מים, they would pour water. Everyday in the Beis Hamikdash by the korbanot they would pour wine on the mizbe'ach. That's called ניסוך היין, the pouring of the wine. Sukkos they would pour water in addition to pouring the wine, that was ניסוך המים. That's also a special mitzvah in Sukkos. And the night before, they would draw the water. And because they would draw the water at night, they would have a special type of celebration in the Beis Hamikdash, as it says in the pasuk, \"ושאבתם מים בששון ממעיני הישועה\", that you should draw the water with joy from the wellsprings of of salvation. But because they drew the water, it was a special simchah of שמחת בית השואבה, and we all know the expression the Gemara says, \"מי שלא ראה שמחת בית השואבה, לא ראה שמחה מימיו.\" Anybody who didn't see the simchah of שמחת בית השואבה never saw simchah in his life, doesn't know what happiness is. So that's another concept specifically on Sukkos, the holiday of Sukkos. We have another thing that they used to do in the Beis Hamikdash on Sukkos, they would put ערבות next to the mizbe'ach, and they would circle the mizbe'ach everyday of Sukkos. We only do it on Hoshana Rabbah, which is the last day of Sukkos. In the Beis Hamikdash they would do it everyday. On Hoshana Rabbah we go around with, we don't carry the ערבות with us, but we have the hitting of the ערבות, but it's a zecher, it's to remind us of what they did in the Beis Hamikdash. Now we have another inyan in Sukkos, which is the ushpizin. Sukkos, it says in the Zohar, that special guests come to visit us in the sukkah. Now we know that we always have to have guests. Shabbos, it's a big mitzvah to have guests. Yom Tov especially, it says in the Rambam, in Shulchan Aruch, we should have guests. But the spiritual guests only come on Sukkos. And the guests are the seven guests: Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Moshe, and Aharon, Yosef, and David. Pretty honorable people, respectable people, but they come to visit us in the sukkah, and they come everyday. Just everyday, a different one is the star. The first day it's Avraham, and together with him come the rest. The second day it's Yitzchak, and together with him come the rest. Now we know that in Lubavitch we have an additional seven guests that come on Sukkot, and those are the Rebbeim: the Baal Shem Tov, the Mezritcher Maggid, the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Maharash, and the Rebbe Rashab. The Frierdiker Rebbe was the one that said that we have these seven guests. And when he spoke about it in the sukkah, he would actually point and he would say, \"דא זיצט the בעל שם טוב, here is the בעל שם טוב, here is the מיטעלער רבי, here is the אלטער רבי.\" That's how it went on. So we have all these special things that we find during the holiday of Sukkot more than we find in a regular Yom Tov. But I would like to discuss some of the details of some of the things. But first, generally speaking about these inyanim of some of these things.

If you remember when we spoke about Rosh Hashanah, and then later when we spoke about Yom Kippur, I explained that there are three inyanim, three concepts in Rosh Hashanah, and the three in Yom Kippur. Automatically we have to find the same three in Sukkot, because we know that Sukkot is basically a continuation of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Chassidut explains on the pasuk where it says, \"תקעו בחדש שופר בכסה ליום חגנו\", that the words \"בכסה ליום חגנו\", בכסה means on the in the hidden time, ליום חגנו, on the day of our holiday. The hidden time, that refers to Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is a Yom Tov that's celebrated at the time when the moon is hidden. It's the only Yom Tov that's celebrated on the first day of the month. The first day of the month, the moon is still not seen. At the end of the month the moon is completely covered, the beginning of the month is when we have the מולד הלבנה where the moon starts becoming born, just the beginning, but you can't see it yet. And that's Rosh Hashanah. All other holidays are on the 15th day of the month, Yom Kippur is on the 10th, and Shavuot is on the 6th, but Rosh Hashanah is the only Yom Tov that's בכסה, that's the time when the moon is still covered. ליום חגנו, the day of our holiday, that refers to Sukkos. We know Sukkos is referred to as chag. Whenever the Gemara says החג, the holiday, it's always Sukkos. So Chassidut says that this pasuk means whatever is hidden on in the time of Rosh Hashanah comes out in a revealed way in the time of Sukkos. And Chassidut explains many things that we find in Rosh Hashanah, the way they express themselves in the Yom Tov of Sukkos. So whatever we find in Rosh Hashanah, and the truth is whatever we find in Yom Kippur because Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur really go together, Yom Kippur is basically the end of Rosh Hashanah, so whatever we find in Rosh Hashanah and in Yom Kippur, we also find on Sukkos. So we explained that we find in Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur three things. Rosh Hashanah has a mitzvah, then Rosh Hashanah has the concept of teshuvah, and then Rosh Hashanah has something which is even beyond that, and that is the fact that we crown Hashem as king. We explained Yom Kippur we also have three things. In Yom Kippur we have the mitzvot of Yom Kippur, which is the fasting, and the mitzvah of teshuvah, teshuvah as a mitzvah. Then we have the concept of teshuvah as what teshuvah stands for. And then we have what the Gemara says, עיצומו של יום, the essence of the day, which is beyond that. And just to review it in short, because otherwise you won't understand how I will apply it to Sukkos, this refers to three types of kesher, of connection that a Yid has to Hashem. Three types of relationship that a Yid has to Hashem, and Hashem has to the Yid. The first, the lowest one is the connection that we have to Hashem through mitzvot. That means that if we act behave properly, we do what Hashem told us to do, then we're connected to Him. The word mitzvah actually means צוותא וחיבור, connection. So when we do what He tells us, we're connected. God forbid if someone doesn't do what he is told, then that connection is missing. Then we have a deeper connection that we have with Hashem and that's through teshuvah. It's obviously deeper than through mitzvot. The best proof is that when you do teshuvah, you could fix, you could mend the problem that was there concerning mitzvot. You lacked in your קיום המצוות, in your performance of the mitzvot. You did something against Hashem as far as a mitzvah is concerned. Comes teshuvah and teshuvah could fix it up. So obviously teshuvah reaches deeper, because if teshuvah would reach into the same level as the mitzvah, then you'd never fix it, because you can't fix the level which has the problem, you got to go someplace deeper. So the fact that teshuvah is able to reach, to fix the problem of the mitzvah shows that the connection you get to Hashem through teshuvah is deeper. And then we have a connection that's very, very essential, beyond the behavior of the person at all, because even teshuvah, even though it's deeper than mitzvot, but nevertheless it's in connection to mitzvot. Teshuvah is means you're repenting, you're