For me, Sukkos will forever remind me of Gilaad Shalit's release. It's hard to believe it's been practically a year; it was last Chol Hamoed Sukkos when we celebrated together the release. Gilaad was more a cause than a person. Because he was being held so secretly and no one really knew him prior to his kidnapping, he was more of an idea. It's almost as if it's a private Pesach for him during Sukkot.

So I was pretty excited when I received an open letter from Gilaad, which he wrote as an introspection piece as Rosh Hashanah approached. I was looking forward to his deep thoughts on freedom, incarceration, his captors and Israel's strategy against her enemies. After all, he's now had close to a year to germinate thoughts about these issues. He had over five years of thinking alone which could contribute to this important piece.

I read the letter. Here are exceprts.

For me, the past year has been the year in which I went back to living like regular people do. I returned to my family, I went back to having a social life and I rehabilitated myself, both physically and mentally.

This was a very intense year, during which I met many people, visited many places and experienced things I never even dreamt of experiencing. For example, at the NBA Finals in Miami I celebrated with the players in the locker room and got wet from the champagne they poured on each other. That is something I never imagined doing, and it may have been the most powerful experience of the past year (apart from the release itself and being reunited with my family of course).

On the other hand, I realize that these trips, events and encounters with people on the street – these will not be part of my future, routine life. It won't go on forever, this making up for lost time. For me, this lifestyle is temporary, and I plan to gradually return to a calmer way of life.

I take the train like everyone else, walk around freely and am thrilled to see how people respond to me. Some cry when they meet me, some embrace me and others look at me in shock as if I had just fallen from the moon. Someone even asked me if I'm Gilad Shalit's brother. Strangely enough, in Tel Aviv I can walk in relative peace. I'm least recognized in the big city, despite the fact that it is so crowded and bustling.

My first reaction to Gilaad's letter was being underwhelmed. That's what he chose to write about? Having the champagne from the NBA finals douse his shirt, to be in the locker room of the Miami Heat?

I was then disappointed in my first reaction. How dare anyone expect Gilaad to be anything more than a young man , one who underwent trauma and lost half a decade of his life.

Last year on Shmini Atzeres, right after his release, I wrote an open letter to Gilaad and delivered that as my d'var Torah. I feel it behooves the occasion to review what I wrote. Here are some brief excerpts.

I know. You're just another Israel. Why did this happen to you? The Gilaad that left for his unit in June of '06 was a soldier. The Gilaad who returned on Tuesday was a national cause turned hero who will never need to pay for a meal in an Israeli restaurant or will not have privacy for a very very long time. Ironic after spending 5 years by yourself alone with your thoughts.

You may want to forget all 64 months of your hell in Gaza. I could never judge you if you just want to disappear and start over somewhere. But you are here now, as a living testament to our focus on life and saving lives and our enemies' obsession with death and destruction. You can choose to forget the pain but don't forget that your life must be dedicated to reminding the world of the values of Israel and the lack of humanity of our enemey. Don't forget that. And never forgive. What they did to you was unthinkable. The fact that some nations of the world are willing to countenance Hamaas is an assault on their alleged humanity.

I may have thought Gilaad was a 'living testament' but he's entitled to be a typical man in his twenties. Gilaad has the keys to the destiny of his life and goals; he need not answer to anyone who has expectations of him because of his past fate and familiarity within Israel as a hero.

I believe some of the most basic messages of Sukkos help us appreciate Gilaad's personal decisons.

בסכת תשבו שבעת ימים, כל האזרח בישראל ישבו בסכת" (ויקרא כ"ג:מ"ב)
'You shall dwell in booths seven days; all who are Israelites born shall dwell in booths'
(Vayikra 23:42).

There is a well known debate if our sukkos correspond to actual booths our ancestors made in the wilderness (Rabbi Akiva) or if they commemorate the clouds of glory (Rabbi Eliezer), the ananei hakavod? The difference between the two opinions could not be starker. Huts are man-made endeavors while the clouds of glory were Divine assistance. The Midrash even understands 'clouds of glory' to imply that the Jewish people were transported in the clouds, as if they were on a jumbo-jet.

I thought a bit about this and would like to pose two questions. How can we have a festival that we're not really sure what it represents? Imagine if we had a debate over Pesach if it was about the exodus from Egypt or if it recalled the creation of  the iguana? How can there be such a lack of clarity about the essence of Sukkos? How could two giants such as Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Eliezer interpret the same verse in two completely and antipodal ways? Booths and clouds? What are we to make of this festival?

Furthermore, what holidays are in our calendar that don't commemorate something happening on that day? Rosh hashanah, Yom Kippur, Chanukah, Purim, Pesach, Shavuos, fast days... Sukkos is unique. According to both opinions, nothing per se happened on the 15th of Tishrei? I am not aware of anthything that happened davka on that day, other than the birth of my younger brother (happy birthday Jonathan!).

It's for this reason that we cannot see Sukkos outside of the context of Yom Kippur. The timing of Sukkos is to appear proximate to Yom Kippur. What's the lesson?

The question is how do we handle redemption via Divine intervention? After seeing the hand of Hashem, how do we continue?

Rabbi Eliezer suggests that we need to stay in the heavens. We need to see the redemption as the beginning and live our life continuing and living off the redeption. Rabbi Akiva counsels the opposite. He posits that we need to react to the supernatural gift of salvation by returning back to earth and building our own huts to protect ourselves.

We can't expect Gilaad to be Sharansky. John Glen returned to earth and ended up in Congress. Neil Armstrong returned to civilian life. Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva truly do teach us about Sukkos. How do we go forth, five days after Yom Kippur?

Truth be told, the second half of Gilaad's open letter, more resembled Rabbi Eliezer than Rabbi Akiva. He wrote:

During the past year and the previous years in captivity, I have learned to look at things from a

different perspective. In general, I try to see the glass as half full, and this is also what I wish for the people and the State of Israel. People can suddenly find themselves in extreme situations or unexpected crises. I believe people should prepare themselves mentally for the possibility that such situations may arise. Even if they are not certain what they are preparing for, they should be aware that things can change dramatically at any given moment. This awareness helps people cope with suchchanges.
If and when such an extreme situation arises, you must deal with it as calmly as possible and avoid doing things you will regret later. You must overcome. Crying won't help. And always remember that it is possible to get out of any bind. This is true for many things – diseases, injuries or crises. There is no point in regretting what happened; you must look to the future and think of the next stage of your life. Faith can help of course, but it must be accompanied by an awareness of reality. This will help you overcome disappointment.

Perhaps the best thing Gilaad can do is live out some NBA fantasies and be a sports-writer for a year or two. There is no question that he will forever carry with him his redemption of last Sukkos, his own personal Pesach. How one continues after experiencing such love from God is a matter of dispute among the greatest minds and hearts the Jewish people have ever had.

Gilaad will forever be a hero to all of us, whether a prime minister or a sportscaster. As long as in some way, he will always carry with him the love we all felt for him for so long, and the tears we shed on his behalf - both during his incarceration and the tears of simcha upon his release.

Either way - whether we stay soaring or land and remain forever changed - Sukkos's challenge is to maintain redemption, is to capture a moment and allow it to remain eternal. When Yaakov was saved from his brother, he traveled to Sukkos. When our ancestors left bondage in Egypt, their first stop was a place called Sukkos. Sukkos helps us preserve victory and redemption. It's proximity to Yom Kippur is its timing. And experiencing Gilaad's release last year will forever give us another reason to call this festival zman simchaseinu.