The Chesed Of The Sukkah

The midrash says that as reward for giving the visitors a place to rest under the עץ, the children of Avrohom merit to get the mitzvah of sukkah (Berashis Rabbah 48:10.)  What is the connection between Avrohom’s welcoming the guests and Sukkot?  The Mishna in Sukkah (28b) says that if it rains on Sukkot its as if a servant comes to serve his master water and the master dumps it on his face.  Why is this parable specifically chosen by the Mishna, true it matches that Hashem is spilling water on us, but what does sukkah have to do with serving Hashem with water?

The kabbalists teach that water, the source of all growth, represents חסד.  After the days of דין of the 10 days of repentance, comes the holiday of Sukkot to sweeten the dinim.  That is the holiday of Sukkot is when we ask for rain.  That is the idea behind the ניסוך המים as well.  The kabbalists say the normal libation of wine is representative of din (see Zohar Shemini 41a: מַאי מַשְׁמַע. דְּכַד עָיֵיל כַּהֲנָא לְבֵי מַקְדְּשָׁא, דְּיֵעוּל בְּחֶסֶד דְּאִיהוּ מַיָּא, וְלָא יֵיעוּל בְּיַיִן דְּשָׁתֵי דְּאִיהוּ גְּבוּרָה. יֵיעוּל (בהאי מלה) בְּמַיָּא, וְלָא יֵיעוּל בְּחַמְרָא.)  The libation of water offered on Sukkot, is to sweeten the dinim.  

The Bnei Yissoscher (Tishra maamer 9) brings from the kabbalists that the numerical value of the word sukkah is 91 which is the same as the name of יקוק and אמני combined (26+65.)  The name יקוק is חסד and אמני is גבורה.  Sukkah is what comes to sweeten the din with chesed.  Now we understand very well how the Mishna in Sukkah's parable of comparing sitting in sukkah to giving water for sitting in the sukkah is to bring chesed into the dinim.
 
Rav Asher Weiss cites his Rebbe, the Divrei Yatziv that that's why Rashi says in Sukkah (51a) that by the simchas beis hashoevah they juggled 4 or 8 torches.  The four is to correspond to יקוק and 8 is יקוק combined with אמני.

Based upon this idea Rav Yosef Engel says an interpretation of the previous midrash.  The numerical value of יין is 70 and מים is 90, add the two together, you get עץ, 70 and 90.  The עץ of Avrohom is representative of this idea of the water coming to dilute the gevurot of the wine.

He also points out that the word גבורה is three times the numerical value of the word חסד, 72 and 216.  He explains that’s the idea of bittul issur 1 in 2 for we see חסד has the power to overcome דין that two times larger than it.  And that’s why the way of mixing wine is 1 part water to 2 parts wine, 1 part חסד  to 2 part דין.