SUKKOT

Sukkot has long been one of our favorite holidays. We love sitting in the sukkah and gazing up at the stars in the sky at night or at the sun filled sky during the day. Some how a cup of tea always tastes better in the sukkah.

Sitting in the sukkah always gives us a sense of peace and wholeness that we get nowhere else. Perhaps it is the awareness that we always ask God to “spread over us the sukkah of peace, over us and over Jerusalem.” There is no more fitting metaphor for the sukkah.

Sukkot is an interesting holiday in that it involves the whole body. Sitting in the sukkah is a lot like that old children’s song that says: you put your whole self in, you put your whole self out, you put your whole self in and you shake the lulav all about……… etc!

Ok, so we fudged a bit on the words. But you get the idea.

We were on the phone today with our daughter and son in law in Jerusalem and they had just put up their sukkah on their porch (the advantage to living on the top floor). Our daughter noted that she loves to sit in the sukkah and drink hot tea and eat fresh fruit. She, too, claims that the sukkah infuses her with a sense of wholeness and completion.

So, there you have it. It’s official. Go sit in a sukkah and enjoy the holiday. Chag Sameach to all of you.

Rabbi J Rappoport