returning to Hashem in connection to your not keeping the mitzvot. And now you promise to keep the mitzvot. So as deep as it is, it's still in connection to mitzvot. Then there is a deeper connection a Yid has to Hashem, the fact that He is our father and we're connected to Him no matter what. Just like a child and a parent, that there is a connection that's there through behavior—child liked the parent, the parent likes the child—and if the child doesn't behave properly, that connection is missing, but then there is a deeper connection, the fact that you're a child, and that's always there. And that's the third level, which is the fact that we ask Hashem to be our king. On Yom Kippur we have the same three levels. We have the fact that we are supposed to do certain mitzvot on Yom Kippur, fasting and keeping the Yom Tov, etc., etc. That's a mitzvah. Then we have that we have to do teshuvah on Yom Kippur. Now that shows that there is a deeper connection than mitzvot. But nevertheless, it's in connection to mitzvos. It's teshuvah on mitzvos. And the third level is that there is this essential connection of the essence of the day, and that connects a Yid to Hashem deeper. In other words, to be more specific, in other words, the connection that a Yid has to Hashem through mitzvos is that they're two separate entities. There is Hashem and there is a Yid. There are the Yidden. And in order to make a connection, you got to do something about it. Because if you don't do anything about it, they're two separate entities. When you do something, you connect. So when you connect two things through a link, so then that means that there are two separate things, and there is something that makes the connection. Teshuvah is within the same level, but a little bit deeper, because if that connection lacked, is missing, this shows that a Yid has such a connection to Hashem that even after he did something wrong, it bothers him, and he wants to change and become good. That shows that it's a deeper connection. But still, it's a connection within the level of mitzvos, that means that you still have to do something about that connection. Then the higher level, that's a connection that's there as if the Yidden and Hashem are one. And we know that. Says that the neshamos of the Yidden are one with Hashem. ישראל וקודשא בריך הוא כולא חד, the Yidden and Hashem are one. And that, where do we see that in the third level, in Yidden wanting Hashem to become our king? Because I'll explain it. When a Yid does a mitzvah, because you're commanded to do a mitzvah. But that all comes after He's your king. He's your king, and He wants you to do something, you have to listen to Him. But when we're talking about become asking Him to become our king, crowning Him as king, why in the world would a Yid want to do that? See, if He is your boss, you have to listen to Him. But why would you want to make Him your boss? Obviously, that there is this essential connection that you have to Hashem, and that's why you're asking him to be close to you, to accept the kingdom, why? Because there is an essential connection you have to Hashem. And the same thing on Yom Kippur, you have the mitzvos of Yom Kippur, you have the teshuvah of Yom Kippur, and then you have this essential connection which reveals itself on the day of Yom Kippur.

Now since we have these three things on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, obviously we have to find these three things in the Yom Tov of Sukkos. Now we said before, basically, as far as mitzvos are concerned or the things that we have to do on Sukkos we have three things: we have the mitzvah of sukkah, we have the mitzvah of the ד׳ מינים, and then we have the mitzvah of simchah, the concept of simchah, which is on Sukkos more than any other Yom Tov. Now which of the three things is the essence of the day? Definitely it's not simchah. Simchah is, on Yom Tov you have to be happy. So the Yom Tov comes before the happiness. So first it's Yom Tov. Torah says, it is a Yom Tov, and on this Yom Tov you have to be happy. So the essence is not the fact that you have to be happy, the fact that it's Yom Tov. Now what makes the Yom Tov? Which of the two mitzvot makes the Yom Tov? The mitzvah of sukkah or the mitzvah of lulav? So it seems from the pesukim that the Yom Tov is the sukkah. Actually, we call the Yom Tov Chag HaSukkos, we don't call it Chag HaEtrog, it's Chag HaSukkos. The Yom Tov is the sukkah. The pasuk says, \"Seven days you shall sit in the sukkah.\" That means that the reason that these seven days are special is because of the mitzvah of sukkah. So what makes these days the special seven days? The mitzvah of sukkah. The mitzvah of esrog and lulav, they have to be done on the Yom Tov of Sukkos. Because you have a Yom Tov of Sukkos and the pasuk says, ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון, on the first day of Sukkos you shall take the esrog and the lulav and the hadasim and the aravot. In other words, the day is Yom Tov before the mitzvah of of etrog and lulav. On the first day of this Yom Tov you have to take it. So what is the Yom Tov? The Yom Tov is the mitzvah of sukkah. We actually see that from the fact that the mitzvah of sukkah starts from the first second the Yom Tov starts. The Yom Tov starts at night. Right away, you have to eat in the sukkah, no one could eat out of the sukkah from the beginning of the Yom Tov. The mitzvah of lulav does not start till the next morning. You can't bentsch etrog and lulav the night of Sukkot. Obviously that's not the essence of the Yom Tov, then why would it be only from the next morning? We also see that the mitzvah of the ד׳ מינים of etrog and lulav is only one day from the Torah. In the Torah it says ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון, only on the first day. You don't have to take the etrog and lulav seven days. In the Beit Hamikdash, they had to take the etrog from the Torah, seven days. The pasuk says, ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון, says you should take the etrog and לולב, ושמחתם לפני השם אלקיכם שבעת ימים, you should be happy in front of Hashem for seven days. Now, front of Hashem means in the Beit Hamikdash. So in the Beit Hamikdash it had to be seven days. The reason we have seven days is because the Rabbanan said, let us make a zecher to the Beit Hamikdash. So really, the original mitzvah of the ד׳ מינים is only the first day. Now obviously this is not the essence of the Yom Tov, because if this would be the essence of the Yom Tov, it would have to be every moment of the Yom Tov. Plus we see more: the mitzvah of the ד׳ מינים, if you shake it once in the morning or anytime during the day, that's all, you don't have to do the mitzvah anymore. You're yotzei the mitzvah. While sukkah, to say, well, I ate in the sukkah in the morning, so I don't have to eat again. Every time you want to eat, according to the halachot of when you have to eat in the sukkah, you have to eat in the sukkah. And not only that, every time you eat in the sukkah, you make a ברכה, אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו לישב בסוכה. You thank Hashem for giving us the mitzvah of sitting in the sukkah. So obviously sitting in the sukkah is the essence of the mitzvah, of the of the Yom Tov.

