Shemot 23:16, 34:22, Vayikra 23:34-36, 39-43, Bemidbar 29:12-38 and Devarim 16:13,14 record that the Jewish people are to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot, but it is not obvious what is the reason for the holiday.
Vayikra 23:43 appears to provide a rationale for the holiday. The verse explains that the commandment to live in the sukkah is to remember that the Jewish people dwelled in booths when G-d took them out of Egypt. This commandment would seem to establish a historical basis for the holiday of Sukkot, but this connection raises several questions. One, once the holiday of Matzot is to remember the Exodus, why is there a need for a second holiday to remember the Exodus? Two, why is the holiday celebrated in the fall and not in the spring when the Exodus occurred? (See Ibn Ezra on Vayikra 23:43 for one answer.) Three, the Torah never ever referred to living in a sukkah with regard to the Exodus. Devarim 1:27, 5:27, and Bemidbar 11:10, 16:27 imply that the people lived in tents (ohel) and not booths (sukkot), though one could argue that in principle there is no difference between tents and booths, see Rashbam on Shemot 23:16. Four, what is so significant of the people's dwellings in the desert that warrants a holiday to remember them? Possibly to answer this question, one view (R. Eliezer in Sukkah 11b, though in the Sifra, Emor 17:11 it is Rabbi Akiva’s view, quoted by Rashi on Vayikra 23:43) explains that the reference to sukkot in the verse is to the clouds of glory that accompanied the people in the desert, which was certainly a miracle that is worthy of being remembered. However, this view is not the simple understanding of Vayikra 23:43, see Rashbam on Vayikra 23:43. Also, the Torah should have explicitly referred to the clouds of glory if that was the intent of the verse. Instead, maybe one could say that Vayikra 23:43 refers to the actual booths or tents that the people lived in the desert and they symbolize not the Exodus per se, but that the people survived in the desert through G-d’s help. Five, this understanding leaves unexplained the other commandment of the holiday of Sukkot, the taking of the four species, Vayikra 23:40. Possibly to answer this question it has been suggested (Sadducees?) that the sukkah is to be built by using the four species, but these items do not seem to be good building materials and the Torah only records that one is to take the four species but not that a person is to build with them.
A different approach to understanding the holiday of Sukkot is that it is an agricultural holiday to thank G-d for the crops that are harvested in the fall. Proof for this viewpoint is that the holiday is referred to as the holiday of the gathering of the crops in Shemot 23:16 and 34:22 (also see Devarim 16:13). Also, the four species taken on the holiday, the lulav, etrog, hadasim and aravot are agricultural items and even the roof of the sukkah, which is the most important part of the sukkah, has to be something that grows from the ground, Shulchen Arukh 629:1. Tigay (1996, p. 469) notes that modern scholars explain that the sukkot also relate to the agricultural theme since booths were used by workers when they harvested the field. Yet, the four species do not represent the main agricultural products of the land, grains, oil and grapes, and most of them are not even edible. Also, the Torah does not relate the sukkah to agriculture but to the exodus from Egypt.
Can the sukkah be connected with an agricultural theme? Hoffmann (1953, p. 207) explains that the people should remember that there was a time when they did not work but were openly provided for by G-d. The idea is that this reminder of the past should stop people from becoming conceited by their bountiful crops and forget G-d (see also Rashbam on Vayikra 23:43). The booths are connected with the exodus not due to their miraculous nature, but as a reminder of G-d’s goodness to the people during the desert, which should lead the people to thank G-d for their crops. With this approach, the primary reason for celebrating the holiday of Sukkot is to thank G-d for the harvest, and the connection with the exodus is to help one remember to thank G-d. With this rationale the holiday of Sukkot is another example of the law of the bikkurim.
We see that there are two aspects to the holiday of Sukkot, one historical, the exodus from Egypt, and two agricultural, the time of the harvest. Yet, there is a third possibility that both themes are expressions of a third distinct idea, which is the reason for celebrating the holiday.
The third possible reason for the observance of the holiday of Sukkot is the requirement to celebrate and be happy. There are three sources for this idea. One, Bemidbar 28,29 records the sacrifices of each holiday, and within the discussion of each holiday, there is a brief mention of the law that is the theme of the holiday. With regard to Sukkot, Bemidbar 29:12 just refers to celebrating a holiday. Two, within the discussion of the rituals of Sukkot, Vayikra 23:40,41 record that one is to be happy and celebrate for seven days on the festival of Sukkot. Three, Devarim 16:13-15 discusses the holiday of Sukkot, and twice mentions that one is to be happy on the holiday. This is unique as with the holiday of Passover, there is no mention to be happy and by the holiday of Shavuot, the Torah refers only once to being happy on the festival, Devarim 16:11. These three references (Bemidbar 29, Devarim 16, and Vayikra 23) suggest that the main idea of Sukkot is happiness and celebration. Furthermore, the theme of happiness is associated with the agricultural motif since usually the harvest time is a time of happiness, see our discussion on the verse, Devarim 16:11, "Happiness of the harvest" in our commentary on Devarim.
In addition, maybe the historical motif from Vayikra 23:43 also contributes to the theme of happiness if the verse is understood as referring literally to the exodus from Egypt because most likely the time of the exodus was most the happiest moment for the Jewish people in all of their stay in the desert. Interestingly, the very first place the people traveled to when they left Egypt was called Sukkot (Shemot 12:37), which strengthens the connection between the holiday of Sukkot and the happiness at the time of the exodus. This idea can explain why Vayikra 23:43 refers to booths and not tents. If the focus is on the moment of the exodus and not the 40 years in the desert, then it is possible that at that time the people only used booths, and only later when the people came to Mount Sinai did they make tents.
We see from the prayers that Chazal thought that happiness was the main motif of Sukkot. In the Shemoneh Esrei for each festival, a brief reference is made to the theme of the day; by Pesach it is freedom, by Shavuot it is the giving of the Torah and by Sukkot (and Shemini Atseret) it is happiness, “the time of our happiness.”
The theme of happiness also explains why on Sukkot there are different sacrifices for each day as opposed to the holiday of Matzot, where the same sacrifices are brought each day, Bemidbar 28:24, 29:12-34. The different number of sacrifices each day mark each day as being unique, which means that each day is another occasion to celebrate, for more on these sacrifices see our discussion on Bemidbar 29:13-32, “The seventy bulls of Sukkot.” Thus, we also say a full Hallel on each day of Sukkot. This idea of happiness is also found in Chazal. The Mishnah (Sukkah 5:1) discusses the joyful happenings that occurred on Sukkot, the simchat bet ha-sho`evah, and records “whoever do not see the celebration of the simchat bet ha-sho`evah, never saw happiness in his lifetime.”
Why should there be a holiday for the purpose of making people happy? Were people’s lives so depressing that they needed a stimulant? My guess is that the theme of happiness relates to the idea of thanking G-d and celebrating the covenantal relationship between G-d and the Jewish people, see our discussions on the book of Vayikra, Vayikra 23:24, 26, 34 “Two sets of mikrei kodesh” and our discussion on Vayikra 23:39-44, “The four species and the sukkah.”
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