Do we need kavana when we eat in the sukka? Sharona Halickman

(42) You shall live in sukkot (booths) seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in sukkot, (43) in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt—I, your God יהוה.

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 Eliezer. Rabbi Akiva says: They established for themselves actual sukkot.

Were clouds of glory- the sukkot that the pasuk mentions that God made them reside in when they were in the wilderness.

Actual Sukkot- to protect themselves from the hot weather while they were camping, they made sukkot.

(1) כי בסכות הושבתי THAT I MADE [THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL] ABIDE IN BOOTHS — This does not mean literally “booths” but, “the clouds of Glory" by which they were sheltered (cf. Onkelos; Sifra, Emor, Chapter 17 11; Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:35:1; Sukkah 11b).

THAT I MADE [THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL] ABIDE IN BOOTHS — Rashi brought the words of Rabbi Eliezer since the verse states that "God caused them to dwell in sukkot" which shows that it was an act done by God which would have to be “the clouds of Glory" and not man-made huts that the people could make themselves. If it was man-made huts then it would have said that they sat in them, not that God caused them to dwell in them when He took them out of Egypt.

(1) למען ידעו דורותיכם, the plain meaning of the text is in agreement with the view expressed in Sukkah 11 according to which the word סוכה is to be understood literally. The meaning of the verse then would be: “construct for yourselves the festival of huts when you gather in your grain and grape harvest (Deuteronomy 16,13) You are to do this at the time you gather in the produce of the earth and your houses are filled with all the good things the earth produces such a grain, grape, wine and oil (olives). This is to be done in order that you will remember” כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל, in the desert for a period of 40 years when they neither owned land nor found themselves in a cultivated part of the earth. Remembering all this you will have ample reason to be grateful to the One Who has provided you with all of your present wealth and comfort. You must not fall into the trap of thinking that all this success is due to your own efforts. We find a similar thought expressed in Deuteronomy 8,2-3 “you shall remember all the way which the Lord your G’d has led you for these last 40 years…and He fed you the manna, etc.” Why do I command you to do all this? For the Lord your G’d brings you to a good …and you will eat and be satisfied, etc. As a result your heart may become haughty and you will credit yourself with all this as your own achievement. (Deuteronomy 8 7-18) In order that this will not happen and to show that the Israelites G’d’s part in their success they will move out of their solid houses as a reminder to the time when they had not been blessed with any of these benefits which they enjoy ever since inheriting the land of their forefathers. They acknowledge that it is G’d Who provides the Jewish people with the ability and valor.

(1) “For a seven day period you shall live in booths...in order that your [ensuing] generations should know that I had the children of Israel live in booths when I took them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord, your God.” The verse links the commandment of building a Sukkah with the exodus from Egypt. Likewise, many other commandments are linked to the exodus since it was an event which we saw with our eyes and heard with our ears and no man can deny. The Exodus instructs us regarding the truth of the reality of the Creator, may He be uplifted: that He created everything according to His will, and He has the power and the rule and the ability, in the upper spheres and the lower spheres, to do His will. There is no being which can impose his will on Him, as He demonstrated with us when He took us out from the Land of Egypt with signs and wonders.

And the Sukkot, of which verse states He caused us to dwell in, were the Clouds of Glory which surrounded them lest they be struck by heat or the sun. And as a demonstration of these occurrences, He commanded us to make Sukkot in order that we remember His wonders and awesome deeds.

"You shall live in booths..." usually the Tur just paskens Halakha or teaches us customs and does not bring details from the Torah. Here however, he went into detail to bring the verses and explain why we sit in Sukkot. It seems to me that since it says "in order that your [ensuing] generations should know..." the mitzvah is not fulfilled properly if the person doesn't know the intent of the mitzvah of Sukkah the way that it is laid out in the Torah. Therefore, he explained according to the simple meaning of the verse that the main intent for sitting in the Sukkah should be remembering the exodus from Egypt...When one is sitting in the Sukkah, they should have kavana and focus on the reason why we observe this mitzvah.

(1) Mishnah Berurah 625:1

The Achronim wrote that one should have kavana when sitting in the sukka that God commanded us to dwell in the sukka to remember the exodus from Egypt as well as to remember the clouds of glory that protected them from the heat and the sun. If one just had intent to fulfill the mitzvah of sitting in the sukka, they would bedieved still fulfill the mitzvah.

(4) There are those who hold that the commandments do not require intention, and there are those who hold that they do need intention in order to fulfill the doing of that commandment - and such [i.e. the latter] is the [correct] halacha.