So it comes out like this: we have the mitzvah of sukkah, that is the essence. Then we have the ד׳ מינים, the four kinds, and then we have the mitzvah of simchah. These three are parallel to the same three that we had in Rosh Hashanah and the same three we had in Yom Kippur. And I will explain why. When we spoke about these three things on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and we said they they are different three different levels in the connection of a Yid to Hashem, there's one more thing that we see: is there a difference between one Yid and another in the performance of these three things? And we'll see. When it comes to the mitzvah, to the mitzvah, everyone is different. Everyone does the mitzvah personally, and everyone does the mitzvah the way he is able to perform. When it comes to that's the first level, the mitzvah. When it comes to teshuvah, here already the differences are much less. Because to do teshuvah, could take a second. It says teshuvah is, all you have to do is in your mind Make up your mind for one second, I will not do the aveirah anymore, that's teshuvah. And that one second is the same by everybody, so teshuvah is basically the same by everybody. But on the other hand, after all, there are levels in teshuvah. Some could do teshuvah me'ahavah, teshuvah out of love, teshuvah miyirah, teshuvah out of fear, different levels. So there is a difference between one person and another. The third thing, which is the accepting Hashem as king, here everyone is the same. We see physically that when they would crown a king at the time of the coronation, there was no difference between a high officer and a simple person. They all accepted the king. Later on, when it comes to do what the king asks you to do, then there's a difference: the officer is closer, the simple soldier is further, the simple person is further. There are differences, one and another. But when it comes to this essential coronation, everyone is supposed to accept the king. And the same for Hashem. When it comes to accept Hashem as king, all Yidden are the same. There's no such thing as one is more than the other. When it comes to do teshuvah, there is a little difference. When it comes to the mitzvot, that's where everyone does the mitzvah according to his level. And the same is these three things: by sukkah, the mitzvah of sukkah, that is the essence of the day, and here we see that all the Jews are like one. The Gemara says that in theory, all the Jews could sit in one sukkah. It says, כל האזרח בישראל ישבו בסוכות, all Jews should sit in the Sukkot. So the Gemara says, ראויין כל ישראל לישב בסוכה, all the Jews could sit in one sukkah. You just got to have a big sukkah, but in theory, there is no the concept of sukkah is one by all. So when we talk about sukkah, sukkah is supposed to represent the unity of all Jews in a way that they're all really like one. Taking the four minim also represents the unity of the Yidden, but in a different level. We all know what the Midrash says, that the four kinds represent different types of Jews. The etrog, which has a smell and a taste, represents a Jew that has learns Torah and has mitzvot, does mitzvot. The lulav, the fruit of the lulav which are the the dates, they have a taste, but they have no smell. That's those Jews who learn Torah, but don't really do so many mitzvot. The hadassim have a smell, they don't have a taste. Those are the Jews who do mitzvot, don't learn that much Torah. The aravot don't have a smell and don't have a taste. Those are the Jews that don't learn Torah and don't do mitzvot. And what is the mitzvah? To take all four and put it together. That means to unite all kinds of Jews. But here, the way it is, not that you make all into one unit, in one entity. You have four different kinds and you just put them together. So, it's to unite them, but in a way that they still remain separate beings. While in the sukkah, they would all go into the same sukkah. There is one big sukkah for all. There is one big sukkah, one mitzvah for all. So the mitzvah of sukkah, which is the essence today, is similar to the essence of Rosh Hashanah and the essence of Yom Kippur, which is a level where all the Yidden are one with Hashem, and automatically, all the Yidden among themselves are one. Because if the person is not a separate If a Yid is not a separate entity from Hashem, automatically, not a separate entity from another Jew. And that's what sukkah is all about. The etrog, the ד׳ מינים, that represents the second level, the way the Yidden are connected with Hashem, but in a way where it depends on each one separately, and they're still connected. When it comes to the simchah, then everyone is different. Simchah is a feeling in the heart. Everybody feels it differently. Some are happier, some are not so happy. And even by Simchat Beit Hashoevah, the din was, the way it used to be in the Beit Hamikdash, some people used to dance, the greater people used to dance, the simple people would stand around and watch. There are different levels. So it comes out like this, just to review it in short: the simchah of Sukkot, that's the lowest level. That's similar to the mitzvah. It's a mitzvah to be with simchah, and actually, why were they happy? They were happy because of the mitzvot. Simchah shel mitzvah, the simchah of Sukkot is the simchah of mitzvah. That's the connection a Yid has to Hashem through mitzvot. And that's why there is a difference between one and another, because each Yid is separate, and he's just kind of connect himself to Hashem. The mitzvah of the ד׳ מינים, that's like the middle level, where the unit is stronger, but nevertheless they're still separate, so that's why you connect all the Yidden, but in a way that each one is separate. Connect separate ones are connected. While the highest level, the sukkah, that unites all the Yidden completely. And that's why you find an interesting din by by the by the etrog. The din is that you can't borrow an etrog. You can't borrow. It has to be yours. You have to own it. You can't borrow it from another person. The fact that we do see people borrowing, it's not borrowing. We have to have that clear. You give it as a matanah. When you ask somebody to let you use his etrog and lulav, he has to give it to you as a present. The only thing is, he gives it to you as a present with a condition. You could give a present with a condition. The condition