The only instance where the body does not reject a foreign object is in the bearing of a child.

When a child is in the womb, it is a total parasite, taking its nourishment entirely from the mother. Yet it is completely accepted and protected. What is it that brings this protection? The answer is the amniotic fluid, which allows the fetus to grow for its period of nine months.

Each of us has this same amniotic fluid in our lives. It is called the mikveh,. The mikveh is a pool of water that we immerse ourselves in for spiritual cleansing.

At this stage in our lives, however, the amniotic fluid is not about facilitating growth. To grow means that we ourselves need to apply the spiritual tools that we have; in other words, we must use our own resources to spiritually evolve ourselves.

The purpose of the mikveh is to allow us a place of protection from the negative energies that are around us. The water of the mikveh brings us back to a place of neutrality and protection.

Monday night (the 20th) we enter a period of seven days called Sukkot, and the amniotic fluid for us during this period is called the sukkah. The sukkah acts as a protective shield that comes from Above. This shield is the powerful Light of the Creator, which enters our world through the sukkah, allowing us to breathe in the Lifeforce Energy so that we can use the spiritual tools at our disposal to further our spiritual growth.

As the mother is to the child, the Light of the Creator is to us on earth, and the sukkah allows us to draw upon that protection. The sukkah acts exactly like a mikveh, allowing us the time and space to draw spiritual energy and to learn how to use it for our benefit through the tools that we use now and for the whole year to come.

This is what the sukkah is all about.