Sukkot and Sharing (KB)

During the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, most of the energy was the level of what “I need.” We tapped into this energy to ask the Creator to grant me forgiveness, to forgive and be good to my family, to help with my financials, my life, my happiness. Everything during this time was really mostly for me. Sukkot represents an entirely different kind of energy. Sukkot is connected with the Right Column of Energy, which is pure mercy and sharing. This is why on each day of Sukkot, we give a special sacrifice for the other nations of the world. This is also the reason that we are supposed to invite guests into our sukkah so that we all can participate in its energy, not only for ourselves but for others as well. The word “sukkah” in Hebrew has a numerical value of 91. Does that ring a bell? For those of you who are learning a little bit of gematria (kabbalistic numerology), you know that 91 is the numerical value of Amen. What is the correlation between these words? First of all, the sukkah itself for us is like what the belly of the whale was for Jonah in the Bible: a place of respite from the stormy seas of life; a place that will nourish us and bring us to a place of energy for the entire year. It is said in the ancient kabbalistic writings that during the week of Sukkot, we are supposed to treat the sukkah as if it is our home: We should live it in, including eating and sleeping within its walls. But it is also said that if we do not know why we are living in the sukkah, we might as well just stay in our house because being in the sukkah is not going to draw anything to us that is really positive. The way we connect to the sukkah’s energy is through our effort to share, to care, to love and extend of ourselves. This is why the numerical value of the sukkah is the same as that of Amen. When a person makes any blessing in public—whether on food or wine or seeing a rainbow, whatever the blessing is over—another person needs to say “Amen,” which means: "I also agree that this blessing is not only for one, but also to share." The significance of the numerical value of 91 is generally representative of the Divine Energy of sharing that is channeled into our physical world. By being in the sukkah and bringing our energy into alignment with that Infinite Force, we can draw of Its sustenance and benevolence for the year to come.