is, you must return it. It's a מתנה על מנת להחזיר, it's a a present with the condition that you return it. But it has to be a present, but you can't borrow it. By a sukkah, there is no such din that you can't eat in a borrowed sukkah. I could walk into someone else's sukkah, and if I have permission to eat there, and we assume every Yid gives permission, you're allowed to eat there. And it doesn't say he has to give it to you as a present. It could be his, and you just borrow it. What's the difference? The the reason by an etrog it has to be yours, because the pasuk says, ולקחתם לכם, you should take for you, it has to be yours. By the sukkah it also says, חג הסוכות תעשה לך, you should make a sukkah for you. So why over there when it says you it comes to tell us that it must be yours and you can't borrow it, and by the sukkah the din is that if you borrow it, it's enough to be yours? And the answer is, because when it comes to the mitzvah of sukkah, we look at concerning the mitzvah of sukkah, we look at all the Yidden as one. So there's no such thing as belongs to somebody else, therefore I can't use it. He and me are one! You can't steal it, but that's the reason is because if you steal it, you're fighting against the unity. You're doing something that's contradicting the unity. But otherwise, we can't make a difference between one Yid and another. When it comes to the etrog, being there the unity is not the same, so there each person is separate, therefore it has Torah says mine, somebody else's is not actually mine. So this is the general idea of the three main points of Sukkos, which is the mitzvah of sukkah, the mitzvah of the ד׳ מינים, and the mitzvah of simcha. But the mitzvah of sukkah shows the unity of the Yidden as if they're all one, because that's a mitzvah that is essential, that represents the essence, the essential connection of a Yid to Hashem. That's what the mitzvah of sukkah is. That's why it says at the Yom Kippur, where did we see the unity of all the Yidden and their connection to Hashem on Yom Kippur was basically when the Kohen Gadol would walk into the קודש הקדשים. The high priest who was the one to represent all the Jews, he was one person that included, contained all the Yidden, walked into the Holy of Holies, where Hashem, Hashem's private chambers, and he would be there. That's the time when you would see the connection of the Yidden to Hashem, and all the Yidden connected as one. What did he do there? So we learned he brought the ketoret. He made the ketoret till it became a smoke. So it was the ענן הקטורת, it was the cloud of the spices. It says in sefarim that that cloud of the ketoret later becomes transformed into the schach of the sukkah. The schach of the sukkah, which is the main part of the mitzvah of sukkah, is the transformation of the cloud. Just like a cloud is on top of the head and protects from the sun, the sukkah, basically the schach, protects us from the sun. That is the cloud, that's a transformation of the ענן הקטורת into the schach, which is, like we said before, the sukkah represents this idea that the Yidden are one with Hashem, and therefore all the Yidden are one. And it's a mitzvah that could contain all the Yidden in one, just like when the Kohen Gadol went into the Kodesh Hakodashim, he was one person that contained them all. The second mitzvah, the ד׳ מינים, is like the second level, where the Yidden are connected, but still four separate kinds are put together. And the mitzvah of simchah is the like the simchah is when you have simchah of the mitzvot, because mitzvot would be each one separate. That's the general idea of all three. Then let's

go through some of the details in specific in each one of the specific things. And let's start with the mitzvah of sukkah. We learn in Chassidut that mitzvat sukkah is a special mitzvah that we don't find in any other mitzvah. There is no other mitzvah in the Torah that has the same quality as the mitzvah of sukkah, and that is that the mitzvah of sukkah surrounds the whole person. There is no other mitzvah in the same way that surrounds the whole person. There's one thing that's similar, actually two things similar. One is the tallit, when you take the tallit and you surround yourself with it, but it's not the same like sukkah. Why? Number one, the measurement, the minimum measurement of a tallit has to be six tefachim, and the reason is because six tefachim is enough to cover to surround a person. The minimum measurement, shiur of a sukkah is seven tefachim. What's the difference? So it says like this, because you have to have six tefachim for the person, and then one more tefach for the table, because you're going to eat in the sukkah. In other words, the mitzvah of sukkah surrounds not only the person, but his Table also. The table represents his needs. So it's more than a tallit. A tallit is a mitzvah that surrounds the whole person, but just the person. While here it surrounds and the din is the shiur, this measurement is it surround the table also. And also, we don't find that the tallit surrounds the shoes. When you walk into the sukkah, you walk in with your shoes. And the expression by Chassidim used to be not only with the shoes, but mit di blote af di shich, with the dirt on the shoes, if your shoes got dirty outside and you walk in, that's also inside the sukkah. So that the sukkah is such a mitzvah that surrounds the whole person completely, from top to bottom, over his head, all around, his feet, and including his food, including the table. Then there's another mitzvah which is similar, and that's the mitzvah of mikveh. When you immerse yourself in the mikveh, you have to immerse the whole body. And it's also a mitzvah that covers the whole person. And if part of the body is out, you didn't fulfill the mitzvah of mikveh. But it's still not the same. Number one, the mitzvah of mikveh is not, it's not a positive mitzvah. It's mainly a negative thing. It takes away tumah. A person is tamei, a person is not clean spiritually, by going to the mikveh you take it away. The idea is to take away the tumah. It's not like a mitzvat aseh that you have to do. There is a concept in mikveh which is called תוספת קדושה, when you go to the mikveh it brings more kedushah, true. But that's not in the form of a mitzvah. And there is a quality, a characteristic in mikveh that it brings a kedushah, it brings holiness. But here it's a