The avodah of Chag HaSukkos requires deep study. Especially after the intense avodah of the Yamei HaRachamim and Selichos—the avodah of teshuvah and accepting the sovereignty of the Borei Olam upon ourselves—it’s common to arrive at Chag HaSukkos feeling somewhat adrift: What is our avodah now? And is there any connection to the avodah that came before it?
On Chag HaSukkos, we are commanded in two areas: the mitzvah to dwell in the sukkah and the mitzvah of taking the arba minim. We fulfill yeshivas sukkah starting from the very first night of the chag, while taking the arba minim applies only during the day. We need to reflect: What is the relationship and connection between these two mitzvos?
The Shayachus of Yom Kippur
On Yom Kippur, we merit to recognize that we truly belong—we are shayach—to the Borei Olam’s world, to the Kodesh HaKodashim—lifnai v’lifnim. Through the avodah of teshuvah, we return to Hashem and reconnect to that profound level of belonging, to the point that this day stands apart from all others in the year. On this day, we’re compared to malachim, whose entire existence is kodesh, and about it, the pasuk states (Tehillim 139:16): “Days have been formed, and one of them is His” (Eliyahu Rabbah 1).
Yet we must grasp that this shayachus isn’t just a slogan; we cannot leave such an elevated connection hanging in the air. It demands that we sustain it properly throughout every day of the entire year, as we return to our state as basar v’dam, with both body and neshamah. We have to consider how this can be done.
Bridging Neshamah and Guf
Indeed, the Nefesh HaChaim explains (in Shaar 2) that the avodah of teshuvah involves two stages: first, the immense effort to purify the neshamah, and then, no less demanding, the work of infusing that same nefesh—that ruchniyus—into the body. One might wonder: How is it even possible to bring the nefesh into the guf? How can ruchniyus exist within a physical body?
The truth is, it’s not possible to bring pure ruchniyus into the guf as it is. However, our physical actions can express kedushah and ruchniyus. The way we eat, speak, walk, see, and so on can reveal where we truly belong—whether to an exalted spiritual realm or, chalilah, to a coarse material one. Our bodily conduct can express our neshamah.
To express that inner shayachus we attained on Yom Kippur in our everyday lives—right in the guf itself—mere awareness isn’t enough. We need a shayachus that carries real weight, that makes a demand from us—a tevi’ah. For this, we must first immerse ourselves in a different kind of world, a new atmosphere that allows our inner essence to emerge in actual living, without clashing outright to our way of life.
Take, for example, someone who merits to be shayach to an elevated world free of jealousy and competition—say, through close contact with a gadol. But if his everyday life is steeped in a competitive environment where everyone strives to outdo the next, simply “being shayach” won’t suffice; the pull of his actual reality will drag him back into that petty rivalry time and again. To let his life reflect that higher virtue, he needs a shayachus with tevi’ah. This requires him to first place himself in a fresh atmosphere devoid of jealousy and competition; only then can that shayachus start to show in his practical conduct.
The Role of the Arba Minim
Once a person has enveloped himself in this loftier atmosphere, he can begin to express his inner neshamah through his physical actions. Now, his shayachus to that elevated reality isn’t just an empty slogan but sparks a profound avodah, allowing the guf itself to manifest that same shayachus. When we reflect on this, we see that it captures the essence of the avodah of Chag HaSukkos. On Yom Kippur, we indeed uncovered our wondrous shayachus to the Kodesh HaKodashim. But for this to find expression in our daily lives, we must first surround ourselves in the sukkah—an atmosphere unlike the one we’ve lived in until now—to start manifesting through our guf the deep emunah that resides within us. Once we’ve truly entered that atmosphere, we take the arba minim, which correspond to the human body’s limbs: the lulav to the spine, the esrog to the heart, the hadas to the eyes, and the aravah to the lips. Now, we can express the inner shayachus we revealed on Yom Kippur with our own hands, through the na’anu’im of the arba minim.
The Simcha of Renewal
It’s well known in the name of the Gra that simcha arises from something new—a true change. And indeed, the immense simcha of Chag HaSukkos comes when we succeed in innovating, in transforming our lives to embody that wondrous shayachus we uncovered on Yom Kippur—a shayachus with real tevi’ah, one that manifests in our actual deeds.