This renewal gives us the ability to make deep, long-lasting changes.
You literally become a new creation.
Then Yom Kippur cleanses us of sin.
Yet it can be disheartening as Sukkot comes around and you find that the new you is suddenly disintegrating into some old & unwanted patterns.
This is particularly distressing if you had a particularly transformative Elul-Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kippur and you really felt you'd done the work necessary, including the correct emotional internalization (i.e., you really do regret your sins & set out a plan to improve — a plan you genuinely enjoy).
The thing is, there is a Zohar that the end of Sukkot, Hoshana Rabbah, grants you your last chance. It's your final judgement.
This is the time when Jews wish a Piska Taba (Aramaic) or a Gut Kvittel (Yiddish), both of which mean "a good note." Like a final slip of paper, this can be last evidence to save the person in their trial.
I can't help noticing that, with all the delights of Sukkot, there tend to be some real challenges too.
Yes, it's easy to dismiss it all as the kids being on vacation, everyone's off schedule, hosting guests or being guests, plus lots of chag-Shabbat and meal-planning, and so on with all the derech-hateva stuff.
Some people also need to make do with very cramped or hot sukkahs (which can still be very pretty, but just not as comfortable to sit or sleep in).
And some people's jobs force them to work during chol hamoed while other people face the (hopefully worthwhile) chaos of traveling and outings.
Yet I can't help noticing that Sukkot usually brings me certain situations in which I tend to fail.
Sometimes, I face very odd nisayonot that seem so out of character, especially during Sukkot.
Putting 2 & 2 together, I realized that it must be Hashem giving a last chance to get it right.
(Or at least somewhat right.)
Maybe He's also giving me the opportunity to fully express the new me.
So if you're finding yourself in odd or stressful situations, situations that make you ask, "Why is this happening to me? And why davka NOW?" — this could be the reason.
One final point: While it's best to master a nisayon, we all know that it often doesn't work like that in real life with non-tzaddikim.
Sometimes, we feel like we totally failed.
But really, if we handled it just a bit better than we ever did before, that makes a huge impression in Shamayim.
What looks like an imperceptible step in This World shows up as a massive leap in the Upper Worlds.