mitzvah! Actually your body is covered. But more than that, when you go to the mikveh, you can't have any clothes on. If you wear clothes, it's a chatzitzah. So you have to, it covers your body, but only yourself, but not parts of you which are outside of yourself. While the sukkah covers the person and his clothes, and everything that's around him, inside the mitzvah. So this is the specialty of the mitzvah of sukkah. Since sukkah is a mitzvah, and a mitzvah we know is considered an agent of Hashem, the Midrash says, כבדו את המצות שהן שלוחי, honor the mitzvot, they are my messengers, my agents. And we know שלוחו של אדם כמותו, a shaliach of a person is like the person himself. So the mitzvot are Hashem himself. Now imagine we're walking into the mitzvah. We're walking and being surrounded with Hashem himself! This is what a mitzvah is. So that's a mitzvah that we have no other mitzvot. There are other mitzvot that have other things which sukkah doesn't have, it's true, like for instance the mitzvah of matzah is a mitzvah that goes inside, which is something different. It becomes part of you, put inside. Sukkah doesn't have that. Even though to a certain degree it's connected, because when you eat in the sukkah, that food is a mitzvah. The first night of Sukkos it's a mitzvah, not to sit in the sukkah only, to eat in the sukkah. So the mitzvah is the food that we eat, we fulfill the mitzvah. So it's also going in, but it's not the same like matzah, because there matzah is the object of the mitzvah, while the gefilte fish or not the gefilte fish, the the challah that we eat on Sukkos night, that's not the object of the mitzvah, even though we're doing the mitzvah through the through the bread. So it is to a certain degree, but not a hundred percent. But the other part is only by sukkah. The fact that we are surrounded completely by the mitzvah. We walk into the mitzvah with every part of ourselves, that's something that sukkah has that no other mitzvah has. That's why you have to be very careful and be mehader in the mitzvah of sukkah.

Now into the second mitzvah, which is the mitzvah of the ד׳ מינים. So, as we said before, the ד׳ מינים have this quality of representing the unity of all the Yidden, of different types of Yidden. The truth is that every one of these four kinds themselves represent unity. The esrog, it says, is the only fruit that grows throughout all seasons. It unites all seasons. Every fruit has a season when it grows. Here it has all the seasons together. So that shows achdut of time. The lulav has to be, it says that the the the leaves cannot be separated. They have to be united, they have to be together. That same lulav if you'd leave it on the tree longer, then the leaves would fall apart go apart, and that would be pasul. You have to have them when they're together. That shows unity. The hadasim, it says you have to have that the three leaves have to come out from the same point. They have to be together. If you have two leaves in one place and then one a little higher or a little lower, that's pasul. Why? They have to be together, it shows achdut. The aravot, it says the Gemara says that in in this in Aramaic the aravot were called אחוונא. אחוונא means brothers. Says, why are they called אחוונא because גדלי באחוה, they grow in such a way that they're very united, they're very close to each other. So each one of these four kinds themselves represent achdut and the way we do it is we take them together and we unite them and this represents the the unity of all the Yidden. There are more details concerning these four minim. For instance, it says in Midrash, which is a famous Midrash, that they represent different four parts of the body. The hadasim are like the eyes. Look at the hadas, the leaves of the of the hadas are like the eyes. The aravot, the leaves of the aravot, are like the lips. The lulav is like the spine. And the esrog is like the heart. And what it shows is that we have to have all these parts of the body towards Hashem. This is another detail that we learn out from this mitzvah, the specialty of the mitzvah of this four kinds. Now, there's another point, interesting to make a point in these four kinds, that the berachah we make is on the lulav. The berachah we make is אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו על נטילת לולב. Now, why don't we mention the esrog? The esrog is the one that seems to be the more important one. Or, at least let us say, we thank Hashem for giving us the mitzvah of taking all four kinds. Why do we specify the lulav? So the Rebbe explained an interesting point. Said before that the lulav represents the people who study more Torah. The esrog are people who learn Torah and do mitzvot. The lulav, people who learn Torah. Now, it doesn't mean God forbid that they don't do mitzvot. Well then, what's worth their Torah? Their Torah is nothing worth if they don't do mitzvot. What it means is that their main involvement is Torah, and they do mitzvot when they have to, but their main thing is looking for more learning than doing mitzvot. And the Rebbe says this comes to show that learning Torah, to a certain degree, has more even than mitzvot. Why? Because when we learn Torah, we connect ourselves to Hashem more than when we do mitzvot. When we do mitzvot, the explanation just in short is when a person does a mitzvah, so only one part of the body is connected to Hashem. When you do a mitzvah with your hand, you put on tefillin, your hand is involved. You give tzedakah, your hand is involved. When you do a mitzvah with your foot, you go to shul, your foot is involved. Every the mitzvot have different parts of the body. When you learn Torah, the whole person is connected to Hashem. Why? Because learning Torah means that your mind understands. There is no closer union between two things like the union of one's mind with an idea that you understand. Because the person's mind actually at that moment, as I explained once, is the idea itself. The the mind, the brain is transformed into the idea. That becomes one with a person. So learning Torah has something more than even the person who learns Torah and does mitzvot, because he spends part of the time looking for mitzvot, he gives up the time from learning. That's why it's not as great, and that's why the berachah we make is על נטילת לולב, to show that this is very important. But this is one of the lessons that we take from the ד' מינים.

