Dear Friends,
Amidst the hubbub of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, we sometimes minimize our other autumn holidays: Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah. Yet Sukkot, our time of bounty and building, has never been more relevant for us. And not just because we can gather safely together outside. Please allow me to explain.
Rosh HaShanah, as we know, comes first in our holiday sequence. At Rosh HaShanah we envision the world as we wish it to be. “Hayom harat olam,” we read in the prayer book: “today the world is [literally] pregnant” with potential. Everything is possible.
And yet, ten days later, we confront the world as it is: beautiful, but broken; in need of repair. The same is true of our relationships and ourselves. So, we live briefly but quite intensely in the gap between the ideal and the real. We begin to make amends and confront the work that lies ahead. Then, just after ne’ilah, we begin to rebuild. Some drive the first nails into the sukkah that evening to symbolize that their rebuilding begins immediately.
Rabbi Irwin Kula teaches us to question why we “hire” the Jewish holidays? How can they help and guide us through life’s journey? In 5782, these Days of Awe are like a mirror that reflects the jarring fits and starts of our pandemic-challenged world. We gaze into that mirror and discern the gap between the world we wish for and the one we’ve got. A post-Covid world is visible, yet distant. The sadness we feel at delayed arrivals should stir us to build toward that world. Reflecting on the year gone by helps us appreciate the magnitude of this struggle, and also the progress we have made so far.
Each year we spiral around the Jewish calendar and find ourselves somewhere different, but perhaps not as different as we had hoped. Yet — and Judaism is unambiguous about this — change is always possible. We’ve all heard ‘two steps forward, one step back.’ If we focus exclusively on the one step, it looks like we’re only going backwards. But it isn’t so.
True, we must notice the gap. But only to inspire us to get to work. The holiday of Sukkot, then, reminds us of all we might build in the year to come: healthy personal choices, stronger relationships, growth toward our goals, and even, heaven-willing, wonderful new synagogue spaces to call our very own.
Moadim L’simcha - may the autumn holidays bring joy to you and your families.
Rabbi Danny Moss