Sukkot: Continuing to Attract the Light That Reforms

We're in the midst of Sukkot holiday. Every day we invite Ushpizin - which means a new guest. Today we'll continue milking this opportunity to attract the light that reforms. We're also two days before our big Unity Day where people will come join us in Petach Tikvah from all over Israel. All our friends around the world will be able to participate virtually with translation as usual. You'll be exposed to a lot of exciting topics.

A Sukkah means thatch, which is the waste of barn and winery. A thatch is called “shade,” and shade is called “concealment of the face.” In order not to have the bread of shame, we have room for work, meaning that we can engage in Torah and Mitzvot although we feel no flavor or vitality. Naturally, afterwards we can receive the vitality and not blemish the gift, meaning that the gift will not be blemished due to the shame that is present in the receiver. RABASH, Letter No. 12b

It's really difficult to get out of our ego - all the pleasures we can fill it with. Rav often says there are so many pleasures in the world but there is not so much taste in them anymore. People already understand they need to make great efforts to attain the pleasures and that they'll probably feel empty not so long after attaining the pleasure. So this is our salvation - that we're not attracted to spirituality.

At the end of the day the Kabbalists built something incredible. The whole idea of Sukkot is to get out of our will to receive and transition to a will to bestow. An entire system was built around this that's connected to culture and traditions. Suddenly there's a Sukkah - and that's something that people actually build for this holiday. But for us - those that want to advance in spirituality - we are very focused on the internal transition of this process. And gradually after many years we begin to get a special taste for this holiday called Sukkot - we feel something special during this time. It's a time of joy - of light entering the vessel.

All these things are connected to the same idea. This is about taking something that's not important to us like the will to bestow - and turn it into something important to me. How? By the environment around me talking about the importance of connection and bestowal. Suddenly these things become important to me. It's incredible how they created this system for transitioning us from our permanent state (the will to receive) to a temporary state - the will to bestow.