Then, getting to the third thing, which is the mitzvah of simchah, and that is, basically, to show that we are happy that we have mitzvot. Even though it's simchah of Yom Tov, but it's, Rambam says, it's the concept of simchah shel mitzvah, that we are happy with mitzvot. And it's interesting, there's a Midrash that says, we find in the Torah, we know, like I said before, every Yom Tov you have to have the mitzvah of simchah: Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos. Nevertheless, in Chumash, by Pesach, it doesn't mention simchah. The Torah does not mention at all the word simchah. Shavuot, the Torah mentions simchah once, and by Sukkot, the Torah mentions simchah twice. So the Midrash explains it like this, interesting Midrash: We know that Pesach is חג האביב, it's the holiday in connection to the blossoming of the of the crop, the grain. Shavuot is חג הקציר, it's the time when we cut it. Sukkot is חג האסיף, it's when we gather it. So the Midrash says it's very pashut, very simple. When it's just starts blossoming, the people are not happy yet, because they don't know what's going to happen, they don't know what's going to grow. When they cut it, then already it starts, then they are happy, but not really really happy because it's still in the field, they don't have it at home yet, they just cut it. When you come to bring it home, חג האסיף, when you bring it home, that's when the real happiness is. That's why Pesach, the word simchah is not mentioned, Shavuot, simchah is mentioned once, and Sukkot, when it's חג האסיף, the time when you gather, the time of the season of the year when you gather it and you bring it home, that's when it says simchah twice. But the Rebbe explains that this doesn't only mean physically. When we talk about the fruit and the grain and the crop that grows, it means mitzvot. מאי פירות? מצוות, it says. What are fruit? Mitzvot. We find in different places that mitzvot are called fruit. Pesach, what happened on Pesach? Pesach was just the beginning of the mitzvot. The Yidden didn't have mitzvot yet. When they went out of Mitzrayim, they weren't given any mitzvot yet. All they had was emunah. It says ויאמינו העם, they believed. Emunah is the foundation of mitzvot, it's the beginning of the blossoming of the mitzvot, but it's not a mitzvah yet. It's the beginning, but you don't know where it's going to lead you to. A person can have emunah, and you don't know if eventually he's going to do the right thing. Actually, we find in the Gemara that you could have emunah, you could believe in Hashem and do against Hashem. גנבא אפום מחתרתא רחמנא קריא, you have a guy stealing and davening to Hashem to help him. And that's a person who believes, but he doesn't do the right thing. So emunah is the foundation, but nevertheless you don't know where it's going to lead. So Pesach was a time of emunah. So that's parallel to the beginning of the blossoming of the fruit, which is the foundation of the mitzvot, which are a fruit, but it's not there yet. Shavuot was a time when the Yidden received the Torah and they said, נעשה ונשמע, we will do and we will listen, we will understand, we will do the mitzvot. But they didn't do it yet, they just said they will do it. That's already getting closer to fulfilling the mitzvot, but that's not yet, which is like when you cut the fruit, but you don't have it home yet. By the time Sukkot comes, already a certain amount of time passed when the Yidden did the mitzvot already, from Shavuot to Sukkot is a few months. So now you're able to say we gathered the fruit, which means we gathered the mitzvot. And that's what the Midrash says why on Sukkot it says simchah twice, because the simchah of Sukkot is a simchah when we feel we already did the mitzvot, not only we said and not only we have the foundation, we already did the mitzvot, and that's why we are happy. So it comes out that the inyan of simchah of Sukkot is connected to the simchah of mitzvot. So here we have the three inyanim: the sukkah, which is the mitzvah that surrounds the whole person and has all the different specialities; then we have the mitzvah of the ד׳ מינים which shows the unity of Yidden; and the mitzvah of the happiness, the simchah that's supposed to be on Sukkot is a simchah that's connected to the fact that we have mitzvot, and we are happy, we thank Hashem for giving us the opportunity to do all the mitzvot.

And then we have the other thing as we hear before that just to mention on Sukkos that we have the ushpizin, we have the guests which only come to the sukkah. Now, the reason is, one of the reasons is because we invite them or they come into a mitzvah. Why don't they Why doesn't Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, and the rest come on Shavuos? Why don't they come on every Shabbos? Why don't they come on Pesach? So one of the reasons is because they come, they're so holy, they will only come into a mitzvah. So when we have the meal in the mitzvah, that's when these special guests come. And that's why only on Sukkos we have the ushpizin. Now, we in Lubavitch don't say there's a special, you know, saying people say for ushpizin. We don't say the ushpizin. It doesn't mean that we don't invite them or we don't have them. We just don't say a lot of things that we have in our mind and we know it's true, we don't say it. We don't say Ani Maamin, we don't say a lot of things. Well, we just know that they're there, we talk about them and we speak about them, and and we know that the inyan of each one of these people shines, so to speak, that day. When the Rebbe used to say a sichah every night of Sukkos, he would explain, tonight is Avraham, and he would explain what Avraham is, and what the Baal Shem Tov is, and the next night he would explain what Yitzchak is, and that's what we have to do. Talk about the ushpizin, that's the way we show that we know they're there. We don't say it, but the fact is that they are there. And they also come because it's a time of simcha. They don't like to come when there is marah shechorah, when people are sad. They only come in simcha. And since Sukkos is a time of simcha, that's when these special guests come.

