“Sukkot, following the contemplative days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is, in essence, a continuation of the same teshuvah process, but with a special emphasis on joy and integration.

What began on Rosh Hashanah as… idealistic longings of the heart must now be actualized within the real world. The Torah commands us to shake the four species…on Sukkot in six directions… [This process] represents the hands-on integration of the deep introspection and prayers of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur… All the… prayers born in the heart and mind and represented by the blasts of the shofar and the incense cloud must now find the means to manifest themselves in the outside world.

[In addition], when a Jew sits in the sukkah – underneath the sechach, which symbolizes the Shechinah’s protective wings – it is just as if he is in the Holy of Holies. The High Priest’s experience when he entered the innermost sanctuary and the transcendent experience every Jew had when hearing the shofar blasts are transformed into the physical space of the sukkah.

For an entire week, we are enveloped by the Shechinah and encouraged to meditate on the deepest stirrings of our hearts and souls. By shaking the four species over the course of the holiday we symbolically translate these feelings into a practical plan of action to be put into play in the new year.”