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D'var Torah for Sukkot
2005
The Great Outdoors
In another few days, my family and I will live in our sukkah. We build it on our porch; it's pretty big. We have windows carved in the shape of the skyline of the Old City of Jerusalem that open and close. We spend a lot of time decorating it. Every year we have a different theme. Once it was simcha (joy), once Jerusalem, once a wedding. We haven't decided on this year's theme yet. It's a big family debate. I usually lose.
We work very hard to build our sukkah. I'm not very handy with tools, and the kids always know that something will go wrong. Fingers get smashed and boards fall down. Anyway, it's supposed to be a temporary dwelling. The important thing is that we all build it together.
And building it is a welcome change. After the intense days of introspection of Rosh Hashanah, the 10 days of repentance and Yom Kippur, it feels good to pick up a hammer and nails and try to build something.
We all sleep in the sukkah, my wife, me and the six kids. At night we spread out the sleeping bags and cuddle up. We do a lot of camping, but anyone who has slept in a sukkah knows the difference between a tent and a sukkah. It's the roof. Fortunately, our tent keeps out most of the rain and moisture. But it also keeps out the stars. And for me that is the most important part of the sukkah. We may eat all of our meals in the sukkah and spend most of the day in it, but my favorite time is the night - in particular, falling asleep. I love to lie on my back in the sukkah and look up and see the full moon.
What is the effect of sleeping and watching the stars, the moon, the sky? What is the message of Sukkot to me?
I remember once as a kid reading a poem that said that someone who slept on an island would be changed forever. I think that the same thing could also be said of sleeping in a sukkah.
The rabbis compared the building of a sukkah to the building of a world. We take natural materials and construct our own space. And though it may be a bit rickety and frail, still, we build it. And when we eat in it we say a blessing. It is not just a hut or a booth. It is holy.
And perhaps that is the reason why the holiday of Sukkot is referred to as the "holiday of our happiness." What a strange name. I understand why Passover is called "the holiday of matzah." I understand why the Talmud referred to Shavuot as "the holiday of the giving of Torah." But "the holiday of our happiness?" Aren't we supposed to be happy all the time? And what is so happy about Sukkot?
A lot of time I think my life is trying to fill in the blank of the statement: "I would be happy if __________ happened." And when that blank is filled up, then another one inevitably replaces it. I would be really happy if __________. Happiness seems to be so elusive.
But Sukkot is supposed to be the ultimate answer to that fill in the blank.
When I build a world and still see the stars - then I'm happy. It's a very deep happiness. When I'm fully involved in building this world, but still impassioned by the vision of the skies, when I'm being completely practical, but also dreaming ultimate dreams, then I'm happy.
During Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we go inside literally and figuratively. We spend hours in synagogue doing deep, serious spiritual work, improving and cleansing our inner, spiritual selves. But we go "inside" in order to go "outside."
During Sukkot we go outside. We build a sukkah, a world unto itself. Eventually, hopefully, we won't just build a sukkah: The sukkah will become a model for building a world that is connected to the heavens - building a world here that is in the image of God.
Prepared by Rabbi Aryeh Ben David, consultant to Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning
Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Sukkot at MyJewishLearning.com.
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