Tonight we enter Sukkot โ the Festival of Booths.
Five days after Yom Kippur, we step out of our solid houses and into a temporary hut with a roof of branches.
You should be able to see the stars through it.
For seven days we eat there, sit there, welcome guests there. Some even sleep there.
The sukkah reminds us of two things at once.
First: the 40 years our ancestors wandered in the desert after leaving Egypt. They lived in fragile booths, completely dependent on God for shade, food, and protection. The message is still the same โ no matter how strong our walls feel, we are never as self-sufficient as we think.
Second: it is the harvest festival. After the work of the year, we pause to give thanks for what grew, and we pray for rain for the year ahead. That is why we take the Four Species in our hands โ the lulav, etrog, myrtle and willow โ and wave them. It is gratitude made physical.
Sukkot is called Zman Simchateinu, the Season of Our Joy. After the intensity of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, this week is meant to be lighter.
Families gather. Friends drop by. Kids decorate the sukkah with drawings and hanging fruit. The country slows down a little.
From Israel โ Chag Sukkot Sameach.
May your sukkah be full of people you love, your table full of good food, and your heart a little more open than it was last week.
Moadim lโsimcha. ๐๐ฟ