There is a famous גזרה שווה—a linkage between two topics based on similar/exact wording—between Pesach and Sukkos known as ט''ו/ט''ו. That is, the Torah tells us that both Sukkos and Pesach occur on the 15th of their respective months. They are the only holidays in the Jewish calendar that occur on the 15th of their respective months. Moshe Rabeinu learned at Mt. Sinai that this fact links these two holidays, and we can learn details of their observance from one to the other. For example, since we must eat a chunk of matzah after nightfall on the night of Pesach, we must also eat a chunk of bread in our sukkah on the first night; that is, even if we are uncomfortable. See the gemara for more details.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but this גזרה שווה just irks me. I mean, the Torah has to tell us when to celebrate the holiday, so it just doesn't fit the usual pattern on גזרה שווה for me. I have tried—with spectacular lack of success—to get anyone to even hear what I am talking about. Ok; that's my problem. However, because I am irked, I have done a lot of thinking about the deeper connection between Pesach and Sukkos that they have this (ahem) wild/crazy link between them. The same people didn't find the גזרה שווה irksome did, nonetheless, like the connection. It takes very little to encourage me.
Here are my favorite jokes about אמונה:
A man is hiking alone, stumbles, and falls over a cliff. Baruch HaShem, he just manages to grab a branch and avert -- for the time being-- plummeting to his death into the rocky canyon below. He screams and yells for help; but to no avail. Suddenly, the clouds part and he hears a deep voice from above saying, "I can help you." He looks up and says, "Is that you, HaShem?!" "Yes," the voice confirms, and continues, "I can help you." "Oh, Baruch HaShem; Baruch HaShem!" "All you have to do it to have אמונה." "Of course! Baruch HaShem! I mean:
"Perfect! Just let go of the branch." The man thinks for a moment, then looks up and calls out, "Is there anyone else up there that can anyone else help me?"
A man has an urgent appointment in downtown Manhattan. He is circling the block searching for a parking place, but to no avail. He utters a sincere prayer, "HaShem, please help me! This meeting is so important to me. Please, please; I just need a parking place!" As he finishes his plea, a car suddenly pulls out, leaving an empty space for him to park. There are dozens of cars looking, but the car pulls out in such a way that only he can get into the space. As he sees this happening, he looks heaven ward and says, "HaShem... never mind, I found a spot."
The Nefesh HaChaim says that we always say the verses of שמע ישראל and ברוך שם כבוד together because they are really two sides of the same "HaShem runs the world" coin. שמע ישראל is, so to speak, "top down"; HaShem is revealed and our connection is apparent. ברוך שם כבוד, on the other hand, is our continual efforts in this physical world to uncover and express HaShem's involvement in this world.
I would like to suggest that Pesach and Sukkos are similarly two sides of the same אמונה coin. The entire theme of Pesach is Go Big and Go Loud. There is nothing subtle about the plagues, splitting the sea, destruction of Paroh's army and cavalry. If anything in the history of mankind was Go Big and Go Loud, it was the Exodus from Egypt. I mean, just check out what they said about the movie! Pesach is letting go of the branch.
Sukkos, on the other hand, represents either huts or clouds. Day-to-day living. No big deal. Well, it was living in a wilderness. I mean, there was no natural source of food, but we did have to go shopping every single day. There was no natural source of water, but we still had to dig irrigation ditches at each encampment and fill our Owala travel mugs. Sukkos is finding that parking space in downtown Manhattan.
You can leave now, if you like, but I have one more point I would like to add. You can leave if you want, but I think this last thing is very cool and caps this discussion with a nice perspective. Up to you.
I heard an incredibly well-prepared shiur between mincha and ma'ariv going into the second night of Sukkos. The topic was whether building the sukkah is just a necessary preparation to be able to fulfill the mitzvah of sitting in the sukkah, or is the act of building the sukkah in and of itself a mitzvah? The conclusion was that building is not simply a preparation but is actually a mitzvah itself. If you missed it and ever have the chance to go back in time to listen to it, don't miss the opportunity.
But that got me thinking. Since building the sukkah is itself a mitzvah, there must be some connection to HaShem that is being added. Building the sukkah is perfecting our souls in a way that we could not achieve by simply putting our whole bodies into the sukkah for a week.
What makes the sukkah? The סכך. What is סכך? It is basically what is left over after we take what we need for our food. The sukkah, whose very name means "structure of סכך," is made of the stuff that we found annoying because we had to pull it away to get to our food. We would never have grown סכך. If we could find a way to be more efficient and grow food without the extra stuff, we would. But now we come to build the sukkah, to perform the mitzvah of building the sukkah—and remember, we are only in this world to perform Torah and mitzvos—and we discover that the food was only a way to get us to grow the סכך.
Back to our jokes. The branch is not there to save you from falling down the cliff. The cliff is there to give you an opportunity to let go of the branch. That parking space isn't helping you get to your meeting. The important meeting is to get you downtown so you could thank HaShem for opening that parking space for you.
Pesach—let go of the branch; Sukkos—Thank HaShem for the parking space; Building the Sukkah—there is no branch; there is no parking place; it's all HaShem.
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