(לט) אַ֡ךְ בַּחֲמִשָּׁה֩ עָשָׂ֨ר י֜וֹם לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י בְּאָסְפְּכֶם֙ אֶת־תְּבוּאַ֣ת הָאָ֔רֶץ תָּחֹ֥גּוּ אֶת־חַג־יְהוָ֖ה שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֑ים בַּיּ֤וֹם הָֽרִאשׁוֹן֙ שַׁבָּת֔וֹן וּבַיּ֥וֹם הַשְּׁמִינִ֖י שַׁבָּתֽוֹן׃ (מ) וּלְקַחְתֶּ֨ם לָכֶ֜ם בַּיּ֣וֹם הָרִאשׁ֗וֹן פְּרִ֨י עֵ֤ץ הָדָר֙ כַּפֹּ֣ת תְּמָרִ֔ים וַעֲנַ֥ף עֵץ־עָבֹ֖ת וְעַרְבֵי־נָ֑חַל וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם לִפְנֵ֛י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖ם שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִֽים׃
(39) However, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Eternal seven days; on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. (40) And you shall take for yourself on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Eternal your God seven days.
(13) You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, after that you have gathered in from your threshing-floor and from you winepress. (14) And you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your man-servant, and your maid-servant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within your gates. (15) Seven days shall you keep a feast unto the Eternal your God in the place which the Eternal shall choose; because the Eternal your God shall bless your in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful. (16) Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the Eternal you God in the place which God shall choose; on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and on the Feast of Weeks, and on the Feast of Booth; and they shall not appear before the Eternal empty; (17) every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Eternal your God which God has given you.
(יב) דבר אחר: פרי עץ הדר, אלו ישראל. מה אתרוג זה, יש בו טעם ויש בו ריח. כך ישראל, יש בהם בני אדם, שיש בהם תורה, ויש בהם מעשים טובים. כפות תמרים, אלו ישראל. מה התמרה הזו, יש בו טעם ואין בו ריח. כך הם ישראל, יש בהם שיש בהם תורה ואין בהם מעשים טובים. וענף עץ עבות, אלו ישראל. מה הדס, יש בו ריח ואין בו טעם.כך ישראל, יש בהם שיש בהם מעשים טובים ואין בהם תורה. וערבי נחל, אלו ישראל. מה ערבה זו, אין בה טעם ואין בה ריח. כך הם ישראל, יש בהם בני אדם שאין בהם לא תורה ולא מעשים טובים. ומה הקב"ה עושה להם? לאבדן אי אפשר, אלא אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא יוקשרו כולם אגודה אחת, והן מכפרין אלו על אלו
(12) The four species are likened to different categories in the Jewish people. (13) The etrog, which has both taste and smell, is likened to those who study Torah and do mitzvot. (14) The palm branch, which has taste, but no smell, is likened to those who have only Torah study. (15) The myrtle, which has smell but no taste, is likened to those who have only mitzvot. (16) The willow, which has neither taste nor smell, is likened to those who are without Torah study and without mitzvot. (17) And God says "bind them all together and let them atone one for the other."......
The sages say "even though a person cannot exempt himself from his obligation of the four species on the first day of Sukkot with a borrowed lulav and etrog, he may exempt himself from his obligation of sitting in a sukkah by using his friend's sukkah. The basis for this is the verse that says "every citizen of Israel shall sit in sukkot." (Leviticus 23:42). This teaches us that all of Israel are fit to sit in one sukkah.
(מב) בַּסֻּכֹּת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים כָּל הָאֶזְרָח בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשְׁבוּ בַּסֻּכֹּת. (מג) לְמַעַן יֵדְעוּ דֹרֹתֵיכֶם כִּי בַסֻּכּוֹת הוֹשַׁבְתִּי אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּהוֹצִיאִי אוֹתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם אֲנִי יי אֱלֹהֵיכֶם.
(42) You shall live in huts for seven days; all members of Israel shall dwell in booths. (43) So that your generations may know that I made the Israelites to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Holy One your God.
The Illusion of Security?
This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared by Rabbi Alan Lew
So now we sit flush with the world, in a “house” that calls attention to the fact that it gives us no shelter. It is not really a house. It is the interrupted idea of a house, a parody of a house. According to Jewish law, this booth we must dwell in for seven days need only have closed walls on two and a half sides, and we must be able to see the stars through the organic material— the leaves and branches— that constitutes its roof. This is not a house; it is the bare outline of a house. It is like that architectural feature called the broken pediment, the notch in the roofline of the façade of a house which leaves the mind to complete the line, and thus implants the idea of a line in the mind even more forcefully than an unbroken line would. So it is that the sukkah, with its broken lines, its open roof, its walls that don’t quite surround us, calls the idea of the house to mind more forcefully than a house itself might do.
And it exposes the idea of a house as an illusion. The idea of a house is that it gives us security, shelter, haven from the storm. But no house can really offer us this. No building of wood and stone can ever afford us protection from the disorder that is always lurking all around us. No shell we put between us and the world can ever really keep us secure from it. And we know this. We never really believed in this illusion. That’s why we never felt truly secure in it.