Just when we thought we made it through the Holy Days, here comes another one: Sukkot.
I find it ironic and insightful that Jewish Wisdom gives us the impression that with the end of Yom Kippur we are secure, well written in the Book of Life.
Yet, just a mere 5 days later, we place ourselves in a hut (Sukkah) whose roof is liable to blow off at any moment.
Isn’t that the nature of life: we think we are doing fine, and then…(pu pu God forbid)
Avram Reisen (1876–1953), the Yiddish author, helps us find this place of insecurity both as a larger People of Israel and as individuals just trying to keep the roof from blowing off:
A sukkaleh, quite small,
Wooden planks for each wall;
Lovingly I stood them upright.
I laid thatch as a ceiling
And now, filled with deep feeling,
I sit in my sukkaleh at night.
A chill wind attacks,
Blowing through the cracks;
The candles, they flicker and yearn.
It’s so strange a thing
That as the Kiddush I sing,
The flames, calmed, now quietly burn.
In comes my daughter,
Bearing hot food and water;
Worry on her face like a pall.
She just stands there shaking
And, her voice nearly breaking,
Says “Tattenyu, the sukkah’s going to fall!”
Dear daughter, don’t fret;
It hasn’t fallen yet.
The sukkah will be fine, understand.
There have been many such fears,
For nigh two thousand years;
Yet the sukkaleh continues to stand.
Dictionary:
Sukkaleh – (Yiddish) Small Sukkah
Kiddish – (Hebrew) The prayer over wine sanctifying the holy day
Tattenyu – (Yiddish) Dear Father
My advice: Sit back and enjoy the beginning of Fall. Gather your daughters and your sons, your friends and your loved ones, and enjoy each other’s company in the fragile dwellings we have made for ourselves.
And perhaps, while you are sitting there, strengthen each other and the dwelling itself to make sure that no storm can blow the roof off… because we are all in the sukkah together.
That is why, in my humble opinion, we sit in the sukkah year after year after year, just 5 days after Yom Kippur.
(Featured Sukkah Image originally found on Wikimedia Commons)
