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- The law of enjoying the festival and being happy is specially emphasized in the Torah in connection with Succot.
(Leviticus 23:40, Deuteronomy 16:14 and 15)
- The eight day festival of enjoyment (of which the first seven days are Succot) takes place when each person's economic situation is at its best:
When you take in [to store the produce] from your threshing floor and wine-press,
at a time when a person is tempted to feel secure and over self-confident
Israel became fat and kicked…
Deuteronomy 32:15
G-d therefore teaches us how to be happy: going out to the succah so that we remember bad times during the good times. This helps one to appreciate all the good that G-d has done for our forefathers and for ourselves.
- The arba'ah minim symbolize four types of Jew, all of whom are bound together as one people. There is no room for any one group to feel superior to any other. Although it says that all Israel are to live in succot the Talmud (Succah 27b) interprets this to mean that all Israel are fit to live in one and the same succah.
- During the festival of Succot, the additional sacrifices include a total of seventy bulls. This corresponds to the seventy nations of the world, and the hope for their peace and welfare. At a future time, all the nations of the world will come to Jerusalem once a year to celebrate the Festival of Succot (Zechariah 14:16-19).
- The duty to live in succot for seven days is to remind us of the great miracles that G-d performed for our forefathers when they left Egypt, when they were sheltered from above by Divine clouds that protected them from the sun by day and the cold at night.
Sefer Hahinuch, Commandment # 325
If we observe this Mitzvah, we will deserve to receive further benefits from G-d.
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