For Sukkot

We have worked to bring down the walls. Now we can step out of doors and try to live in that space we have created.

It is not a space completely open to the elements. We do not venture out of our walls alone. What we have worked to create around us is a sense of Presence that we can carry with us wherever we go. This is the sukkah, a symbol of the mobile divine presence that accompanied the Israelites through their journeys. That is what we have worked and are working to create for ourselves through these Holy Days, a feeling that we, too, can carry God with us through the year, wherever we go and whatever happens to us.

We have vowed not to live indoors, behind walls that guard our egos, walls built of fear, anxiety and smallness of mind. The season of the shofar has helped us to begin to bring down those walls. The question now is one of living, dwelling, the question of the sukkot holiday. How does one live without such walls, open to the world, to the experience of life as it is? And the answer is the sukkah itself – we do not venture out alone, but with God’s Presence surrounding us and embracing us. This is a dwelling place that embraces, that keeps us company, without shutting out the stars. May we experience the joy of living with such Presence.