What does the Sukkah Represent?

Many of us are currently constructing the temporary huts known as sukkot in preparation for the holiday known as Sukkot — or at least planning on mooching off ones other people have built.

But why are we instructed to to construct them at all? The Torah tells us it's in commemoration of the sukkot we dwelled in on our way from Egypt to the Land of Israel. There's one problem though:

In the four books of the Torah that describe the Israelites wandering in the desert, there is not one other verse that mentions them living in sukkot. (We thought about making a count of the number of times the books mention Israelites living in tents, but it would take too long. Trust us. It's a lot of times.)

The Gemara, edited and compiled around 500 CE, records a disagreement on the nature of just what the actual sukkot in the desert were:

If you find this hard to parse, then you're not alone. This excerpt is made up of three different layers:

1. The narration and framing. This is the latest layer, added to clarify the flow of the argument in the text. Here, the original discussion was about how a sukkah may be like a cloud in certain aspects. Earlier on, the text concluded that the sukkah was indeed like a cloud. The narration (or Stamma) goes on to say that if the sukkah is like a cloud, that works out for the rabbis who argue that the sukkot are meant to commemorate divine clouds anyways! But what about the rabbis who argue that the sukkot are meant to commemorate literal booths? Why should these structures be like clouds?

2. The Tannaitic statement, or beraita: A beraita (plural: beraitot) is a Mishnaic or Tannaitic era quotation from around 200 CE that is incorporated into the Gemara. It reflects early authoritative opinions and dialogues often, but not always, didn't make it into the Mishnah, but were included in other texts from the same era. In our case, the beraita is the argument between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva, and is found in a text called the Sifra (see below). Rabbi Eliezer argues that the sukkot are metaphorical, representing the divine clouds that sheltered and guided the Israelites in the desert. Rabbi Akiva maintains that they represent actual booths that the Israelites lived in.

3. The biblical source text: Biblical verses are quoted all over the Talmud (see our link explorer for a visually stunning graphic rendition) as proof texts and sources for discussion. The biblical verse in our excerpt is embedded in the beraita itself.

As a general note - this excerpt is based off Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz's translation of the Gemara. The words in bold are in the Gemara itself. The unbolded words are added to make the text easier to understand, but do not change the meaning of the text.

Let's see this same text repeated below with some color coding. Yellow for the Stamma, blue for the beraita, and purple for the biblical verse:

As we said above, the beraita appeared in another source, the Sifra. The Sifra is a work of halakhic midrash on Leviticus, which means it goes through Leviticus verse by verse to comment on the biblical laws and provide interpretations for and creative spins on Rabbinic laws. Here's the excerpt in question:

You may have noticed something interesting: When the quote was taken from the Sifra and brought into the Gemara, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Eliezer switched positions. In fact, there are many places in the Gemara the narrator says two different rabbis give two different arguments, but doesn't bother to tell us who said what! It's not so important who argues which positions, so much as both positions exist.

So now we have two live arguments and in neither of our excerpts did we come to any conclusion. Is the sukkah commemorating the literal booths the Israelites lived in in the desert? Or the divine clouds that sheltered them?

Obviously, it's probably both!

But what's the point of remembering what it was like to live in booths? What's the point of remembering being sheltered by God's cloud? Do we really need both? Why not just pick one?

Let's discuss what each of them really represent.

The "sukkah mamash," the real, literal booth, is a temporary dwelling. It doesn't have four walls or a fully covered roof. It is easily taken down and easily put back up, good for travel. It doesn't offer true shelter or security and anyone who has spent the holiday in a sukkah knows its inconveniences well.

When you dwells in a sukkah, you're subject to nature's whims. At it's base, to spend time in a literal sukkah is to embrace your own vulnerability. It's to reject the fallacy that you have full control and learn to live in flexibility and fluidity.

The cloud on the other hand...

If the sukkah is a rejection of shelter, the Divine cloud is the ultimate shelter. The Israelites were safe in the wilderness, a place where they should have been most vulnerable, because they were under the direct protection of God. God's cloud shielded them from the elements in a way a sukkah never could and defended them from enemies when sukkot are easily destroyed.

So for the true meaning of Sukkot to be clear, we need both Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Eliezer (or is that Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva?). Sukkot is not just about vulnerability. And it's not just about protection.

It's about a recognition that as human beings we don't always have the power to be in complete control. But that if we surrender our need to be in control, there maybe someone else out there taking care of us.

So relax. Let go a little and revel in your insecurity! It's zeman simchatenu, the time of our joy! A little vulnerability can be a beautiful thing.