Finding Shelter in a Transient World

by Rabbi Paul Saal, Shuvah Yisrael (Hartford, Connecticut)

Sukkot remembers that freedom came as the result of pitching tents over 14,600 days and honors the 43,000 meals prepared in the dessert. But more importantly, Sukkot reminds us that God is everywhere and undermines the idolatry of rootedness. This doesn’t mean that home and hearth are bad values; rather it serves as a dialectic reminder that we are first and foremost citizens of God’s kingdom, sojourners in this present reality. Our journey in the wilderness began at Passover when Hashem took us out of the land of Egypt and commanded us to eat our last meal there in great haste with “our staff in hand and our loins girded” (I am still a little uncertain and just a little scared of the alternative), an idiom which suggests that we are to be perpetual wanderers.

We look for shelter in our possessions, but they can only give us temporary comfort. We seek reassurance from our jobs, but they can't really protect us from uncertainty. We turn to hobbies, people and places to fill the emptiness, but ultimately, our souls cannot be filled from the outside.

The idea is to remind us of the fragility of the world that we occupy, a world that relies upon the sustenance and the benevolence of the Creator. This is why we add the following statement to the daily Amida between Sukkot and Passover; “Who makes the wind to blow and the rain descend”. It is wedged between two other affirmations in the prayers; “You resuscitate the dead and are able to save” and “Who sustains the living with loving kindness.” The placement creates the unambiguous suggestion that God’s provision of our agricultural needs that provide our daily sustenance is no less miraculous than the resurrection of the dead, and no less important than the care of our individual health. Therefore we are reminded that all that we are, all that we have and all that we need are in the hands of the one who created us.

This is not an absolute statement against materialism; Judaism is not a religion of asceticism. Instead the sukkah just reminds us that God will care for our needs in much the same way that he meets the needs of our souls. Maimonides wrote, “The general purpose of the Torah is twofold: the well-being of the body and the well-being of the soul. The well-being of the soul is ranked first, but the well-being of the body comes first.”

Sukkot gives us the opportunity to step back and find shelter for our souls, to fill ourselves up from the inside out and reconnect to the highest visions that we have for ourselves.

Here are six kinds of shelter we can find when we sit in our sukkahs.

1. The shelter of faith. The Hebrew root for the word faith also means to be loyal, to stay committed to something even in difficult circumstances. We believe in God's wisdom and goodness through the light and the darkness. When we sit in the sukkah we can also feel embraced by God's faith in us. Every new day that we are given God is telling us: I have faith in you. I believe that you can re-build despite yesterday's mistakes. I'm giving you a new day, a new chance, because I'm not giving up on you.

2. The shelter of gratitude. One of the reasons we sit in the sukkah is to remind ourselves of the "clouds of glory" that God used to guide us through the desert when we left Egypt. Each of us has different kinds of light in our lives that help us navigate through challenges. The light of our friends. The light of our Torah. The light of our homes. Recognize these gifts that light up your path. Surround yourself with gratitude.

3. The shelter of connection. Bring friends and family into your sukkah. Learn from others and share what you have learned. Build and nurture the connections that you have with others in your life. Feel the embrace of the chain of kindness that redeems so much darkness; be another link in that chain.

4. The shelter of authenticity. Close the gap between who you are and how you appear to the world around you. Don't be afraid to change in order to be truly aligned with your authentic values. Use the space of the sukkah to open the space within that wants to be free.

5. The shelter of prayer. Talking to God is a constant in our lives. When we are lost and scared. When we are frustrated and disappointed. When we are joyous and grateful. When we are distracted and confused. Talk to God. Prayer is a shelter we can take with us everywhere and anytime.

6. The shelter of awe. Look up at the millions of stars through the roof of your sukkah. Breathe in the crisp, autumn air. Watch the leaves turn gold and red and orange. Watch the trees teach us how to let go. See the stars teach us how to shine. Let the sukkah teach us how to find steadfast shelter rooted in God’s all-encompassing love.

How to Shake a Lulav

Sukkot begins tonight! You've built and decorated a lovely sukkah, but perhaps you're wondering what to do next. Here's a quick guide on how to begin your celebration of the most fragrant and hospitable Jewish holiday of them all: 

Jerusalem balcony sukkah

Mitzvah #1: Rejoice! 

Sukkot is zeman simchatenu, the season of our joy. All of the pilgrim festivals—Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot—are times of joy, but for Sukkot the commandment to rejoice is given three times (Lev. 23:40; Deut. 16:14-15). How do you fulfill this mitzvah? By embracing this time of rest and rejoicing, welcoming guests to your sukkah, and giving thanks to God for His abundant mercy and provision for you and your family. 

Mitzvah #2: Dwell in the Sukkah

As you enter your sukkah for the first time tonight, you can fulfill the mitzvah of dwelling in it by eating a meal inside of it. Begin your meal by reciting Kiddush over a cup of wine. Don't forget to add the blessing for the sukkah, too: 

“Baruch atah Adonai Elohenu melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu leyshev ba-sukkah. (Blessed are you Lord our God, King of the universe, who has hallowed us by your commandments, and has commanded us to dwell in the sukkah.”

