(מב) בַּסֻּכֹּ֥ת תֵּשְׁב֖וּ שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֑ים כָּל־הָֽאֶזְרָח֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל יֵשְׁב֖וּ בַּסֻּכֹּֽת׃ (מג) לְמַעַן֮ יֵדְע֣וּ דֹרֹֽתֵיכֶם֒ כִּ֣י בַסֻּכּ֗וֹת הוֹשַׁ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּהוֹצִיאִ֥י אוֹתָ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
For it has been taught: "For I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths [sukkot]" (Leviticus 23:43): These were clouds of glory, the words of R. Eliezer. R. Akiva says: They made for themselves real sukkot.
How does Sukkot compare to grandness of Pesach and Shavuot?
What is the original Sukkot? What are we celebrating? The first night away from "home"
I define vulnerability as uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. … Admitting our vulnerability, learning to live with uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure is letting God in. It is also key to a meaningful life. Why? Because that’s how we connect to others and connecting to others is what makes life worth living
We mimick what the Jews did when they left Egypt:
כָּל שִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים אָדָם עוֹשֶׂה סֻכָּתוֹ קֶבַע וּבֵיתוֹ עֲרַאי.
All seven days [of the festival] a man must make the sukkah his permanent residence and his house his temporary residence.
How do we react in our greatest moments of vulnerability:
תא חזי בשעתא דבר נש יתיב במדורא דא צלא דמהימנותא שבינתא
The Zohar • Section 3, Page 103b
Ye shall dwell in booths…. (Lev. 23:42) Observe that when a man sits in this abode of the shadow of faith, the Shekhinah [divine presence] spreads her wings over him from above and Abraham and five other righteous ones make their abode with him. Rabbi Abba said, “…and David with them.”
To Heal a Fractured World p. 199
“Faith does not mean certainty. It means the courage to live with uncertainty. It does not mean having the answers, it means having the courage to ask the questions and not let go of God, as he does not let go of us. It means realising that God creates divine justice but only we, acting in accord with his word, can create human justice – and our very existence means that this is what God wants us to do.”
Faith in the Future p. 2
“Faith is the space where God and humanity touch.”
Celebrating Life p. 61
“Faith is what redeems us from loneliness and humanizes the world.”
To Heal a Fractured World p. 224
“Faith is the refusal to let go until you have turned suffering into a blessing.”
To Heal a Fractured World p. 249
“If I were to sum up what faith asks us to be, I would say: a healing presence.”
Future Tense p. 10
“The antidote to fear is faith, a faith that knows the dangers but never loses hope.”
Why is Sukkot in the Fall? Shouldn't it be following Passover?
חג הסוכות תעשה לך באספך מגרנך ומיקבך - באספך את תבואת הארץ ובתיכם מלאים כל טוב דגן ותירוש ויצהר. למען תזכרו - כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל במדבר ארבעים שנה - בלא יישוב ובלא נחלה ומתוך כך תתנו הודאה למי שנתן לכם נחלה ובתים מלאים כל טוב ואל תאמרו בלבבכם כחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה...... ולכך יוצאים מבתים מלאים כל טוב בזמן אסיפה ויושבין בסוכות לזכרון שלא היה להם נחלה במדבר ולא בתים לשבת. ומפני הטעם הזה קבע הקב"ה את חג הסוכות בזמן אסיפת גורן ויקב לבלתי רום לבבו על בתיהם מלאים כל טוב, פן יאמרו ידינו עשו לנו את החיל הזה.
You are to do this at the time you gather in the produce of the earth and your houses are filled with all the good things the earth produces such a grain, grape, wine and oil (olives).
This is to be done in order that you will remember” כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל, in the desert for a period of 40 years when they neither owned land nor found themselves in a cultivated part of the earth.
...Therefore, we leave our homes full of goodness in a time of ingathering (prospering) and we sit in Sukkot in order to remember (relive) our ancestors experience of not having an inheritience (permanence) in the desert and not homes to dwell in.
Therefore, God set Sukkot in the time of gathering in our grain and wine so that our hearts do not become haughty (sure of ourselves and overly confident) in our homes full of goodness, lest they say, "our own hands (might) is the source of our strength"
How does vulnerability and Simcha relate?
The building of the sukkah teaches you trust in God. You know that whether men live in huts or in palaces, it is only as pilgrims that they dwell. You know that in this pilgrimage God is our protection. The sukkah is a transitory hut that one day will leave us or we will leave it. The walls may fall, the leafy covering may wither in this storm, but the sheltering love of God is everywhere. You dwell in the most fleeting and transitory dwelling as calmly and securely as if it were your house forever.
How does that relate to joy?
(יג) חַ֧ג הַסֻּכֹּ֛ת תַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה לְךָ֖ שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֑ים בְּאָ֨סְפְּךָ֔ מִֽגָּרְנְךָ֖ וּמִיִּקְבֶֽךָ׃ (יד) וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֖ בְּחַגֶּ֑ךָ אַתָּ֨ה וּבִנְךָ֤ וּבִתֶּ֙ךָ֙ וְעַבְדְּךָ֣ וַאֲמָתֶ֔ךָ וְהַלֵּוִ֗י וְהַגֵּ֛ר וְהַיָּת֥וֹם וְהָאַלְמָנָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר בִּשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ (טו) שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֗ים תָּחֹג֙ לַה' אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בַּמָּק֖וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֣ר ה' כִּ֣י יְבָרֶכְךָ֞ ה' אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ בְּכֹ֤ל תְּבוּאָֽתְךָ֙ וּבְכֹל֙ מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה יָדֶ֔יךָ וְהָיִ֖יתָ אַ֥ךְ שָׂמֵֽחַ׃
(13) You shall keep the feast of booths seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing-floor and from your winepress. (14) And you shall rejoice in your festival, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your man-servant, and your maid-servant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within your gates. (15) Seven days you shall hold a festival for YHVH your God in the place which YHVH shall choose; because YHVH your God shall bless you in all your crops, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful.