The story is told that a poor man once came to his Rebbe with a problem. He had nine children and only had two rooms in his house. The house was so crowded, and him and his wife were going crazy. The Rebbe had a simple solution. On day one, take the cows in his field and bring them inside the house. On day two, take the sheep and bring them inside the house. Day three is the chickens turn to join the party inside the house. And on day four bring in all of the ducks. The man thought the Rebbe was crazy but he followed the Rebbe’s directions. On day five, the man came back to the Rebbe saying that everything was so much worse now. Originally his house was crowded. Now it was impossible to move. The Rebbe smiled and said for the man to remove all of the animals. When he removed them, the poor man looked at his two room house and now it looked like a huge mansion.

Many times people think, “my house is so tiny.” People complain about their living quarters. Well, on Succos, we leave our homes and live in these tiny huts which do not have real ceilings. After living in the Succah for a week, go back into your house. Suddenly, your house is so much larger. It is a mansion compared to the Succah. We have four complete walls around our house. We have a roof that protects us when it rains. We have air conditioners and heaters to control the temperature. We have comfortable furniture. We have so much space!

Living in the Succah is a great, joyous time, but it is also to remind us to be thankful every single day of the year for the wonderful houses we live in. We should remember not to complain about the great things we have been given.

Good Shabbos!
Good Yom Tov!
-yes
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