What is the purpose of sitting in the Sukkah? Let's take a look at a few commentators. The first is from
Isaac Aboab
a 14th century
Talmudic
scholar living in Spain. He said:
The commandment to dwell in the Sukkah is intended to teach us that a person must not put his/her trust in the size or strength or salutary conveniences of his house, even though it is filled with the best of everything; nor should he/she rely on the help of any person, even if that person is the lord of the land. But let him/her put trust in G-d whose word called the universe into being, for G-d alone is mighty and faithful, and G-d does not retract what G-d promises. (Menorat Ha-Maor 3.6.1)
Rashbam (Samuel Ben Maier, 12th century France) taught that the Sukkah was about humility. He said in his commentary to Leviticus 23:43 the following:
Do not say in your heart, "My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me" (Deuteronomy 8:17); you should remember that the Lord your G-d, as it is G-d who gives you strength to make progress. Therefore, the people leave [their] houses, which are full of everything good, at the season of the ingathering, and dwell in booths, as a reminder of those who had no possessions in the wilderness and no houses in which to live. For this reason, the Holy One established the Feast of the Tabernacles.....[so] that the people should not be proud of their well-furnished houses.
Rashi (10th century France) said that the walls of each Sukkah were actually G-d's "cloud of glory", i.e. The cloud that led the Israelites through the desert. Thus, even though the walls may seem fragile, they are capable of providing protection.
As a harvest holiday, residing in the Sukkah helps us to commune with the natural environment around us.
The 7 days of dwelling in the Sukkah may represent the shift from our "near-death" experience on Yom Kippur and our reintroduction back into the return to the world. The Sukkah thus becomes a weigh station between that experience and the real world.
While the Sukkah experience is unique and fun, it is not always comfortable. In fact we find ourselves living outside and the weather is beginning to turn crisp and the wind may be blowing. Our senses are heightened to our surroundings. We hear the wind, we hear the sounds of the outside. Some of us sneeze from the musty smell. While we are tuned into the beauty of our surroundings, we are also, on some level, made cognizant of the fragility of life.
The fragility of life became highlighted for us on the first day of Sukkot. After we went into our beautiful JCC Sukkah for a lovely Kiddush luncheon. As we were sitting and eating, suddenly one of our congregants began choking on food. We sat and watched with concern as she stood with a panicked look in her face. Luckily my brother had joined us for Sukkot and was sitting three seats away from the choker. As a doctor, my brother immediately went to her aid and performed the Heimlich Maneuver. The food was dislodged and it was determined that the congregant was okay. Nervously we all began to talk amongst ourselves and eat.
This narrow brush with disaster illustrates why we sit in the Sukkah. In life, just as in the Sukkah, there is only a thin wall between us and a problem. We need to be aware of this and we need to be prepared.
If my brother hadn't known how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver, something tragic might have happened. It is for this reason that we should each make it a goal this year to take a CPR class, or at least learn how to properly perform the Heimlich Maneuver.
We have decided to look into sponsoring a class to learn these important skills. Look for more on this in the future.
Shabbat Shalom and Moadim L'Simcha - Rabbi Michael S. Jay
The Jewish Community Center of LBI 
SUPPA IN THE SUKKA
1948. 
MOVIE NITE AT THE JCC
