Editing Mesechtas Sukkah (section)

=== The Main Essence of the Sukkah - For Shade ===
The Alter Rebbe writes:<blockquote>"In sukkot you shall dwell for seven days, so that your generations will know that I caused the Children of Israel to dwell in sukkot when I took them out of the land of Egypt. These were His clouds of glory that surrounded them for shade so that the heat and sun would not strike them, and as an example of this He commanded us to make sukkot that are made for shade so that we will remember His wonders and awesome deeds."</blockquote>The Rebbe asks what is the Alter Rebbe's addition to the language of the Tur, which states "clouds of glory that surrounded them for shade so that the heat and sun would not strike them." Apparently, the fact that they were "for shade" is included in what he wrote "so that the heat and sun would not strike them," so what does he add by writing "for shade"? Similarly, in the continuation of his language, the Alter Rebbe adds to the Tur's wording - "and as an example of this He commanded us to make sukkot that are made for shade," and these words "that are made for shade" do not appear in the Tur.

The Rebbe explains that the Alter Rebbe is teaching us that from the fact that the verse connects the mitzvah of sukkah to "the clouds of glory that surrounded them for shade," we learn that the definition of the mitzvah of sukkah is that it needs to be "made for shade." This means that in addition to the requirement that the sukkah must have "more shade than sun," the definition and essence of a sukkah is - a sukkah made for shade, and a sukkah that lacks this condition does not have the status of a sukkah at all.

The Rebbe added that one could say that this matter is one of the legal differences between the two opinions regarding whether "I caused them to dwell in sukkot" refers to "actual sukkot" or "clouds of glory": According to the opinion that they were "actual sukkot," the main definition of a sukkah is a temporary dwelling, similar to the sukkot that Israel made in the desert, which were "temporary dwellings." However, according to the opinion that they were "clouds of glory," the sukkot that we make are a remembrance only of this particular aspect of the clouds of glory, "that surrounded them for shade so that the heat and sun would not strike them," and therefore the definition of a sukkah is that it is made for shade.

This foundation is explicit in the language of the Alter Rebbe who wrote "A person does not fulfill his obligation except with a sukkah that is made solely for shade, similar to the clouds of glory. But if it is made also for dwelling... and not only to be sheltered in its shade, or if it is made also to use for modest purposes... or if it is made also for shelter and protection from rain and storms - any sukkah that is not made solely for shade is not a sukkah but a house."

Although in the Gemara itself this condition is mentioned only regarding the kashrut of the sukkah of gentiles, robbers, and shepherds, saying that even though these sukkot were not made for the sake of the mitzvah, they are nevertheless kosher if they were made for shade, the Alter Rebbe writes that this is a condition for every sukkah, to the extent that the intention of its construction needs to be solely for "shade alone," without any mixture of another intention - "to use it (also) for modest purposes," or even that it would be "also for shelter and protection from rain and storms" - because according to the Alter Rebbe, this is the definition of the mitzvah of sukkah, that it should be made for shade alone like the clouds of glory "that surrounded them for shade."