The Gathering of Koheles
On Shabbos Chol HaMo’ed Sukkos we read Koheles, which speaks at length of the futility of this world, that all is vanity. It is called Koheles because Shlomo delivered these words in assembly, as the sages taught. (Koheles Rabbah 1:2) Through the gathering of many Jewish souls together, it becomes possible to impress more deeply upon the heart that the world is truly “vanity of vanities.” (Koheles 1:2) Each person alone might otherwise imagine that it is possible to find true satisfaction solely in material concerns. But through Koheles—the true tzaddik in whom wisdom is gathered, as Rashi explains—people are brought together, their experiences understood as a whole. In this way he reveals that everything is vanity, for the world is filled with suffering, as it says: “For all his days are pain and vexation.” (Koheles 2:23) There is no true good except to turn from evil and do good, as the book concludes: “The end of the matter, all having been heard: Fear Hashem and keep His mitzvos, for this is the whole of man.” This means that the only true definition of man is one who fears Hashem and observes His mitzvos. Whoever lacks this consciousness has not actualized himself into a true mentsch.
Regarding the tzaddik who attains this in perfection, it is said: “For this is the whole of man.” As the sages taught: “The entire world was created only for this one, to accompany him.” (Berachos 6b) All people must gather to him to receive the true and holy daas that brings them close to Hashem. Each one, according to his closeness to the tzaddik, is included within the definition of Adam, for “this is the whole of man.”
Sukkos is called “the Festival of Ingathering,” when all types of produce are harvested. (Shemos 23:16; see Rashi and Chagigah 18a) This parallels the ingathering and assembly of the souls of Israel, who are gathered into the sukkah of peace, into the clouds of glory. The flavors of all foods are drawn from daas, which is the Torah, and this flows through the gathering of the souls of Israel, since daas contains all the symbolic hints and from it come all the flavors of the world, concentrated in bread. Bread is the main food, in which all flavors are gathered, like the manna. For this reason the primary mitzvah of eating in the sukkah is eating bread. Fruits may be eaten outside, since they do not constitute a fixed meal. (Shulchan Aruch, OC 639:2). The obligation of sukkah rests on bread, and specifically then one recites the blessing “to dwell in the sukkah.”