Rosh Hashana literally means the head of the year. It's the ultimate day of cheshbon hanefesh, an accounting of the soul, when Hashem assesses our deeds. Rosh Hashana parallels Moshe, the mind of Torah, while Aharon, the heart of the Jewish people embodies the emotional day of divine love, Yom Kippur. The holiday of Sukkot is a combination of the mind and heart. It contains the Rosh Hashana message of the committed holy mind combined with the ecstasy of the heart on Yom Kippur. That is why the holiday has mitzvot in tandem. Sukkah is a mitzvah of ahava. It's comparable to the holy of holies when Hashem lovingly invites us into His home. The lulav is rosh. It represents straight logic and truth. Similarly, wine, a drink that arouses emotion, signifies heart, while water symbolizes Torah knowledge and truth. Since Sukkot is a combination of mind and heart there's a doubling of mitzvot.

The Shem Mishmuel asks, the sukkah commemorates the clouds of glory that surrounded the Jewish people in the desert. Why is there no commemoration for the other two miracles, the well of Miriam and the mohn? The Shem Mishmuel explains that mohn, the food of angels, represents pure intellect. The well of water symbolizes emotions. The clouds of glory served as physical protection from enemies. The mohn came in the merit of Moshe who gave us the Torah. The well came in the merit of Miriam who represents emotional connection to Hashem. Aharon, who took care of the physical needs of every Jew, brought the gift of the clouds of glory.

The mitzvah of sukkah is makif (surrounds us) with holiness. Chassidut teaches that the highest spiritual levels can be attained through physical mitzvot. If one can bring kedusha into the lowest places one has accomplished far more than doing so at a higher level. The mohn and the well helped the Jews emotionally and logically find Hashem. But they didn't last because they didn't reach the lowest physical levels. The clouds of glory, which assisted the Jews at the lowest physical level, is commemorated for all time through the mitzvah of sukkah.

Not everyone can reach the lofty emotional and intellectual levels of other mitzvot, but anyone can walk into a sukkah, have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake, and fulfill the mitzvah of sitting in a sukkah. We commemorate Aharon and the clouds of glory because the melding of spiritual and physical is the highest level a Jew can reach. The sukkah has a double numerical value of Havaya (mercy) and Adnut (judgment) signifying that sukkah is totality. It's a holiday where separate notions are combined, where mind and heart, mercy and judgment become one.

Best wishes for a chag sameach and a blessed, fruitful, New Year!

Sometimes we fantasize about situations in which our sense of truth is distorted by our emotions. The source of this is the animal soul. After death, an animal descends and doesn't rise. It has no future. The different animal offerings represented different aspects of the animal soul which were liberated or redirected. There's a part of us that's like a goat, hedonistic and desire oriented. This is the source of many of our fantasies. A sheep symbolizes, "Everyone is doing it, so I have to do it too." The cow represents the, "Eat, drink, sleep, mode," and the ram is the part of us that needs to lead. Controlling one's fantasy life means asking oneself, "Is this true? Where am I and who am I?" Dimyon (fantasy) and sechel (logic) can't coexist. When a person does battle with his dimyon he gets sechel hanikna - acquired logic. It becomes almost instinctive until all illusions fade. In gehinom people feel oppressed by the failure of illusions to sustain them and by the brilliance of Torah pointing them out what the truth is. Gehinom is a chesed because it allows the soul to disengage from the fantasies of this world so that one's core self, sechel hanikna, is revealed.

Shlomo Hamelech says, "I prefer those who already passed through this world then those who are living and still struggling in this world to attain the illusions and fantasy that define their lives." The dead are in a state of potential enlightenment as they move closer to the truth. The living are digging their holes deeper and deeper. When a person is spiritually dead they are not making choices anymore. When they repent, they reopen the gates.

Kohelet continues, "And I returned and meditated again and saw foolishness under the sun." This refers to a person who invests all his efforts in working to earn more money. He enjoys the feeling of achievement, power, and entitlement. But in the end where will it all go? Where is his joy and spiritual achievement? Kesef comes from the root word, kisoof, to yearn. Zahav can be read as ze hav give me. People run after money because it spells status, security, and control. But as soon as money becomes an end in itself it loses its value.

"Two are better than one." Rashi explains that in every endeavor it's always better to share it with someone else. The first commandment in the Torah is to marry. Chazal tells us to acquire a friend. We were created to imitate Hashem who is always giving. We too must give to others. If a person makes a mistake, only someone close to him will care enough to correct him. Life is not about sheleimut (perfection), it's about progress. The only way up is through failure and getting up again. It's at our low points when we need encouragement to rise again, that a devoted spouse or close friend proves invaluable.