Sukkot Thoughts and Blessings to You
September 23, 2018
Happy Sukkot! I must say, I’m enjoying writing to you about so many good things. The Holidays are an incredible time and give us something higher to think about and live with.
Sukkot begins tonight and goes until 9/30/2018; it is in many ways the crescendo and outcome of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The ultimate experience of life is through joy and this is what Sukkot brings. The seriousness of RH and YK make the joy deeper and more focused – but it is all supposed to lead to joy.
One of the problems with joy is that it seems to come and go so quickly and that there is often a "yeah but"…that tempers our happiness.
RH and YK help us realize that we are here for a higher reason and that we have an exclusive relationship with G-d and that many of our concerns can safely fade into the background.
On Sukkot we celebrate the deeper things we “discovered and realized” during the High Holidays. This is the long term goodness that will give us the long term joy we need (in addition to short term joys which are also an important part of life).
As for the yeah buts – they are mainly fears of the future and unmet expectations. This is one of the main messages of sitting in a Sukkah – we leave our home and secure walls and go into the elements – knowing that we will be OK. The reason why what we have will last and the reason why our future is bright is because we are in G-ds hands and the reason why we can celebrate what we have with out the "yeah buts" is because that is what G-d is giving us.
May you be blessed with an abundance of happiness and the tranquility that comes from feeling that you are in G-ds hands.
Chag Sameach and warmest regards,
Rabbi Shlomo and Nechama
PS What is Sukkot all about?
Sukkot means booths and this Holiday is called “the festival of Booths” because of the mitzvah to build a temporary hut and dwell in it for 7 days. The obligation to dwell in a Sukkah is fulfilled by eating in it; it is good to do as much as you can inside a Sukkah during this Holiday.
The reason given in the Torah for the Sukkah is to remember G-ds kindness when He took us out of Egypt and protected us in “Booths” in the dessert. This either refers to miraculous clouds that protected us in the dessert and that we were able to live in flimsy tents for so long which is in itself a testament to G-ds kindness and protection.
Along this line is the Mitzvah of Lulav and Etrog. We take the 4 specified plants and make a blessing on them and shake them. This is also an act or dance of thanksgiving and a way of celebrating with G-d and thanking G-d for all the good.
Why now? We match the joy and thanksgiving to the time of year so that people will be feeling naturally happy. This Holiday is also called the “festival of the Harvest” because of the time of year. This is the time (in Israel,) that agricultural communities see their blessings and feel the satisfaction of taking their produce in to the store houses. Since it is a time of joy it is a fitting time to thank Hashem.
There are f course many other reasons and depths to this Holiday in general, and Lulav, Etrog, and Sukkah in particular.
For a comprehensive read check out this site https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4126/jewish/Sukkot.htm