SUCCOT By the time you read this, the Succot holiday will be over, but I think we should all know how truly wonderous the hand of HaShem is. We all stood on Rosh HaShana before HaShem in righteous judgment. We bowed our knee and humbled our hearts as G-d bestowed his forgiveness on us for our many sins. G-d then commanded us to leave the comfort of our homes and to enter into His, the Succah. What is the secret of the Succot Holiday?
The secret can be found in he word Succah. Just like the holy name YKVK, the word Succah indeed conceals the Holy Name within it. The numerical value of the word Succah (Samekh, Vav, Kaf, Hey) is 91 (ninety-one). If we take the letters Kaf and Vav in Succah, we find that numerically they equal 26. This is the numerical value of YKVK and where his name is hidden within the word. When we subtract the number 26 from our original number of 91 (ninety-one) we get the number 65. Sixty-five (65) is the numerical value of the holy name Adonai. Together the word Succah spells out these two sacred names. USHPIZIN The right time is the seven days of Succot. Each of the days of Succot, the radiance of one of the seven Sefirot is manifest to us. On day one the sefirat hesed is manifest. Day two, the sefirat gevurah is manifest and onward through all seven Sefirot. Representing this manifestation of sefirotic energy, the Succot tradition of welcoming the Sheva Ushpizin. These are sacred souls of the seven fathers of the Jewish people. Each night of the Succot Holiday, we invite the appropriate “guest.” This invitation is much more than merely symbolic. The essence of the soul of the Ushpin actually comes to us when he is invited. The essence of the souls of Avraham, Yitzhak, Ya’akov, Moshe, Aharon, Yosef and David come to us and the sefirah energy they bring with them is absorbed into our souls, causing us great spiritual elevation. It should be noted that an Ushpin can only be manifest at this special time of year. The full moon of the seventh month. The moon is the symbol of Yisrael, and only when Yisrael is in her fullness can her fathers come and bless her. Yet, the blessing that comes in this time can only come in the proper receptacle. That receptacle is the Succah.
