Welcoming the Stranger to Our Sukkah

Rabbi Adam F. Miller, Temple Shalom

Walking the streets of Israel during this season, one cannot miss the uniquely Jewish character all around. Next to restaurants, on apartment balconies, and near every synagogue, sukkot of all sizes spring up. The greeting Moadim L’Simcha — “May you have a festival of happiness” — fills the air as families and friends gather inside these temporary dwellings, just as our ancestors did generations ago.

Today, our attention often centers on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as the holiest moments of the year. Yet we should not forget that Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot were once the three great pilgrimage festivals of the Jewish calendar. When the Jewish people lived as an agricultural society, Jews would travel from across the land of Israel to the Temple in Jerusalem to make offerings before God.

At a time when the world feels increasingly divided, this act of opening our homes and tables is profoundly healing.

Each festival carried deep agricultural meaning. Passover marked the beginning of the farming year and the arrival of the first grains. From that day, Jews would bring daily sheaves of grain — omer — to the Temple, counting the days until the summer harvest, Shavuot. Shavuot celebrated the first fruits of the harvest, brought joyfully as gifts to God. The largest festival of all was Sukkot, the autumn harvest. Farmers discovered whether their crops would sustain them through the winter, and they came to Jerusalem to offer thanks for abundance and prayers for the year ahead.

Over time, as Jewish life shifted from agricultural rhythms to modern urban society, the focus of our holidays also changed. Passover became centered on the Exodus from Egypt; Shavuot, on the giving of Torah and today’s Confirmation ceremonies. Yet Sukkot has remained more deeply tied to its agricultural origins. We still dwell in sukkot and wave the lulav and etrog, ancient practices that connect us to the cycles of nature.

Beyond these rituals lies another beautiful tradition: ushpizin, the invitation of guests into the sukkah. The great mystic Isaac Luria taught the custom of symbolically welcoming our spiritual ancestors — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David — while also embracing the practice of inviting real guests to share the hospitality of the holiday. This echoes the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, welcoming the stranger, modeled by Abraham as he received three unknown travelers into his tent, who turned out to be angels.

In recent years, many have expanded ushpizin to include friends, neighbors, and especially those new to our community. At a time when the world feels increasingly divided, this act of opening our homes and tables is profoundly healing. Sitting together over a meal allows us to see one another not through the lens of politics or ideology, but as fellow human beings with much more in common than we might imagine.

Whether or not you have a sukkah, I encourage you to embrace the spirit of ushpizin this year. Invite someone new to join your meals during Sukkot. Share conversation, warmth, and hospitality. Create your own moadim l’simchah— your own gatherings for happiness.

May you and your guests experience the joy of true connection this holiday season. On behalf of our Temple Shalom One Family, I wish you a year filled with sweetness, joy, and blessing.

Shanah Tovah U’Mtukah.