And there are a lot of different dinim in connection to Sukkos which I don't think we should go through them. If anyone has any questions, well, I can answer. But there are other like things minhagim in Chabad. The mitzvah of sukkah is that we have to eat and drink and sleep in the sukkah. So the minhag Chabad is that, technically, we don't sleep in the sukkah. And then there was a whole commotion about that, that people said how could you say such a thing when you have to sleep in the sukkah, and it's a whole explanation about that. If someone will ask that question, maybe we'll get into that for a moment. Basically, the point is why we don't sleep in the sukkah is because According to Kabbalah, you shouldn't sleep in the sukkah. Since, according to Kabbalah, on Sukkos in the sukkah shines מקיפים דבינה, it's very high level. And when מקיפים דבינה shines, you can't sleep. So according to Kabbalah, you shouldn't sleep in the sukkah. Now, we know that whenever there is a difference of opinion between the halachah and Kabbalah, we always follow the halachah, we don't follow Kabbalah. On the other hand, if there is a way out in halachah that should fit to the fulfilling of the way it's according to Kabbalah, we do that. See, we can't go against halachah to fit to Kabbalah, but if we could maneuver it in a way that we find a in halachah a way to fit, we do it. Now here, there is a דין מצטער פטור מן הסוכה, that if being in the sukkah brings you pain, you suffer, then you don't have to sit in the sukkah. And that's most people, that's what they do. If it rains, they just leave the sukkah. Why? Because there's a din like that, you don't have to eat in the sukkah when it rains. Now we don't do that. When it rains, we sit in the sukkah. But there is a halachah of mitzta'er. So if we could find that there is a way to find a heter in halachah not to sleep, and since al pi Kabbalah you shouldn't sleep, so we don't. Now the heter is very simple. Well, Shulchan Aruch it says, most countries it's cold already during Sukkot time, so you can't sleep in the sukkah. Well, Miami it's hot. You can't sleep in the sukkah, it's too hot. Or other reasons, it says you're afraid that a ganav will come and who knows will rob you, so you're afraid. You? Well, everyone will walk out. Even if they eat, they walk out. But we don't, but here we use this heter because we want to not sleep in the sukkah because of Kabbalah. So we use the heter of mitzta'er. Like rain, but even if it doesn't rain, in Shulchan Aruch it mentions that most people don't sleep. And the truth is, most people don't. But yes, that's with a shittah, that's the problem. But the shittah is according to Kabbalah! And therefore we use the heter of halachah for the for in order to do what we do we're supposed to do al pi Kabbalah. And then there are many more things, and if anybody wants to ask, fine. What? The Alter, the Mitteler Rebbe said you shouldn't sleep in the sukkah. Pask'n, that's every Shulchan Aruch says, al pi din you have to. Everyone knows they have to sleep in the sukkah, but this is a heter we find because we want to do al pi kabbalah. So there you go, that's what yeah, the Rabbi didn't sleep in at all Sukkos. He didn't want to sleep in the sukkah, he didn't want to sleep outside of the sukkah. Next. Yes. Okay, that's yeah. Light is so strong, מקיפים דבינה is so strong, that you can't sleep there. Yaakov Avinu when he went and he lay down to sleep and he woke up and he had a dream with a ladder, and he woke up and he said, oy vey, how fearful, how awesome this place is. So Rashi says, had I known how holy this place is, I wouldn't have slept here. Because in a holy place, you can't sleep. So how could you sleep in the sukkah? Yes. Minhag Chabad is not. The reason is because by putting up tatskelech and decorations out outside of the sukkah itself, then that doesn't make the sukkah nice. Those are side things. So you have a nice thing hanging. What we have to do is make the sukkah nice. That means that the sukkah is better, the sukkah is more mehudar. But things which are outside of the sukkah, then these are things which are nice on their own right, not part of the mitzvah. What we have to do is make the mitzvah nice. Now the question is, how was it that the chachamim did have these decorations? Now the chachamim were so great that to them, they were able to be mevatel it, that these things became part of the sukkah in their mind. These things were not תופס מקום and did not have any specialty by itself. So by them, this was part of the sukkah. But most people in our level, what's nice? The tatskele is nice! And that's not what it is. In Lubavitch you find a lot of these things that we don't have all these superficial things by mitzvot we don't have. For instance, we don't have an atarah on the tallit. Some people have these silver crowns on the tallit. We don't have that. Now some say for a different reason that when the Alter Rebbe was in jail, they needed money for his, you know, to get him out, so they made everyone give away their silver atarot and they used that, sold that and they used that money, and from then on chasidim stopped wearing it. That's what some say. But the point is more than that, it is because it's not the tallit has to be nice, but to put something on top of the tallit, that's there's nothing wrong with it, but that's not part of the minhag. Till Till the Rabbi started with משיח'ס ספר תורה in Lubavitch, it was known there was no such thing as a crown on a Lubavitch ספר תורה. There was no keter. Other shuls had the ketarim and Lubavitch never had it. The Rebbe started, okay, so the Rebbe made it, so from then on it started. Why? The idea was because the Sefer Torah has to be nice. You put a crown on it, that's something on the outside. And since we're not at the level to make that become part of the Sefer Torah, that's why we don't have it. Hm? Because there it's not because of silver, even a plastic one we don't have, unless it's see-through. But other things also, I mean the Rebbe never used not saying people don't do it, but never the Rebbe never used a silver case for the etrog. A silver etrog box. There's nothing wrong with it, and many people do it. But the question is the Rebbe who was mehader in the mitzvot, wouldn't