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All the Jewish holidays are connected to some object: On Rosh Hashana we sound the Shofar, on Sukkot we build a Sukkah, on Chanuka we light the Chanukiya, on Pesach we eat Matsa etc.
Naturally, all these objects need to be of a specific size. A chair 3 cm high cannot count as a chair, since no one can sit on it, but a chair 3 meters high is not suitable either. Therefore, Jewish law is full of technical details, from the minimum amount of Matza one must eat until the maximum height of a Chanukiya.
A Sukkah is a “temporary dwelling” where we stay for the duration of Sukkot. In order for it to fit this description, it cannot be very low, since a Sukkah’s lower than 81,7 centimeters cannot be considered a dwelling as someone can only crawl in there. On the other hand, a Sukkah higher than 9,6 meters is not a temporary dwelling.
The sources in the Talmud that speak about the Sukkah look like instruction of a “Do It Yourself”. But this detailed guide is missing an important detail: the maximum length and width of the Sukkah. Because there is none: we can build the Sukkah in the size of a city, a country of even a continent and the Sukkah will be Kosher.
Why? The Talmud declares that all Jews are worthy of sitting together in one Sukkah.
Every holiday has a central theme. For Pesach it is freedom, for Shavuot it is the study of the Torah etc. The central theme of Sukkot is the unity of the Jewish people. This unity is reflected in the 2 Mitsvot of the Holiday: The Sukkah, where we all sit together, and the 4 Kinds, which symbolize various type of people, but we shake them all together.
Everyone sits in the Sukkot, everyone is welcome. This is why there is no limit to the length and width of a Sukkot, so we should make it big and welcoming.
Let’s think of something small we can do for this beautiful theme of the Holiday, the unity, to inspire our daily lives.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!
Hanna
