Dvar Torah: The Message of Sukkot As it Applies to Aliyah

From the works of Hagaon Harav Shaul Yisraeli zt”l - Drasha for Sukkot 5708 (1947)

The verse says: “All citizens in Israel shall sit in the sukkot in order that your generations shall know…” (Devarim 23: 42-43).

There is a lot to be learned from the message of the mitzva of sitting in the sukka

So what does sitting in a sukkah symbolize? There are 2 conflicting opinions. One opinion says that the sukkot we sit in symbolize the actual booths that bnei Yisroel sat in while coming to Eretz Yisroel after leaving Mitzrayim. The other opinion says that sukkot symbolizes the “clouds of glory” that accompanied bnei Yisroel in their sojourns through the desert.


It is important to connect with the two different opinions of what sukkot symbolizes at different times. When the Jewish people were sent into exile and their existence was one of a temporary, shaky dwelling, there was less need to stress that element of the sukka of being in temporary booths. Rather, the more powerful message was of Divine clouds that miraculously protected the Jewish people during its sojourns in the wilderness and the various exiles.

Having finally made it to Eretz Yisrael and encountering, not respite, but encampments, temporary dwellings, unusual eating, and a new Jewish administration, we need to remember the sukka’s second message. The sukka also recalls the physical sukkot of the time of Exodus. Bnei Yisrael of that generation did not leave Egypt and enter Eretz Yisrael without hardship or trials.

Only after dwelling in booths, after entering Eretz Yisrael and working hard to conquer and split up the Land, did Bnei Yisrael merit to receive the good and broad Land. “And plant us in our borders.”

Eretz Yisrael cannot be like another land of immigration, where people decide to stay only if they find favorable living conditions. Here we have to plant our roots. Although it isn’t easy, we will succeed with stubborn dedication. When we succeed to become acclimated in our land and build permanent houses, there is a need to stress the theme of the temporary dwelling.

We must realize that however protective our homes are from the elements, physical housing is temporary and misleading. Hashem is our true protection. Even or especially in our own home of Eretz Yisrael, we flourish because of a constant Divine Providence which abounds here (see Devarim 11:12). We will build and plant and become implanted ourselves, but we will do so with an awareness and appreciation of Hashem’s Providence and Hand.

(Source: Eretz Chemda Institute)