What an incredible two weeks it has been at Temple Beth El. Our Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur worship was awe-inspiring; and reuniting with so many in our Temple Beth El family was truly heartwarming.
As we have embarked on a new Jewish year, our liturgy and tradition have inspired us to return to our most authentic selves and consider how we want to live in the year ahead. We have reflected on the lives we have been leading, the people we hope to become, and how we might fill this new year with greater gratitude, kindness, and meaning.
And of course, our tradition immediately gives us an opportunity to put those intentions into practice. Just a few days after Yom Kippur, Sukkot arrives and invites us to begin living out the values we have spent these past weeks reflecting upon.
On Sukkot, we leave the comfort and security of our homes and step into the sukkah, a temporary and vulnerable dwelling place. In doing so, the sukkah inspires us to think about how we want to live our lives in this new year.
For forty years, the Israelites wandered through the desert, living with tremendous uncertainty. They had no idea how much longer it would be until they reached the Promised Land. Would they arrive in a few days? A few months? A few years? The time for rest, relief, and renewal was unknown. Each day, they woke up not knowing exactly what the next day would bring.
Perhaps the sukkah gives us some insight into how they managed that uncertainty.
The sukkah reminds us of the temporary dwellings of our ancestors in the wilderness and of the “clouds of glory” that, according to our tradition, sheltered them with God’s presence. They did not have permanent structures surrounding them. They were exposed to the elements and vulnerable to whatever might come next. Yet in each moment, they had one another, they had God’s presence surrounding them, and they had the day that was right in front of them.
Our tradition takes this temporary dwelling place, a symbol of uncertainty, vulnerability, and an exhausting journey through the wilderness, and connects it with joy. Sukkot is z’man simchateinu, the season of our joy.
Choosing joy in the midst of uncertainty is itself an act of resilience. Sukkot teaches us that we do not have to wait until everything feels secure, settled, or certain before allowing ourselves to be joyful. Instead, it asks us to make a conscious choice to notice what is good even when we do not know what comes next.
The sukkah inspires us to live with gratitude for the present moment and to resist the impulse to constantly worry about the unknown of the future. It asks us to notice the people sitting with us in our sukkah, the community that holds us, God’s presence that rests upon us, and the blessings surrounding us right now.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov famously taught, “It is a great mitzvah to be joyful always.” A story attributed to him captures what it can look like to choose joy even when the path ahead remains uncertain. A person was once traveling through a dark forest, unable to see where the road would lead and frightened by everything around him. Rather than waiting for the darkness to disappear, he began to sing. The singing did not illuminate the entire road or reveal what was waiting beyond the next turn but it gave him enough courage to keep walking.
The sukkah reminds us that we cannot always know what tomorrow will bring, but we can choose how we experience the day in front of us. When we allow ourselves to be present enough to notice the people beside us, the blessings surrounding us, and the joy that exists right now, that joy can give us the courage to continue forward, even when we cannot yet see where the road will lead.
Shabbat shalom & Chag Sukkot Sameach,
Rabbi Ashira Boxman
