Why Is Sukkot the Time of Our Joy? 5 Reasons to Celebrate

The commandment to rejoice on Sukkot is mentioned three times in the Torah:

“You shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a beautiful tree, branches of date palms, a bough of a leafy tree, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoicebefore Hashem your God for seven days” (Leviticus 23:40).

“You shall observe the Festival of Sukkot for seven days, when you gather in from your threshing floor and your winepress. You shall rejoice on your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your servant, your maidservant, the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow who are within your gates. For seven days you shall celebrate for Hashem your God in the place that Hashem will choose, for Hashem your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be only joyful” (Deuteronomy 16:13–15).

1. The Joy of Forgiveness

The Vilna Gaon explains the verse in Song of Songs, “The King has brought me into His chambers; we will rejoice and be glad in You,” as referring to Sukkot. “The King has brought me into His chambers” refers to Hashem commanding us to enter the sukkah, while “we will rejoice and be glad in You” refers to Sukkot, the festival known as zman simchateinu, “the time of our rejoicing.”

What exactly are we celebrating?

When the Jewish people sinned with the Golden Calf, the Clouds of Glory that had accompanied them during their journey through the desert departed. On Yom Kippur, the Jewish people received forgiveness. The following day, on the 11th of Tishrei, Moshe instructed them regarding the construction of the Mishkan. On the 13th and 14th of Tishrei, they brought their donations of gold and silver, and on the 15th the work on the Mishkan began. The Clouds of Glory then returned to surround the Jewish people.

The return of the Clouds was a tangible sign of Hashem’s forgiveness. Sukkot therefore expresses the tremendous joy that follows the forgiveness of Yom Kippur. Every year, after receiving forgiveness and atonement, we enter the sukkah, which commemorates the Clouds of Glory and represents the Divine Presence surrounding us.

The Sefat Emet similarly explains that Sukkot is called “the time of our rejoicing” because joy follows the purification of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Sin creates spiritual complications and distortions within the heart. After the days of purification, the heart becomes straight again, allowing joy to emerge.

2. Celebrating Both Spiritual and Material Blessing

The Midrash explains that there are two reasons for the special joy of Sukkot. First, the Jewish people have emerged from Yom Kippur with a favorable judgment. Second, Sukkot comes at the time of the harvest, when the grain and fruit have been gathered and the storehouses are full.

For this reason the Torah repeatedly emphasizes joy in connection with Sukkot: “You shall rejoice on your festival,” “You shall rejoice before Hashem your God,” and “You shall be only joyful” (Pesikta D’Rav Kahana).

The Sefer HaChinuch explains that this season naturally brings happiness because it is a time of material abundance. A person sees the produce that has been gathered into his home and naturally feels satisfaction and joy. The Torah teaches us to elevate that happiness and direct it toward Hashem.

This is also part of the purpose of the mitzvah of the Four Species. At precisely the time when material success could absorb our attention, we hold objects that remind us that the ultimate purpose of our happiness is to rejoice before Hashem and honor Him.

3. The Sukkah as Hashem’s Embrace

Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the author of the Tanya, describes Sukkot through the verse, “His right hand embraces me.”

When a person embraces someone out of love, he surrounds that person and draws them close. In a similar way, the walls and sechach of the sukkah represent Hashem’s embrace. We enter the sukkah and find ourselves surrounded on every side by a mitzvah.

In this sense, the sukkah is more than a temporary structure. It represents the closeness and love between Hashem and the Jewish people. After the awe and repentance of the High Holidays, Sukkot allows us to experience that relationship as an embrace.

4. The Freedom of Remembering What Is Temporary

Leaving our permanent homes and moving into the temporary dwelling of the sukkah also teaches us something fundamental about life: this world itself is temporary.

Our difficulties are temporary challenges. The material achievements we pursue will not accompany us into eternity. The sukkah reminds us not to give the struggles and disappointments of this world more weight than they deserve.

This perspective can itself become a source of joy. Challenges are placed into proportion, disappointments become less overwhelming, and the desire for material things we have not attained can lose some of its hold over us.

The sukkah is temporary, and it reminds us that many of the things that trouble us are temporary as well.

5. Joy as a Vessel for Spiritual Life

During the time of the Beit HaMikdash, wine was poured upon the altar with the daily morning offering. On Sukkot, there was an additional water libation using water drawn from the Shiloach spring at dawn.

Throughout the nights of Chol HaMoed, with the exception of Shabbat, extraordinary celebrations accompanied the drawing of the water and its libation upon the altar. This celebration was known as Simchat Beit HaShoeva.

The Talmud describes its joy in remarkable terms: “One who never saw the rejoicing at the Place of the Water Drawing never saw rejoicing in his life” (Sukkah 51a).

The Sefat Emet reveals a deeper dimension of this joy. The Sages teach that at the Simchat Beit HaShoeva, people would “draw” Ruach HaKodesh, Divine inspiration. The Sefat Emet explains that joy itself is the vessel through which the living waters of Divine inspiration can be drawn. The more a person connects to the true source of life, Hashem, the more that spiritual vitality can spread throughout every part of the person.

He adds that the spiritual illumination of the entire year depends in a special way upon the seven days of Sukkot, and the vessel through which we receive that illumination is joy.

Sukkot therefore teaches us that joy is far more than a pleasant emotion. It can be a spiritual state that opens us to gratitude, closeness to Hashem, perspective, and a deeper awareness of the blessings already present in our lives.