Sukkot
The Hebrew month of Tishrei offers quite the set list! Immediately following Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur is Sukkot. This holiday begins on
Sunday evening and marks the Israelites wandering through the wilderness and
living in these temporary shelters.
The set list continues next week with Simhat Torah…
This month provides us with a record setting concert. Year after year it is the same. Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur.
Sukkot. Simhat Torah. There is an interesting tradition that even
before breaking Yom Kippur’s fast, one is supposed to place the first board on
the sukkah. Like the best of concerts
there is no pause between songs. We move
from the introspection of Yom Kippur to the rejoicing of Sukkot. The two holidays are bound to each
other. The joy of Sukkot takes
over.
The inwardness of Yom Kippur is transformed by the
earthiness of Sukkot. We let go of our
sins and wrongdoings. We turn to the
world. Whereas Yom Kippur is all about
prayer and repentance, Sukkot is about our everyday world. Its mandate is to celebrate our everyday
blessings.
What is its most important mitzvah? Leishev basukkah—to live in the sukkah. We are commanded to eat our meals in the
sukkah and even sleep in the sukkah. For
one week our lives move from our beautiful homes to these temporary
shelters. The sukkah must be temporary
in its character. If it is too
comfortable then it is not a sukkah. If
it provides too much shelter then it defeats the meaning of Sukkot.
Central to this definition of the sukkah is the schach, the
roof. One must be able to see the stars
through its lattice. So what does one do
if it rains? What happens to living in
the sukkah if the weather is uncomfortable? The rabbis are clear in their answer. Go inside!
A temporary shelter cannot protect us from the rains. A temporary shelter should not protect
us. Its fragility is part of its
message.
Even more important than the sukkah’s temporary quality is
the joy of the holiday. It is no fun to
sleep outside in the rain. It is no fun
to be eating outside during a late fall sukkot.
One’s joy would be diminished.
First and foremost this day is about rejoicing. We rejoice in the gifts of this world. We celebrate the bounty of creation.
Living in these temporary shelters helps to remind us of
these blessings. After a long day of
fasting and praying, Sukkot comes to remind us of the blessings that surround
us each and every day. Sitting outside
in our sukkot, we look at the blessings of our homes. We relish the blessings of nature. We rejoice in fall breezes, the changing of
the leaves and the full moon that will peer through the lattice on Sunday
evening.
We breathe a sigh of relief after the exhaustion of beating
our chests and examining our ways. The
moon brightens the evening. We sing and
laugh as we gather around the table in our sukkah. We rejoice!