(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.
Learning from Leviticus (Source #1):
A} How many days do we celebrate Sukkot?
B} What other holiday is it connected to?
C} What is the reason for Sukkot?
(יד) שָׁלֹשׁ רְגָלִים תָּחֹג לִי בַּשָּׁנָה. (טו) אֶת חַג הַמַּצּוֹת תִּשְׁמֹר שִׁבְעַת יָמִים תֹּאכַל מַצּוֹת ... וְלֹא יֵרָאוּ פָנַי רֵיקָם. (טז) וְחַג הַקָּצִיר בִּכּוּרֵי מַעֲשֶׂיךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּזְרַע בַּשָּׂדֶה וְחַג הָאָסִף בְּצֵאת הַשָּׁנָה בְּאָסְפְּךָ אֶת מַעֲשֶׂיךָ מִן הַשָּׂדֶה.
(14) "Three times you shall have a holiday for Me. (15) The feast of unleavened bread (matzah); seven days you shall eat unleavened bread ... none shall appear before Me empty; (16) and the feast of the harvest, the first-fruits of your labor, which you planted in the field; and the feast of gathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labor out of the field.
Expounding on Exodus (Source #2)
A} Sukkot is the third holiday mentioned. How is it related to the other holidays?
B} What is the reason for Sukkot?
How's of a Sukkah
A sukkah must have at least three walls. The walls of the sukkah can be made out of anything: canvas, wood, bricks, even metal or stone. They may even be a permanent structure, such as the side wall of a house.
Certain rules about the roof of a sukkah:
- it must be made out of something which grew from the ground.
- the material it is made from must no longer be connected to the ground.
- it must be possible to see at least 3 stars in the night sky through the sukkah roof.
בפסוק למען ידעו כו' כי בסוכות הושבתי כו'. ופסוק זכרתי לך חסד נעוריך כו'. כלל הענין כי בניסן הוציאנו יי ממצרים והי' בחסד יי בלבד כמ"ש את ערום וערי' כו'. אכן הקב"ה רצה שיהי' זה החסד ע"י זכות מעש"ט של בני ישראל כדי שיתקיים לעד. וכ"כ ולך יי החסד כי אתה תשלם לאיש כמעשהו. פי' שהקב"ה מסבב בחסדו שהאדם בעצמו יזכה לזה החסד במעשיו כי הכל מסיבת כל הסיבות. וזהו הי' אח"כ במה שנסעו בנ"י למדבר וזכו לענני הכבוד פי' זה שזכו במעשה עצמם זה מסיר הקטרוג מן בנ"י. ומאן דאכיל דלאו דילי' בהית כו' אבל הזוכה במעשיו הוא מתכבד ועמ"ש לקמן מזה. והנה זה הענין מתגלה גם בכל שנה. בפסח יציאת מצרים בחסד יי. ואח"כ בר"ה נידון האדם אם תיקן מעשיו ע"י החסד. כי כל חסדי יי הם כדי שיתקן האדם מעשיו ע"י החסד וכשזוכה בדין נמצא נשלם החסד גם עפ"י מדת הדין. וזהו החסד של חג הסוכות שהוא החסד הבא עפ"י דין. וכל זה נעשה לאבותינו. וז"ש זכרתי לך חסד נעוריך. פי' שעשה הקב"ה להיות נזכר החסד לדורות ע"י שהי' עפ"י מעשיהם הטובים של ישראל. וזכירה הוא בדין פי' שחסד רק לשעה זולת מי שזוכה להחסד עפ"י דין מתקיים לעולם [וזהו חסדי דוד הנאמנים]. וז"ש כי בסוכות הושבתי שאף שסוכות ג"כ זכר ליציאת מצרים אך הוא זכר להחסד שנעשה עפ"י זכות בנ"י כו'. ובזה מיושב קושיות הטור:
In the verse (Lev. 23:43), "In order that [your future generations] may learn that I made [the Israelites] live in sukkot," and the verse (Jer. 2:2), "I remembered to your favor the lovingkindness [hesed] of your youth [... How you followed Me in the wilderness]," the general idea of the matter is that in month of Nisan the Holy One brought us out of Egypt, and it was through Hashem's lovingkindness alone, as it is written (Ezek. 16:7), "And you were naked and bare." However, God wanted that this lovingkindness be through the merit of good deeds of the Israelites, so that it would endure forever. And so it is written (Ps. 62:13), "The lovingkindness is yours, Lord, for You will repay each person according to his deeds."
The meaning is that the Holy One, blessed be, engineers through Godly lovingkindness that the person merits this lovingkindness on his own, through his or her own deeds, for everything is ultimately attributable to the Cause of all causes. And this happened afterwards in that the Israelites traveled into the wilderness and merited the clouds of glory.
... And this matter appears every year. At Pesah there is the exodus from Egypt through God's lovingkindness. And afterwards, at Rosh Hashana, a person is judged with regard to whether he has repaired his deeds the lovingkindness. For all of Hashem's lovingkindness is so that a person will repair his deeds by means of the lovingkindness. And when he merits by right, the lovingkindness winds up being repaid, even according to the criterion of justice [midat hadin]. And this is the lovingkindness of the holiday of Sukkot -- the lovingkindness that comes by right.
All of this happened to our ancestors, and this is why it says, "I remembered to your favor the lovingkindness of your youth [... How you followed Me in the wilderness]" The meaning is that the Holy One, blessed be, caused the lovingkindness to be remembered throughout the generations in that it was on account of Israel's own good deeds, and the remembering is by right. The meaning is that lovingkindness is just for a moment, except that, for one who merits that lovingkindness by right, it endures forever.
(And this is "[I will make with you an everlasting covenant,] The enduring lovingkindness promised to David.") And this why it says, "I made [the Israelites] live in sukkot," for even the sukkot are a reminder of the exodus from Egypt, but they are a reminder of the lovingkindness that was done through the merit of B'nai Yisrael, etc.
And in this way the question of the Tur [why Sukkot is observed in the Fall rather than in Nisan] is resolved.