Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles is now upon us! This moed is not only one of the great pilgrimage feasts of the year, but it is also a great time of rejoicing shortly after a day of great solace and humbling known as Yom Kippur. The two greatly contrast with one another, almost causing a bit of emotional whiplash.

Interestingly enough, Sukkot is meant to remind us of our time in the wilderness. As Leviticus 23:42-44 states:

You are to live in sukkot for seven days. All the native-born in Israel are to live in sukkot, so that your generations may know that I had Bnei-Yisrael to dwell in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am ADONAI your God.”

Like many other moedim, Sukkot is about memorializing what God has done for us as He brought us through a difficult time. One could say it exemplifies one of God’s characteristics, ADONAI Perez – the God of the Breakthrough.

Yet, one could argue that Sukkot signifies this process the best. Sukkot is the plural form of sukkah. This Hebrew word is often directly translated as booth or tabernacle; however, it can also refer to shelter with its root meaning to cover or defend.

This pattern is found in Psalms 27:5:

For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His sukkah, conceal me in the shelter of His tent, and set me high upon a rock.

Furthermore, it is seen in Psalm 31:21(20):

In the shelter of Your presence You hide them from people’s plots. You conceal them in a sukkah from the strife of tongues.

What I found to be quite interesting, was the presence of the Hebrew word “seter” alongside the word Sukkah. Seter is the hidden or place where God dwells. It appeared to me that these two concepts were intrinsically linked. As Psalm 91 says:

He who dwells in the shelter of Elyon, will abide in the shadow of Shaddai.

It is my hope that this Sukkot season, you are reminded that we rejoice because God has gone beyond breaking through our circumstance to becoming a place for us to dwell and be protected by Him. A place where you can find healing and direction from the Almighty.

This Sukkot, take to heart what it symbolizes this year and every year – that ADONAI Elohei-Tzva'ot has you in the palm of His hand. Our father in Heaven is welcoming you into his Sukkah and into an eternal relationship with Him. One where you can not only feel His love but also the warm embrace of his covenantal love – His chesed.

It says in John 1:14:

And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Here we see that God sent the embodiment of His presence, His one and only Son, to tabernacle among us. This event changed the entire world and is the very measurement of time itself.

Let this Feast of Tabernacles not just be a temporary shelter from the world but let it become a permanent place you can find Him. It is in the hidden place that God can transform you and bring you peace.

Shalom Aleichem and Chag Sameach!