After the Yomim Noraim, we are confronted with two mitzvos that are customarily beautified more than any other mitzvos in general: The mitzvah of sukkah and the mitzva of daled minim. Why is it that these mitzvos get the special privilege of being enhanced over most mitzvos?

The Chasam Sofer answers this question and tells us that we would like to beautify all of the mitzvos equally. However, after the Yomim Noraim we grab the first mitzvah that comes our way and we go overboard in beautifying it, in order to express our feelings and say that this is what we would like to do to all mitzvos.

I would like to offer another explanation. There is a story told about a young rabbi who became the Rav of the city of Hamburg. On his first day on the job, a poor woman approached him and said that there is a din torah she would like to have with the richest man in Hamburg. The Rav asked, “Could it wait? Must it be done today?” She answered, “It must be done today. I am going out of my mind. This case must be settled!” The Rav sent a messenger to the rich man asking him to appear at the court case. The rich man said, “When I have time, I will come.” The Rav sent back to the rich man, “You must come immediately! This is a din torah and you must appear!” The rich man again responded to the messenger, “I am the richest man in Hamburg, and you will have to wait.” When the Rav heard this, he sent a message to the rich man saying, “If you don’t appear today, I am going to put you in cherem.” The man immediately appeared, asked the Rav forgiveness, and explained himself as follows: That woman and I have no din torah at all. We were only making sure that you were fit to be a Rav in a city from which there is much pressure from all sides. We now see that you have the strength of character necessary, and you are worthy of our honor. Someone who rises to the occasion when under difficult circumstances shows he is a true servant of Hashem.

Chazal tell us (Yalkut Shimoni 653) that by going into the sukkah, there is an atonement achieved by being in exile (in case it was deserved by a person). A regular person who is kicked out of his home and forced to live in a shabby tent would be despondent about his plight. But when the person realizes that it is an honor to do Hashem’s will by leaving the house, whether it is enjoyable or not, he becomes truly worthy of an atonement. Thus, we decorate our sukkah, celebrating that we are happy to do the Will of Hashem, though it may be unairconditioned.

Similarly, there are many different kinds of people in klal Yisrael with whom we will eventually interact. The mitzvah of the daled minin requires us to take four different species and bind them together (egged) into one unit, just as the Jewish nation is made up of many different people who must all join together to serve Hashem as one unit. When we beautify the the daled minin by uniting them with the mitzvah of egged, we not only enhance this specific mitzvah, but we also show that we appreciate each and every son of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

This is why it is these two mitzvos that we try so hard to beautify. We are showing that we have accepted the service of Hashem, no matter what the difficulties are. And we are also showing that we have accepted “v’ahavta l’reiacha kamocha” to its fullest.

May we truly have a yom tov of “ze keili v’anveinu” – beautifying all of what Hashem gave to us, and be blessed with a year of happiness in all that we do.