Next comes the Shehecheyanu (the blessing for new things and new seasons):

“Baruch atah Adonai Elohenu melech ha-olam, shehecheyanu, v’kiyamanu, v’higiyanu lazman ha-zeh. (Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has kept us in life, and preserved us, and enabled us to reach this season.)”

Congratulations, you've fulfilled a mitzvah! But wait ... there's more! The next morning we're ready to fulfill the third mitzvah ...

Mitzvah #3: Shake the Lulav

And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. (Leviticus 23:40)

To fulfill this mitzvah, acquire a lulav set, which includes the four species described, with the “fruit of beautiful trees” understood as the citron or Etrog. On the first morning of Sukkot, gather your lulav and etrog. Put the lulav in your right hand and the etrog in your left hand, with the pitom (pointy part) pointing down. Recite this blessing: 

“Baruch atah Adonai Elohenu melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu al n’tilat lulav. (Blessed are you Lord our God, King of the universe, who has hallowed us by your commandments, and has commanded us to take up the lulav.)”

here the pitom is pointing up

After reciting the blessing, point the pitom of the etrog upwards (careful not to break it off) and unite it with the rest of the lulav set. Then wave it three times in each direction - east (toward Jerusalem), south, west, north, up, and down. The first time you do this, make sure to say the Shehecheyanu. 

Congratulations! You've just fulfilled another mitzvah. Remember to wave the lulav every morning for the rest of Sukkot (ask your local Messianic rabbi if it's your community's custom to abstain from waving the lulav on Shabbat).  

UMJC Rabbinic Counsel Rabbi Russ Resnik

Why does God ask us to engage in this funny ritual?

Rabbi Russ Resnik: "One midrash says that the fragrance of the four species represents knowledge of Torah and the fruit of the different species represents good deeds, thus portraying four types of Jews: the etrog is a fruit with fragrance, signifying those godly Jews who have both knowledge and good deeds; the palm has fruit and no fragrance, representing those with good deeds but no knowledge of Torah; the myrtle has fragrance (knowledge) and no fruit (good deeds); and the willow has neither. The four types are bound together and extended in praise before the Lord, representing all Israel united in acknowledging the true king and giver of life. (Vayikra Rabbah 30:12)

"Another midrash compares the etrog to the heart, the palm to the spine, the myrtle leaves to the eyes, and the willow leaves to the lips. And so we each unite our soul in giving praise to the Lord, who is the source of all (Vayikra Rabbah 30:14). Waving in all six directions underlines the completeness of our worship, and waving three times in each direction yields the number 18, which signifies chai, or life, in Hebrew. We add to the four usual directions by waving the lulav set upwards toward the heavens, and downward, as a final direction, signifying our hope for blessings to descend from on high. After this extended blessing, the whole assembly recites Hallel (Psalms 113–118, all or part), while those with lulav sets continue to raise them up with joy."

“Halleluyah! Praise, O servants of Adonai, praise the Name of Adonai. Blessed be the Name of Adonai from now and forever. From the rising of the sun to its going down the Name of Adonai is to be praised. (Ps. 113:1–3, TLV)”

How to Build a Simple Sukkah

by Rabbi Russ Resnik, UMJC Rabbinic Counsel

Immediately after Yom Kippur is the time to build your Sukkah, in preparation for Sukkot, which begins this year on Sunday, September 23, at sundown. This gives you only three more days to build, but don’t worry—a kosher sukkah is supposed to be makeshift and flimsy. All you need is a structure shaped like one of the letters in the Hebrew word SUKKAH:

One of the walls (but no more) can be your house or another existing building. Sink corner posts in the ground, set them in cinder blocks, or prop them up any way you want. Nail boards, panels of plywood or particle board, fabric, or whatever you want, to your posts. The roof can be flimsy also; you need to be able to see the stars through it to be truly kosher. Make a rough frame of 1X boards, or something similar, and cover it with leafy branches. Size is up to you, as long as you can fit in a table and a few chairs. Hint: don’t make it too big or it will be hard to keep the roof from sagging.

Once you get your Sukkah up, make sure that it won’t fall down on your head. Then you can decorate it with pictures of Jerusalem, paper chains, hanging fruit, flowers, branches, and so on. Put in a little rug to make it cozier. Bring in an extension cord so you can have light at night. Remember that it might rain (especially since we pray for rain during Sukkot), so protect articles that could get damaged.

So, now it’s time to dwell in your booth already! Tradition says that if you eat your meals in the Sukkah, you are fulfilling the commandment. Some hardy souls sleep in their Sukkah also.

Here’s what you need for an 8 X 8 sukkah, based on the three-wall design above:

4          8 foot 2 x 3 or 2 X 4 boards

8          cinder blocks to prop them up, or use longer boards and sink them a foot or so into the ground, or get three additional boards and connect them together at ground level to make a free-standing structure, leaving the front of the sukkah open

10        1 X 2 boards: two are screwed or nailed into the heavier boards to form each of three sides, and four are laid across the top and attached

3          8’ X 8’ panels of cloth, light plywood, bamboo, etc. for sides, to be attached to 1 X 2s

And finally, plenty of tree trimmings, branches, or bamboo, cornstalks, etc., for the roof.

Chag sameach!