First: the mitzvah of sukkah is done with the entire body — all of you sits in the sukkah — while most mitzvot are performed with specific parts of the body (e.g. tefillin with the hand and head). Second: a person can dwell in his sukkah virtually the entire holiday — the longer you stay, the more the mitzvah! — while most mitzvot are done for a limited period of time only (Shabbat candles-Friday afternoon). Third: since the sukkah is your “house” during Sukkot, you are centered there and “home-in” to it, and therefore are connected to the mitzvah of dwelling in the sukkah even when you leave it. It is as if it follows you around wherever you go! Fourth: through sukkah, nearly all of our mundane activities can be transformed into holy acts. In general, the routine activities of eating, sleeping, socializing, etc. are not necessarily mitzvot. During Sukkot, however, by doing all these activities in a sukkah, they acquire the level of mitzvot, and thus become infused with holiness for the entire year to come. Try to maintain consciousness of all of these aspects of the mitzvah. One of the most potent lessons of the sukkah is that, as Jews, all our activities can become mitzvot, and we can connect to G-d in whatever we do, no matter how “mundane” it may seem.
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