Sukka Thoughts, Questions, and Insights

Thoughts/Themes from מס' סוכה

- The concept of ישועה recurring often-- the לולב is called הושענא , הושענא רבא, אני ו-הו הושיעא נא.

Particularly interesting to note is that we’re asking for ישועה not celebrating it. Why would people living during the times of the beit hamikdash have a need for ישועה? From what? The same question applies to many of the 15 שיר המעלות that were said on the steps of the ezrat nashim? Why in the world would the leviim be saying tehillim 121 and 130, for example, while standing on the steps of the ezrat nashim?

-Sukkos being a time of ending-- end of the regalim, end of annual life before entering into the winter, Sukka being representative of ביטול יצ"ר which is at the end of time.

- the seemingly integral relationship of מים and יין-- possibly k’neged שמחה and ששון.
יין ישמח לבב אנוש...... ושאבתם מים בששון ממעיני הישועה

- the torah’s referring to the לולב and הדס in terms of their level of constriction לולב-naturally loose but requires כפות and then הדס -naturally bonded and braided.

(Possibly ערבות also share in this similarity of characterization-- they must be like the נחל ,smooth and fluid without any constriction at all. (maybe))

- the polarization of ערבה and אתרוג--

1) the midrash of types of jews,
2)an אתרוג חסר כל שהוא is פסול whereas the ערבה of הושענא רבא is כשר even עלה אחד בבד אחד

3) אתרוג is b’ikar on the first day, ערבה on the last

(tangentially interesting that this seems to be regressing--going from the “Tzadik” of אתרוג to the “Rasha” of ערבה. Also strange the seven days of Sukkot seem to be כנגד the seven sefirot and yet אתרוג which is representative of מלכות should be on the first and not last day, usually מלכות comes last and is theכולל ).
--Yet they have a common thread of water between the two of them--ערבי נחל .... עץ הדר (the gm’ says הדר comes from the greek prefix “hydro”)


- the significance of the סכך needing to be not even ראוי לקבל טומאה and not just טהור and ראוי לקבל טומאה --> Sukkos represents a time of the bitul of the existence of רע not just התגברות over it, hence the need for not even the ability for טומאה/רע ( note: the connection of רע to טומאה and in addition the relationship of death to טומאה and דעת, Sukkos is the only רגל mentioned with דעת “למען ידעו דורותיכם” [pachad yitzchak] ) Sukkos then flows very nice from Yom Kippur (I have some proofs elsewhere that Yom Kippur is very related to דעת ex. the שיעור of כותבת הגסה is the שיעור of יישוב הדעת not אכילה .)

-interesting to note that in the torah, the mitzvot of 4 minim and Sukka seem to be “afterthoughts” to the chag of Sukkot. See Vayikra 23:33-44 Pesukim 37 and 38 should be at the end, not before 4 minim and sukka.