The sukkah is our protective fortress: “Keep them secretly in a sukkah from the strife of tongues" (Psalms 31:21). Hence the sages of the Great Assembly, who abolished the inclination toward idolatry in Israel (Arachim 32b), also reinstated the mitzvah of sukkah, as it is written, “And all the congregation who returned from captivity made sukkot and dwelt in the sukkot; for from the days of Joshua, the son of Nun, to that day, the Children of Israel had not done so, and there was great rejoicing" (Nechemia 8:17).
Just what were those splendid sukkot? Their protective nature is explained in the Talmud: “They prayed and abolished the inclination towards idolatry and the merit protected them like a sukkah" (Arachin 32b).
If one should wonder: how can a temporary dwelling like the sukkah be viewed as a model of protection and safety? How can a structure made of “two properly built walls and the third but a hands-breadth" become a fortress and shield against every foe, every enemy? We must proclaim before the entire world the eternal truth: precisely this sukkah, whose flimsy construction makes it appear outwardly unfit even to be called a dwelling, is our tower of strength and the buttress protecting us from every enemy, every avenger.
The open and exposed sukkah becomes a dwelling not, I dare say, through the strength of its flimsy walls, but through the Torah, the word of God; He decreed that during the days of this holiday, the festival of the harvest, this structure be our dwelling.
This idea must instruct all future generations. The strength required to build our home, that is, our national homeland, must be spiritual might, the might of the festival, the might of God’s eternal word. Although modern weapons can penetrate the strongest fortresses, can melt even the thickest walls of bronze, neither they nor any device can topple the mighty, fortified wall of the Torah.
Thus, we should appreciate that the Torah will be our eternal fortress. So today, as we rebuild our national homeland in the Land of our forefathers, let us recognize the absolute truth: the spiritual Law that is the word of God has decreed that the House of Israel will be rebuilt, that it alone is our wall and our fortress, despite the weakness of the human eye, which is unable to recognize its strength.
(From “Ma’amarei HaRe’iyah" pg. 149. Translated by Rabbi Pesach Jaffe.)