Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach Folks. 🍋🌿
Tonight is a little unusual. Shabbat and Sukkot arrive together, with the first day of Sukkot falling on Shabbat, a relatively rare alignment in the Jewish calendar.
And Sukkot asks a strange question: Why would Judaism command us to leave the security of our homes and sit in a temporary hut?
We have just finished Yom Kippur. We fasted, prayed, confessed, and hopefully came out feeling spiritually reset. You might think the next instruction would be: go home, get comfortable.
Instead, the Torah says: go outside.
For seven days, we eat and spend time in a sukkah, a deliberately fragile structure. We are reminded that the walls we build, the money we earn, and the security we create are real, but they are not absolute.
Immediately after asking us to confront who we are, Judaism asks us to confront what we trust.
What makes you feel secure, and what happens when God asks you to step outside of it?