Sukkot
Lasting Shelter, Temporary Hut

We take a break from the usual Torah cycle on the holiday of Sukkot. The Torah reading is a description of the sacrifices brought for many sacred occasions, including Sukkot. Rabbi Michael Strassfeld (The Jewish Holidays, p.126) tells us that, “In biblical times, Sukkot was the most important festival of all; in fact, it was referred to simply as he-hag, "the festival." (e.g. 1 Kings 12:32) Pilgrims would come from all over Israel up to Jerusalem to observe the colorful and elaborate Temple rites. "Among these was a special water libation ceremony that was celebrated with real revelry. The Talmud observes (Sukkah 51a-b) “He who has not seen the rejoicing at the place of the water drawing has never seen rejoicing in his life.”

Sukkot is associated with its own megillah (Biblical book from Ketuvim, the Writings, the last part of the Hebrew Scriptures). Just as we read Song of Songs on Passover, Ruth on Shavuot, Lamentations on Tisha B’Av, and Esther on Purim, Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) is the megillah we are to study on Sukkot. This little book is a delight to the literary minded; you can’t go far without coming to familiar words and phrases:

“Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.” (1:2)
“The sun also rises.” (1:5)
“There is nothing new under the sun.” (1:9)
“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven…” (3:1-8)
“The race is not to the swift…” (9:11)
“Cast your bread upon the waters…” (11”1)
“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth…” (11:9)

The overall theme of Kohelet is that of a dour old man who has found no lasting joy or meaning in any of the many pursuits of his long life. It is attributed to King Solomon, writing in his old age, having tried every form of pleasure and accomplishment, having looked at all kinds of human endeavors, concluding that no matter what we achieve or don’t, we all die just the same. It is often understood to be cynical and bitter. How can this be the teaching associated with this most joyous of holidays?

This question invites us to wonder about joy. What brings it? What takes it? How long can it last? And if we discover, like Kohelet, that joy, like everything else, cannot ever last, then what will keep us from despair? We celebrate the holiday by building and decorating little huts, sukkot, that are by law required to be temporary. They will not last. We fill them with the fruits of the harvest and rejoice with guests, even though we know winter is coming with its empty branches and short dark days. What is the point?

Very simply, the point is to enjoy life now.

Rabbi Rami Shapiro, in his superb and penetrating translation of Kohelet (The Way of Solomon: Finding Joy and Contentment in the Wisdom of Ecclesiastes), says that the text is actually a “liberating insight into the true nature of life and…how to live with joy and tranquility.” He writes:

“Far from being the nihilistic rantings of a depressed sage, Ecclesiastes is a brilliant paring away of our illusions about life in order to free our energies and focus our attention on those things that will bring tranquility and hope into our lives.…Life is havel havalim, not vain and futile, as most translators put it, but empty of separate and permanent selves and open to constant change and surprise.”

Here is a story of a man with access to great wealth and power. He does it all, in ways most of us can’t even imagine. By every measure he is a grand “success.” But in pursuit of wisdom, money, luxury, and pleasure, “what he finds is that there is only the pursuit. Grasping and attaining any of these things is impossible. Love, satisfaction, and wealth all come and go. That is their nature. That is the nature of everything -- to come and go."

When we stop trying to cling to things that are passing by and learn to relish the moments of pleasure and not panic in the moments of pain, we may find a kind of peace that supercedes the events of day to day. We may find a serenity and a willingness to extend ourselves in compassion to helping others that we cannot find in the driven pursuit of personal satisfaction.

Kohelet is the perfect backdrop for Sukkot. What we know, perhaps more painfully than ever this year, is that buildings are no lasting source of shelter. Any abiding safety we have comes from how much we trust each other, how much we are committed to sheltering one another. There is no building tall or strong enough to withstand eventual destruction or deterioration. But the living bonds among people are not destructible. There is no quantity of material goods that will give us security, and nothing material that can destroy our ideals. Joy is in the here and now, in the special delights of each season of life as it passes by. May this Sukkot truly be a Zman Simchatenu, the Time of our Joy.

Rabbi Alexis Roberts
September 12, 2002