Dear Friends,
Oddly, just as the weather turns nippy and grey, wet and windy, we turn to our fall festival of Sukkot, and prepare to spend some time out in the fragile, fronded booth, the Sukkah for some meals and reflection.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to sit in the Sukkah in late spring when the flowers are abundant, the warmth is promising, and the new flora and produce are emerging and growing?
But, no – such isn’t the rhythm nor the challenge of Jewish life. We mark the end of the season, when the harvest in in or nigh, and reflect on the bounty which we have received, not on the potential which is before us.
Yes, potential is always exciting. After all, the Yankees and the Mets were supposed to be contending for the World Series – in April’s prognostications. Ron DeSantis was the coming presidential candidate superstar – in last spring’s forecasts. And, the stock market was going to continue its winter/spring run, and be up 25% in 2023.
But no, Judaism and especially Sukkot are not systems which reward blind, hopeful prognosticating. Rather, our sage Tradition and its earthly, grounded seasons and festivals are about recognizing what is, and what is real. Fantasy and phantasmic imagination may work in some other theology; Judaism is about what we are, what we have, and what we can do. It is about the deed, not the creed; the hands-on activism, not the wishful possibility.
Thus, we are soon charged to take moments – ideally each day of Sukkot – to sit in the humble booth and either enjoy a meal in the fall air, or endure a meal in the wintry, wet chill. But either way, we are to return ourselves to the natural abode, reexperience our link with the natural, vulnerable world, and get some mud or grass on our shoes or our boots, and maybe some straw in our hair, as well. This is the time to dismiss those faraway spring time fantasies, and prepare for the coming fall. Put on a sweater – bundle up for winter. Get real!
Some may disparage fall and Sukkot. Me? I love it! Not because I like turning on the heat indoors, or wearing a coat to eat outdoors, but because the clarity of mind and heart are so unblemished. We have come through Yom Kippur; reality is before us! Let’s embrace it!
Shabbat Shalom and Mo’adim l’Simchah – for a joyous festival,
Rabbi Doug Kohn
Oddly, just as the weather turns nippy and grey, wet and windy, we turn to our fall festival of Sukkot, and prepare to spend some time out in the fragile, fronded booth, the Sukkah for some meals and reflection.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to sit in the Sukkah in late spring when the flowers are abundant, the warmth is promising, and the new flora and produce are emerging and growing?
But, no – such isn’t the rhythm nor the challenge of Jewish life. We mark the end of the season, when the harvest in in or nigh, and reflect on the bounty which we have received, not on the potential which is before us.
Yes, potential is always exciting. After all, the Yankees and the Mets were supposed to be contending for the World Series – in April’s prognostications. Ron DeSantis was the coming presidential candidate superstar – in last spring’s forecasts. And, the stock market was going to continue its winter/spring run, and be up 25% in 2023.
But no, Judaism and especially Sukkot are not systems which reward blind, hopeful prognosticating. Rather, our sage Tradition and its earthly, grounded seasons and festivals are about recognizing what is, and what is real. Fantasy and phantasmic imagination may work in some other theology; Judaism is about what we are, what we have, and what we can do. It is about the deed, not the creed; the hands-on activism, not the wishful possibility.
Thus, we are soon charged to take moments – ideally each day of Sukkot – to sit in the humble booth and either enjoy a meal in the fall air, or endure a meal in the wintry, wet chill. But either way, we are to return ourselves to the natural abode, reexperience our link with the natural, vulnerable world, and get some mud or grass on our shoes or our boots, and maybe some straw in our hair, as well. This is the time to dismiss those faraway spring time fantasies, and prepare for the coming fall. Put on a sweater – bundle up for winter. Get real!
Some may disparage fall and Sukkot. Me? I love it! Not because I like turning on the heat indoors, or wearing a coat to eat outdoors, but because the clarity of mind and heart are so unblemished. We have come through Yom Kippur; reality is before us! Let’s embrace it!
Shabbat Shalom and Mo’adim l’Simchah – for a joyous festival,
Rabbi Doug Kohn
