The days between Yom Kippur and Sukkos:
There are five days between Yom Kippur and Sukkos. These are seen as an extension to the days of atonement. This is seen in the Midrash that says Sukkos is the first day for calculating a person’s sins. This implies that these intermediate days are free from sin. The Yaros Devash sees an allusion to this in the word HaSatan. It has the numerical value of 364. This alludes to the fact that no new evil inclination is in place on Yom Kippur. He points out that this word has an additional Hei. This has a numerical value of five, alluding to these five days that are also limited in sin. Hence calculation of sin only starts again from the first day of Sukkos!
Erev Sukkos:
There is some special emphasis placed on not sleeping and giving charity on Erev Sukkos. On every Erev Yom Tuv and Shabbos we should not eat properly, certainly in the afternoon, in order to give an appetite for the festive meals. On Sukkos, besides for the eating and drinking like other festive meals, there is the addition of sleeping in a Sukka. Just like the desire for festive food is done through minimising eating the day before so too by Sukkos does this extend to sleep! An allusion to tzedoka and the Sukka is seen in the numerical value of tzedoka, 199 that is seen in the dimensions of a sukka. The minimum sukka has to have two whole walls of 7 tefochim long with 10 tefochim tall (7×10 for 2 walls equals 140) and a third wall of one tefach and ten tall (equals 10) and it needs the sechach to cover this area, 7 by 7 tefochim (equals 49) that totals 199!
Sukkos – Overview of the days:
Sukkos is the last of the three festivals and the follow-on from the Yomim Noiroim. It comes in the middle of the month of Tishrei and has two main mitzvos – living in the Sukka for seven days and the taking of the Arba Minim. Women are exempt from this time dependent mitzvos. It starts and finishes with the day of Yom Tuv and in between has days of Chol Hamoed the last having the special name of Hoshana Rabba. On Shabbos Chol Hamoed, Megillas Koheles is read. The last Yom Tuv is called Shemini Atzeres that in certain aspects is a separate Yom Tuv and is when we start davening for rain, and Simchas Torah, when we finish the Five Chumoshim and start again that is accompanied by much rejoicing.
Sukkos – the end of the cycles:
There are many special days in the Jewish Year but only three merit to be grouped together and called the Sholosh Regolim, Three Festivals – Pesach, Shavuous and Sukkos. These parallel the three stages for produce in the fields: when the new grain crop is released, is cut and by Sukkos when it is gathered in. Additionally, Sukkos is seen as the climax of the cycle of the Yomim Noiroim that started by Rosh Hashana.
Why is Sukkos postponed to Tishrei?
The Tur asks that since Sukkos remembers the booths used by the Jews upon leaving Mitzrayim in the month of Nissan, why do we not celebrate Sukkos in Nissan – why wait until Tishrei? He answers that in Nissan this mitzva would not be recognisable since it is hot and even non-Jews go into huts to protect from the heat. Also, this would not show any difficulty and sacrifice for the mitzva by the Jews and so it was postponed until the end of the autumn, at the beginning of the rainy season. This does not answer why specially fix it to the 15th of this month? We could answer since this is the date for other festivals like Pesach as this is when the moon, to which the Jews are compared to, is fullest.
However, the Vilna Gaon offers a different explanation. The sukkos remind us of the Ananei Kovoid, Clouds of Glory, that accompanied the Jews when leaving Mitzrayim and living in the desert. However, with the Cheit HoEgel they disappeared and did not return until the start of the building of the Mishkon. Moshe descended on Yom Kippur, the 10th of Tishrei, and on the next day commanded them about the Mishkon and the people brought donations for two days, making it the 13th. On the 14th the specialists took the materials and on the 15th of Thsirei started building the Mishkon and then the Ananei Kovod, representing the Sukka, returned. This is why we celebrate Sukkos on the 15th of Tishrei.
Sukkos and rain?
Sukkos is the time of year when Hashem judges the rainfall for the year. It is also the end time when a person is judged – the last day of Sukkos, known as Hoshana Rabba, when the messengers are sent out to carry out the decrees.