Tens Community Lesson about Sukkot

Thanks to the special light that comes in Sukkot, its powerful force actually makes the things that a person sees as not important - we raise upward to be most important. He uses them as a schach - the roof covering of the Sukkah. According to Rav the schach is actually our group where we define the attribute of bestowal, and work toward building it together - not for my own sake but for my ten and the group. This is why we build a sukkah every year. To rearrange our priorities.

We need to use our friends to raise our aspiration for the Creator because this is how we attract more light that reforms us. The screen is an individual element. We raise our desire with the friends, to come into contact with the Creator. All we need to do is increase the aspiration for attaining the Creator. With the hope that we'll all acquire a screen for receiving the light.

We're dealing with the wisdom of Kabbalah, which just like Sukkot, helps us take something that's not important to us, and help each other raise it to be the most important thing in our lives. Everything continues as normal but above that we raise the importance of spirituality. We raise the importance of the attribute of bestowal. How? We have a ten, and a group that we can strengthen regionally. Based on the sources we read the light is intended specifically for this purpose. Everyone is raising their kids like everyone else, and going to work etc. We're the same as everyone else except in one area - raising the importance of bestowal.

There are so many terms in this holiday that we see in the sources. Let's hear Rav's explanation of these terms in the following clip -

Clip: How do we add shade?

Regarding the Sukkah, we can clarify the nature of all our spiritual work.

Adding shade? "Shade" refers to preferring spiritual advancement over material advancement beyond what is strictly necessary. That is the first point. It specifically concerns where I invest my energy—whether in material life and self-service, or by settling for what is considered normal. Necessity is neither condemned nor praised; it simply exists. But beyond that, I invest only in what brings me spiritual success—namely, connection or the group; this is the building of the Kli (vessel)—that is everything.

In other words, building the Sukkah is essentially building the group, building the vessel, and establishing a relationship that rises above my ego. My ego desires to receive revelations, knowledge, happiness, food, sex, family, money, honor, intellectual insights, and even spiritual revelations. Instead, I conceal all of that and wish to work in a state of bestowal. Where is this expressed? In bestowing upon others—upon the friends—by strengthening the group and working in mutual guarantee (Arvut). If I do this, I am building the vessel; I am building the Schach (roofing)—the Sukkah.

Why is it made from "waste" materials—the leftovers of the threshing floor and the winepress? Because these are things deemed unimportant; they are what are known as "commandments a person tramples with their heels" [commandments often treated lightly]. What is "waste"? It is something we walk upon; something considered to have no utility.

What remains after you extract the juice from the grapes? Take, for instance, the grape pomace—the skins and seeds left over after pressing. There isn't much to be done with it; nowadays, they might make vodka or other beverages from it, but essentially, it has no real utility. It is the same with the waste from the threshing floor—the wheat husks; while people today make various additives from them and claim they are very healthy, in reality, they are stripped away because they offer no nutritional benefit. Thus, the waste from the threshing floor and the winery—waste from the very foods and wines that sustain us—represents the remnants of our staple foods. Bread and wine were the fundamental sources of sustenance, as both could be stored for long periods, and human life depended on them.

If, instead of prioritizing what is important to you, you choose things that seem insignificant—acting out of a desire to bestow rather than a desire to receive—and you elevate these elements above your own egoistic interests, this is called building the s'chach (the roof covering of the Sukkah). You seek to cover yourself, to align with values that transcend the ego—values constructed from things the ego deems unimportant—and this act is known as creating a "shadow." In simple terms, you are utilizing vessels of bestowal, the quality of bestowal, the attribute of Binah, and the Light of Chassadim (Mercy); that is the essence of the s'chach. Michael Laitman

Clip: The Sukkah is called the "Shadow of Faith."

You shall dwell in Sukkot for seven days, corresponding to the seven Clouds of Glory that accompanied the Children of Israel in the wilderness. And it is written: "In His shadow I delighted to sit, and His fruit was sweet to my palate"—referring to the shadow of the Clouds of Glory, the shadow of the Sukkah. "And a person must demonstrate that he sits beneath the shadow of faith."

Here we understand—and we will discuss this at length during the holiday, but since we are currently in the preparatory stage—that all the holidays and festivals essentially teach us about connection: how we can connect in such a way that, through our connection, we reconstruct the rectified vessel—"the soul of Adam HaRishon" (the First Man). This vessel must resemble the Light—the Creator—meaning it must operate with the intention to bestow.

Therefore, this entire connection must be forged from the "refuse of the threshing floor and the winepress"—that is, from those aspects of a person in our world regarding which it is written that one "tramples them with his heels" (treating them as trivial)—specifically, faith. We choose to place faith above our heads, regarding it as the most important thing. We enter the Sukkah and kiss the S'chach (roof covering). These are all signs that we aspire to exist in a state of faith that transcends knowledge—rising above our material intellect.

For this reason, the Sukkah is called the "shadow of faith." The light of the sun represents the "Light of Wisdom," which must be restrained rather than allowed to shine freely; instead, we permit it to shine only under very specific, carefully examined conditions—specifically, allowing the Light of Wisdom to shine only when clothed in the "Light of Mercy" (*Ohr HaChasadim*). The Light of Mercy is termed "shadow," while the Light [of Wisdom] is termed "sunlight."

Thus, the essence of the Sukkah is our commitment to receive solely for the purpose of bestowing. Our approach to the Sukkah—and to all these customs—is defined by that "shadow," allowing the Light of Wisdom to shine only slightly within the Light of Mercy. The same applies to... The Four Species. Our entire conduct within the Sukkah is aimed at constructing a vessel where the primary element is the Light of Chasadim (Mercy), with the Light of Chochmah (Wisdom) present only to a lesser degree. Ultimately, the entire rectification of the soul becomes clear to us through the Sukkah. Michael Laitman