Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot: How Does the Sukkah Bridge Between Heaven and Earth?

 

Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot 

How Does the Sukkah Bridge Between Heaven and Earth? 

What is the Significance of the Fragrance of the Sukkah? 

Sukkot is one of my favorite holidays, although each of our festivals carries its own beloved flavor. What I cherish most is the fragrance of the Sukkah. I can still recall the special spiritual scent from my childhood sukkah in my secular Jewish school, and to this day, I decorate our sukkah with lavender and other fragrant herbs. Yet beyond the physical aroma, I yearn to sense the lingering elevation of Yom Kippur within the atmosphere of the sukkah. Having done teshuva and received atonement, we can no longer be confined within the hard walls of our homes. We long to break free from the constriction of selfishness that so often defines the houses of our daily life. Emerging from Yom Kippur, we feel as if we lack a true home – one that can hold our newly expanded neshamah. We no longer desire protection from wood and stone alone, but from a dwelling that proclaims at every moment how Hashem alone is our shield. We do not want to live in a house that blocks the heavens; we yearn for a sukkah open to the stars, where every little glimmer whispers a message of light from Above. 

After Yom Kippur, when Hashem has purified my heart, I feel at one with all of Am Yisrael, and even with the entire world. All sukkot are, in essence, one great Sukkah, for Hashem desires that every Jew dwell together beneath the same shelter (Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 27b; Rav Shlomo Carlebach, Lev Hashamayim, Sukkot, pp. 239–240).  

Here in Bat Ayin, we can glimpse this unity, as songs and prayers rise from every sukkah and weave together in the night air. The local custom of preparing candies for children who go sukkah-hopping adds to this shared joy and connection. The fragrance of the sukkah embodies the unity as well: scent is created by the merging of aromas, blending into something greater than each part. More than any other sense, smell bridges the physical and the spiritual. It is rooted in the body, yet it reaches into the soul. Thus, the fragrance of the sukkah reveals the deepest secret of sukkot – the spiritual dimension hidden within the physical. 

 

What is the Connection between Sukkah, the Word Amen, and Angels? 

The gematria of סֻכָּה/sukkah is 91, which arises from the unification of Hashem’s two Names: י־ה־ו־ה/yud/key/vav/key – the Name of mercy (26), and א־ד־נ־י/alef/dalet/nun/yud – the Name of kingship and sovereignty (65). Together 26 + 65 equals 91. Thus, sitting in the sukkah means entering a space where the Names of Hashem are joined – where His transcendent mercy (Y-H-V-H) is fused with His immanent rulership (Adnut). The sukkah envelops us like a Divine embrace, sheltering us under this unification of G-d’s attributes. The same gematria appears in the word אָמֵן/Amen. When we answer “Amen,” we are not merely agreeing; we are actively affirming the unity of Hashem’s Names. We connect Heaven and Earth, transcendence and immanence, mercy and judgment.  

Remarkably, the word מַלְאָךְ/malach – ‘angel’ also equals 91. Angels serve as emissaries that carry Hashem’s will from the higher realms into our world – from Above to below. They serve as channels between Heaven and Earth, just as the sukkah bridges human existence with the Divine. In this sense, the sukkah itself becomes like an angelic presence surrounding us – a messenger of Divine presence, a shield of holiness, and a channel of blessing, embodying Divine protection and guidance. In this way, sukkah, Amen, and malach – all sharing the gematria of 91 – embody the same mystery: they are bridges that connect spirit and body, mercy and judgment, Above and below.  

The sukkah is the physical channel of Hashem’s protective presence. Amen is the verbal channel of affirming Hashem’s unity. Angels are spiritual channels through which Hashem’s influence flows into the world. Together, they reveal that the sukkah is not just a temporary booth, but a structure of Divine unification and angelic protection, where every breath and word of Amen further strengthens the bond between us and Hashem. 

How Do the Ushpizin – Spiritual Sukkah Guests – Embody the Unity of Hashem’s Names?   
The unity of the sukkah finds further expression in the Ushpizin – the seven spiritual guests we welcome each night: Avraham, Yitzchak, Ya’acov, Moshe, Aharon, Yosef, and David. Each corresponds to a Divine attribute (sefirah) and brings angelic light, blessing, and guidance into our temporary dwelling. When we welcome them, we are not merely recalling ancestral figures, but drawing down their living presence and spiritual qualities into our sukkah. Avraham infuses kindness, Yitzchak strengthens awe, Ya’acov radiates truth and harmony, Moshe channels Torah, Aharon brings peace, Yosef embodies holiness in the physical world, and David establishes kingship. Together, they form a complete spiritual structure that mirrors the very unity of Hashem’s Names within the sukkah. 

Just as the sukkah itself unifies the transcendent and immanent aspects of Hashem, the Ushpizin embody the angelic channels of this unification, ensuring that each night of sukkot is illuminated by a different facet of Divine light – infused with the presence of a distinctive heavenly messenger. 

In this way, the sukkah becomes not only a shelter but also a living sanctuary where human beings, angels, and the souls of our forefathers converge. 

Thus, sukkah, Amen, and malach all embody the same mystery: they are bridges that connect spirit and body, mercy and judgment, Heaven and Earth, above and below. To sit in the sukkah, to say Amen, and to welcome the Ushpizin is to participate in the living unity of Hashem’s Names, the very essence of 91. 

What is the Connection Between Dwelling in the Sukkah and Living in Eretz Yisrael? 
There are three mitzvot we fulfill with our entire body – to dwell in the sukkah, to immerse in the mikvah, and to live in Eretz Yisrael. Each of these mitzvot entails placing our entire being within the embrace of Hashem. Through them, His presence surrounds us, drawing holiness even into the simplest and most ordinary moments. 
In the sukkah, our whole being is enveloped in holiness on every side. In the mikvah, our body and soul are entirely immersed and reborn in purity. In Eretz Yisrael, our complete existence – body, soul, daily rhythm, and spiritual striving – is lived within the sanctity of the Land. Just as the sukkah unites Hashem’s Names and shelters us in an angelic embrace, so too the Land of Israel itself embodies this unification, where the physical earth and the spiritual covenant meet. Living in Eretz Yisrael is not simply about residing on a piece of land. Rather, it is like entering into a boundless sukkah, where every breath, every step, and every harvest is infused with Divine presence. 

According to the Vilna Gaon, there are two mitzvot in which a person literally “enters into the mitzvah” with their entire being – sukkah and Eretz Yisrael. This teaching is rooted in the verse וַיְהִי בְשָׁלֵם סֻכּוֹ וּמְעוֹנָתוֹ בְצִיּוֹן – “His sukkah was in Shalem, and His dwelling place in Zion” (Tehillim 76:3). Later sources extend this idea to include the mikvah as well, where the body is wholly immersed. The Gaon explained that both the sukkah and the Land of Israel are places where the body itself becomes the vessel of the mitzvah. Whether crossing the border into the Land or stepping into the sukkah, we are surrounded and held completely by the mitzvah – even in the simplest acts of eating, sleeping, walking, or simply being. In these holy spaces, even the simplest acts are elevated beyond the ordinary, transforming those very acts into mitzvot (Rav Hillel of Shklov, Kol HaTor 1:7).