“…that you may be clean from all your sins before Hashem.” (Vayikra 16:30)

“and you shall rejoice before the Hashem your G-d…” (Devarim 16:11)

As we move out of “Yom Kippur Mode” (a day on which we say “…that you may be clean from all your sins before Hashem.”) and into “Sukkos Mode” (a time when we say, “and you shall rejoice before Hashem your G-d…”). These verses share “before Hashem”, yet they seem to represent two very different types of relationships!

On Yom Kippur we stand in awe and shame before Hakadosh Baruch Hu as He reviews our inner thoughts and murky past. Yet somehow through this process we become purified. But on Succos, we have an obligation to rejoice in front of G‑d. What is the meaning of this verse and how does it relate to the first verse?

I would like to explain this based on an idea I saw from Rav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi (b. 1929). Hopefully, on Yom Kippur, with true introspection and awareness of our negative traits and qualities, we had true remorse. Not only do we wish to never do them again, but we understand the audacity of performing those inappropriate acts in front of Hashem. But if we are happy on Sukkos, then we are happy – and if G-d happens to be around, that’s good, too! So, what does it mean to actually rejoice in front of G-d?

Rabbi Ezrachi continues by quoting a famous gemora (Sukkah 11b) about the idea behind the festival of Succos. One Rabbi says it is to remind us of the huts we lived in during our travels in the desert. The other Rabbi says it is to remind us of the Clouds of Glory which protected us in the desert. It’s easier to understand that to live in Clouds of Glory in this world can only be accomplished with the help of Hashem, showing our connection to Him. Whereas dwelling in wooden huts doesn’t seem to have those same spiritual qualities.

In fact, it’s really the other way around. Where did they get the building materials with which to build these huts? Did the Bnei Yisrael just stumble upon a forest in the desert, which had enough wood for them to make their huts?! (We know that Yaakov Avinu prepared cedars in advance in order for us to have cedar wood, but that was just for the Mishkan.) In reality Hashem just supplied the wood to the Bnei Yisrael out of nowhere. While this sublime miracle did not, at first, seem to have a purpose, it was necessary prior to our entering the Holy Land to teach us that Hashem can make the impossible appear to happen naturally.

In modern terminology, living in these huts in the desert could be considered as Hashem meeting us in our “comfort zone”, as we could dwell “normally” in the desert. The clouds of glory, on the other hand, gave us an unbelievable feeling of being special by having us under direct protection from Hashem. Both create the ultimate happiness with Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

On Sukkos we indeed must be happy, but it should be in a way that we feel extra closeness to Hashem. But will that come from feeling “taken care of” in our everyday “normal” existence, like the opinion that our Sukkah commemorates the huts, or by Hashem showing His extra love through the out of the ordinary, like the opinion that the Clouds of Glory are being commemorated.

Most of us have been in situations where after wronging a fellow Jew we asked forgiveness from the depths of our hearts, and when they forgave us, we felt closer to them. This is the connection between “before Hashem you shall be purified”, and then, on Succos, we celebrate our increased closeness to Hashem, by our joy “before Hashem” in our physical or spiritual Sukkah.

May we merit to be happy “before Hashem” for all He has given to us, as we sit and live in our Sukkahs.