it be nice to use a silver one? He didn't. He used a regular cardboard box. And the reason I imagine was, I'm not saying people shouldn't use it, and I don't think, you know, someone will come to shul with it and I'm not going to it's not going to be a bad thing. I'm just saying by the Rebbe because that's you know, so the box is nicer. The etrog has to be nice. Who cared a box? Care about a box. Or silver megillah case. At one time he did, somebody gave him as a present, and for some reason the Rebbe didn't take presents, but for him he took it, so he used it for certain times. But before that he would come with a regular black cover, you know, these metal covers for the megillah. Why didn't the Rebbe lechatchilah have a silver cover for the megillah? The megillah has to be written beautifully, has to parchment has to be nice either, but the case should be nice? The same thing is with the decorations of the sukkah. Anybody who has it, it's fine, and no one is trying to say anything negative, but we're just trying to explain the minhag of Chabad why we don't. Yes. What I gathered is the main part of Sukkos is the sukkah, is living in the sukkah. Right. And you mentioned specifically that it applies at all times. Why then are women patur from sukkah? Because it's a zman gerama. A mitzvah that has all times of these seven days. A zman gerama means it's certain time of the year. It's a certain time. All times of these seven days there's not a time when it's patur. Not like an etrog, you do it once and you're yotzei. But it's only these seven days of the year, not other times. That's why they're patur. They're patur from etrog also. The minhag is that people, that women do. But that's only a minhag. It's not like a din, you don't have to really. But since it's a minhag, it's the right thing to do. Yeah, you you borrow your husband you don't borrow it. You get it as a present. Well, he Yes, you take it as a present on condition that you give it back. No, he told he knows that you're going to do it. It's assumed that he's letting you use it in a way that you are yotzei. Otherwise, he won't give it to you. He has no reason to take it. And since the only way you could be yotzei is if it's given as a present, so obviously it's given as a present. So there are different levels in have to. They have to because of the minhag, but they don't have to because of the din. Men must. It's a din from the Torah on the first day. If the women do, then they're not sure If there is place, they could sit in the sukkah. If there is no place, then they just if they They used to say a joke. This is maybe a joke I shouldn't say when the women are here. But they used to, men, the men used to say a joke, why is Sukkos called זמן שמחתנו, the time of simchah? Because the men, the women are in the house and they're in the sukkah. Then she didn't do the mitzvah at all. But if you give it to her on condition she should own it. You could give a woman a present on condition that it's hers and no one else has a חלק in it. Anybody could give. A person could walk over to a woman and give her something and say, \"This is for you,\" and you have to specify, \"on condition that it's yours and you could do with it what you want.\" See, children is the problem. You should not allow a child before Bar Mitzvah bentsh esrog on the first day before all the adults bentsht. Because if the child does, there's a problem. When you give it to the child, it becomes his. A child is able to be koneh, to acquire. A child does not have the power of giving. So he could take and not give it back. So therefore, it's finished. So you have to first bentsh yourself and all the adults and then, unless they have a separate one, special. Huh? Normally, if parents bentsh the children and they bentsh, can we use the same instrument twice? Problem, don't do it. Don't do it? Better to bentsh the child before, that child use a second one, someone else's? Yeah. Yeah! How come you said before that in order to, you have to have your own? Does that you have to have your own, or one is supposed to have own? Oh that, if you borrow from somebody, it becomes your own. That's what it means, that when you bentsh it, it has to be yours. It has to be yours. So if you borrow it, and the guy tells you clearly, \"I am lending it to you,\" you are not yotzei the mitzvah. It has to be The minhag is actually to say it. That a in minhagim it says you should say, when you give it to somebody, you say, \"I am giving it to you as a present on condition that you give it back.\" But it has to be a present, that means you have to own it. Did the Rebbe The Rebbe what? He didn't pick it all the tree. Yeah, they brought him a whole bunch, and he would choose from them. I mean they they would to begin with bring him the most beautiful esrogim, the ones that he they knew he wanted. But he would choose. Sure, he would choose esrogim. How do we know what's the finest quality, and is it a certain, after this is a personal thing? Personal? No, there are certain Some people are very careful it should be completely clean. The Rebbe didn't really look so much on the cleanness, but on the shape. He had a certain shape that he preferred, a shape that by most people that was not not considered a nice one, but the Rebbe had his way of looking at it, and there's a certain shape that he always wanted. And then certainly it should be clean, that's also very important. Can the Rebbe describe the shape of The Rebbe's shape? On the tape I'll describe it like this. It says that it should look like a מגדל. A מגדל is like a tower. That's why most people take an esrog that looks on top it's narrow, on the bottom it's wider. The Rebbe would take on the bottom, all the way in the bottom narrow again. And it seems like he learned the פשט מגדל the opposite way, it has to be a tower this way, the bottom. And the Rebbe's used to be a big esrog, always liked a big one, and on on top was fat, and on the bottom was narrower. And then also it should have שקיעות ובליטות, means it should be have a lot of indentations, and the bottom the עוקץ, which is the stem, should stick in. I mean there are a lot of things. You want to take a perfect esrog, has a lot of maalos. Okay. Again, ladies and gentlemen, we will not be here next Monday. Two