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Although we are required to rejoice on all festivals, there was special rejoicing in the Temple during the Sukkoth festival, as it is written: "You shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days" (Leviticus 23:40). How was this done? On the day preceding the first day of Sukkoth, a raised section for women and a lower section for men were prepared in the Temple, so that they might not mix. They began to celebrate at the conclusion of the first day of the festival. On each day of Hol ha-Mo'ed, the celebrations began after the daily afternoon sacrifice and continued for the rest of the day and the entire night.

How was this celebration observed? Flutes were sounded, and harps, lyres and cymbals were played. Anyone who could play an instrument, played it; anyone who could sing, sang. They danced, clapping hands and leaping, each one to the best of his ability. However, this celebration was not permitted on the Sabbath or on the first day of the festival.

It was a religious duty to observe this celebration as much as possible. Ignorant individuals, or anybody who wished [to participate] took no leading part in it. Only great Jewish scholars, heads of academies, members of the Sanhedrin, elders, and men of piety and good deeds danced, clapped hands, made music and entertained in the Temple in the days of Sukkoth. Everyone else, men and women, came to watch and listen.

The joy which a person derives from doing good deeds and from loving God, who has commanded us to practise them, is a supreme form of divine worship. Anyone who refrains from experiencing this joy deserves punishment, as it is written: "Because you have not served the Lord your God with joy and with a glad heart" (Deuteronomy 28:47). Anyone who is arrogant and insists on self-glory on such occasions is both a sinner and a fool. King Solomon had this in mind when he said: "Do not glorify yourself in the presence of the King" (Proverbs 25:6). On the other hand, anyone who humbles himself on such occasions is indeed great and honored, for he serves the Lord out of love. David, King of Israel, expressed this thought when he said: "I will make myself even more contemptible than this, humbling myself in my own eyes" (II Samuel 6:22). True greatness and honor are attained only by rejoicing before the Lord, as it is written: "King David was leaping and dancing before the Lord" (II Samuel 6:16).

Another explanation: It is a testimony to the whole world that he [Moses] was appointed by God [to erect] the Tabernacle. R. Issac said: It can be compared to a king who took a wife whom he loved very dearly. In the course of time he became angry with her and deserted her, and her neighbours taunted her, saying, ‘He will no longer return to you.’ Subsequently, the king sent her a message: ‘Prepare my palace and make the beds therein, for I am coming back on such-and-such a day’; and when that day arrived the king returned unto er and became reconciled to her, entering her chamber and eating and drinking with her. Her neighbours at first would not believe all this; but when they scented the fragrant spices, the at once knew that the king had become reconciled unto her. In like manner did God love Israel, bringing them before Mount Sinai, giving them the Torah, and them kings, as it say: And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6), but after only forty days they sinned. The beaten nations then said: ‘God will no longer be reconciled unto them,’ as it is said, Men said among the nations: They shall no more sojourn here (Lam. 4:14). But as soon as Moses pleaded for mercy on their behalf, God forgave them, for it says: And the Lord said: I have pardoned according to thy word (Num. 14:20). Moses then said: ‘Master of the World! I personally am quite satisfied because Thou hast no more resentment against Israel in Thine heart.’ The Divine reply was: ‘As thou livest, I will cause My Shechinah to dwell in their midst,’ for it says: And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them (Ex. 25:8). By this shall all nations know that I have forgiven them.’ This is why it says. THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY, because the Tabernacle was a testimony to the Israelites that God had pardoned their sins.

He would say: Beloved is man, since he is created in the image [of God]. A deeper love - it is revealed to him that he is created in the image, as it says (Genesis 9:6): "for in God's image He made man." Beloved are Israel, since they are called children of the Omnipresent.

(18) Rabbi Eliezer Hisma said: the laws of mixed bird offerings and the key to the calculations of menstruation days these, these are the body of the halakhah. The calculation of the equinoxes and gematria are the desserts of wisdom.

ויצאו ויברכו את העם AND THEY CAME OUT AND BLESSED THE PEOPLE — They said the words that conclude “The Prayer of Moses” (Psalms 90:17): “May the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us” — i. e. May it be God’s will that the Shechinah may rest upon the work of your hands (see Rashi on Exodus 39:43). They invoked just this blessing and not another formula because during the whole seven days of the installation when Moses was setting up the Tabernacle and officiating therein and dismantling it daily the Shechinah had not rested upon it and the Israelites felt ashamed, saying to Moses: “O, our Teacher Moses! All the trouble which we have taken was only that the Shechinah may dwell amongst us, so that we may know that the sin of the golden calf has been atoned for on our behalf!” He therefore had said to them (v. 6): “This is the thing which the Lord commanded that ye should do so that the glory of the Lord may appear unto you” (i. e. only after these offerings will have been brought by Aaron (cf. v. 7) will God’s glory appear unto you). My brother Aaron is more worthy and excellent than I am, so that through his sacrifices and ministration the Shechinah will rest upon you, and ye will thereby know that the Omnipresent God has chosen him to bring His Shechinah upon you.

A sukka, that is more than twenty cubits high is unfit. From where are these matters: Rabba said as the verse states: “So that your future generations will know that I caused the children of Israel to reside in sukkot. Up to twenty cubits high, a person is aware that he is residing in a sukka. more than twenty cubits high, a person is not aware that he is residing in a sukka because his eye does not catch sight of the roof.

“And I shall dwell in their midst:” It does not say, “in its midst,” suggesting that the place they are to sanctify for His dwelling is in the midst of the Israelites, who are to surround the Tabernacle with their banners on all four sides. Perhaps these words are God’s response to the desire of the people when they saw at Mount Sinai that God was surrounded by the angels’ banners, while He was a sign in their midst. They lovingly desired that so He should be in their midst. (See Bemidbar Rabba 2:3) So the response of the One who penetrates the human heart was, “Let them make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in it, as they wish.”