Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot: Do You Know the Book or the Author?

Why are we prohibited from doing so many material actions on God’s holy days? Shouldn’t these days be completely free and liberating?

And today we come upon a convergence of three of them – Shabbat, Sukkot and Shemitah. But there are significant differences in the type of work forbidden on each of these days. What distinguishes them?

The secret power of these holy days is that they allow us to link to the Source itself and not just to the details. Think of it like a machine and its engineer, a book and its author.

On regular days, we connect to the Author of the Universe indirectly, through the letters and words of His creation, which make up the Book of the World, so to speak. On God’s holy days we connect with the Author directly, and we have three special ways to do that: the Shabbat way, the Sukkot way and the Shemitah way.

When we connect with the Author of the Universe directly then everything in the world has the potential of being transformed into spiritual light. Everything – even the weapons of war.

Today’s Haftorah prophesies about a time when all the weapons of the world will be used as fuel for Israel’s spiritual bonfire. And it says that this blazing flame of soul will crackle for seven years. After that there will be no more bloodshed and no more war, and the burning weapons shall warm and illuminate instead of causing destruction.

The convergence of Shabbat, Sukkot, and Shemitah (the seventh year) – and their intriguing differences – shows us how we can make it happen now!