], and [at times] on seven. The [recitation of the] Hallel, and the simchah [the obligation to bring Shelamim sacrifices to the Temple as part of the rejoicing on the three pilgrimage festivals] were each done on eight [days]. The [dwelling in the] sukkah, and the water libations [were each done] on seven [days]. And the flute [was played, at times] on five, and [at times] on six.
(ב) בְּאַרְבָּעָה פְרָקִים הָעוֹלָם נִדּוֹן, בְּפֶסַח עַל הַתְּבוּאָה, בַּעֲצֶרֶת עַל פֵּרוֹת הָאִילָן, בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה כָּל בָּאֵי הָעוֹלָם עוֹבְרִין לְפָנָיו כִּבְנֵי מָרוֹן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים לג) הַיּוֹצֵר יַחַד לִבָּם, הַמֵּבִין אֶל כָּל מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם. וּבֶחָג נִדּוֹנִין עַל הַמָּיִם:
(2) At four times the world is judged: On Pesach, for the crops. On Shavuot, for the fruits of the tree. On Rosh Hashnah, all the world passes before Him like sheep, as it says, "He that fashioneth the hearts of them all, that considereth all their doings." (Psalms 33:15) And on Sukkot, they are judged for the water.
בליל הושענא רבא חותמין ולכך נקרא בצאת השנה ושמיני גוזרין על הגשמים במה יתפרנסו החיים וכן אחר רפאנו ברכת השנים במה יתפרנס וזהו שנאמר (תהלים לג יט) להציל ממות נפשם ולחיותם ברעב:
On the night of Hoshana Rabba judgment is sealed, and it is therefore referred to as the end of the year; and on Shmini Atzeret judgment for the rains of the year is sealed, about how much a person's fields would produce, and this is why after the blessing of healing is the blessing for the year which contains within it a prayer for financial sustenance, as the Psalm says, "To save their souls from death, and to sustain them from famine.
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat "A Poem for Hoshana Rabbah,"
https://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/hoshanah-rabbah/
My footsteps across
this patch of earth's scalp
release the scent of thyme.
Even in the rain
the squirrels have been busy
denuding the corncobs.
The wind has dangled
my autumn garlands. I untangle
them one last time.
Every day the sukkah becomes
more a sketch of itself.
The canvas walls dip
and drape, the cornstalks
wither, revealing more
of the variegated sky.
Today we ask God to save
this ark and all that it holds.
Today the penultimate taste
of honey on our bread.
Today we beat willow branches
until the leaves fall.
The end of this long walk
through fasts and feasts:
we're footsore, hearts weary
from pumping emotion. We yearn
to burrow into the soil
and close our eyes. We won't know
what's been planted in us
until the sting of horseradish
pulls us forth into freedom.