Sukkot

SUKKOT “You shall rejoice before your God seven days. You shall dwell in sukkot seven days… in order that future generations may know that I had the Israelite people dwell in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.”11

Sukkot is the Feast of Booths; a seven-day holiday where we abandon sturdy shelters and opt instead for flimsy shacks. On Sukkot we don’t sleep in 5-star hotels, we sleep in 5-billion-star hotels made of palm fronds and tapestries. It is the grand exit from all of life’s fixed sureties. We are busy studying how to release our clutches on physical wealth and take firm hold of the riches of Spirit instead. The main theme of Sukkot is simchah, Hebrew for true joy. Interestingly, it occurs almost immediately following the solemn and introspective High Holidays of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. The holiday helps us learn that true joy is not dependent on physical factors. Rather, it comes from savoring all that we have: the spiritual growth we experienced during the High Holidays, the blessings that permeate our lives, the relationships we have built, the beauty of our tradition, and the rarified pleasure of connecting with the Divine.

Holiday traditions include: • Family and friends gather to build a sukkah, a temporary structure with at least three sides, whose roof is made of thatch or branches. It’s an unforgettable and fun way to prepare for the holiday. • Family members decorate a sukkah together using art supplies, tapestries, foam chains, strings of popcorn, lights, fruits, and above all, creativity! Remember, the sukkah is exposed to the weather, so using outdoor-rated materials works best. • Family and friends visit a local sukkah (possibly a public one) and weather permitting, meals are eaten in the sukkah.

Before sitting in a sukkah, say:

רֶשֲא םָלוֹעָה ךֶלֶמ וּניֵהֹלֱא הוהי הָּתאַ ךוּרָּב .הָּכֻּסַּב בֵׁשיֵל וּנָּוִצְו ויָתוְֹצִמְּב וּנָׁשְּדִק Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Majesty of the world who has made us holy with Your commandments and instructed us to dwell in the sukkah.

• At each meal there is a welcoming ceremony where ancestors are symbolically invited to join. We share stories about these ancestral guests, called ushpizin, and glean lessons from their character that we can apply to our own lives. Some have a tradition of also inviting family ancestors or role models and speaking of what we can learn from their traits. • During Sukkot, to celebrate the bounty of the harvest, each day family members hold and shake four species of plants (arba minim) while reciting a blessing. The four species are palm (lulav), myrtle (hadas), willow (aravah), and citron (etrog).

Standing with the etrog in your left hand, stem down, and the lulav in your right, place your hands together, and say:

רֶשֲא םָלוֹעָה ךֶלֶמ וּניֵהֹלֱא הוהי הָּתאַ ךוּרָּב .בָלוּל תַליִטְנ לַע וּנָּוִצְו ויָתוְֹצִמְּב וּנָׁשְּדִק Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Majesty of the world who has made us holy with Your commandments and instructed us about taking (elevating) the lulav.

On the first day the lulav is taken, add:

םָלוֹעָה ךֶלֶמ וּניֵהֹלֱא הוהי הָתּאַ ךוּרָבּ .הֶזַּה ןַמְזַּל וּנָעיִגִּהְו וּנָמְיִּקְו וּנָיֱחֶהֶשׁ Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Majesty of the world, who has given us life, and sustained us, and brought us to this time.

Declare an intent to sustain life in all directions. Here is an example:

The lulav, etrog, myrtle and willow leaves bear witness to the power of rain to give life to the earth and its produce. We offer them to You, God, in the hope that You will continue to send rain in the coming year.12

Invert the etrog so that its stem is facing up. Face Jerusalem, stretch out your arms and shake three times in each of the six directions, waving the lulav and etrog set first ahead, then right, back, left, up, and down.

Why these four species? They represent the blessings of nature. For our ancestors they symbolized basic needs, the sweet dates of the palm and its leaves for weaving baskets, the perfume of the citron, the berries of the myrtle, and shade of the willow. Rejoicing with the four species expresses gratitude for all that sustains us. Our sages taught that symbolically the four species also represent diversity. We hold them together seeking blessing to remember the value of bringing together different types of people, with different gifts.

12 This meditation first appeared in Rabbi Nathan Hannover’s Shaarei Zion, published in Prague, 1662.