At the Shabbat table last week, someone mentioned that Sukkot was their favorite Jewish Holiday. And I wasn’t surprised. Building a sukkah is exciting. There's something really enjoyable about eating outdoors. In Biblical times, this was when they celebrated the harvest and it remains “the time to rejoice” today.
But behind the festivities, Sukkot has a a powerful spiritual message. After all, this is the holiday that serves as the “peak” following Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur!
So what is Sukkot all about? Here is one perspective:
The Jews left Egypt, and then wandered for forty years in the Desert, as they waited to enter the Promised Land. How did the former slaves live in the wilderness? What did they eat? How did they shelter themselves from the wind, the sun, sandstorms? What about wild animals and menacing tribes?
Alone in the desert. That’s vulnerable. As vulnerable as one can imagine.
Yet they were never alone. They ate Manna which G-d granted from the Heavens. There were Clouds of Glory which protected them from the elements. They were in a difficult physical situation, but they were actually safe and secure.
Because we, the Jewish People, were in G-d’s arms. G-d was holding, providing for, and protecting us, like a parent cares for a baby.
So on Sukkot we celebrate that. On Sukkot, we build huts, temporary dwellings with flimsy roofs, and we transfer our lives to those huts. We eat there. We spend time there. It’s our home for seven days.
Why? Because the home represents my security in life.
On Sukkot, I redefine the source of my security. On Sukkot, I leave my regular house, my instinctive security zone, and I declare G-d as my security zone.
All other things – my house, my job, my 401k - are important vessels through I find my Divinely-granted security. But on Sukkot, I focus on the target. I see life for what it is.
My life, my living, my eating, my drinking are all within the context of G-d’s security. And I need to trust that security, like the Jews trusted it in the desert. When I sit in the Sukkah, and lift my eyes to see a flimsy ceiling, I should have no fear. I’m in G-d’s embrace; there’s nothing safer.
And when Sukkot is over, and I go back into my home, I need to remember that lesson. I need to make sure I don’t over-emphasize the centrality of the ‘things’ that bring security, at the expense of recognizing the Source of my security: G-d.
Now this is easier said than done. This perspective requires attaining a high spiritual level. And that us why the holiday comes specifically after our Teshuva on Rosh Hoshana and Yom Kippur
But this sense of safety brings inner tranquility and inner joy. That’s why Sukkot is called the Festival of Joy. It’s a time when we plug squarely into the Divine and we’re secure, no matter what’s going on outside.
How relevant a message is that today!