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Not Wandering Anymore

Though they once traveled the Alaskan Highway from CA to AK in a rudely converted van, sleeping on side roads, eating sandwiches and drinking soup from the can, my empty-nester parents were neither migrant nor refugee.  Having grown up both of them in marginal, rural circumstances, and now in their early 60s, they drove to Alaska because this had always been one of their goals in life, and because roughing it came as easily and naturally to them as petting a dog. 

 They had choice, know-how, hutzpah (they called it gumption), a pioneer heritage, and the expectation to have what they wanted though they came from have-not.

 I think our American Sukkot experience is a lot like that.

 A holiday about farming and wandering, our festive booths celebrate a way of life that is exactly that: an enduring independence born of necessity, the know-how and hutzpah to make courageous choices and follow through, and a Tradition that carries us in the eternal circle of sunrise, sunset.

Because this is Judaism, a path of both blessing and obligation, Sukkot’s celebration of marginality brings with it reminders of community obligations:  welcoming the stranger, providing hospitality, housing the homeless, feeding the hungry.  Our High Holy Food Drive is Still Going – Please Bring Non-Perishable Food Items to the Temple for Our Donation Boxes.            

There is a subtle irony in our faith.  Have you noticed it?  We are the People of the Book, yet most of our transmission of values and teachings is experiential.  The mitzvah of Sukkot is not to write or read.  Rather, we are commanded to leyshev basukkah, to actually, physically SIT in a sukkah.  Learning, remembering, absorbing what Judaism is, happens as we smell the leafy sckack, see the stars, hear the blessings, and (sometimes) feel the rain.

Because we are Jews, sitting generally comes with eating.  It sounds a little like one of those jokes we Jews tell about ourselves, but it is true:  we celebrate by consuming the bounty of blessings even as we remember the days our parents and ancestors did without.  Our bodies transform that food into energy to raise our Jewish families, serve our community, harvest our figs, worship our God.

This year, we have a lovely, sturdy new sukkah.  It has been skillfully erected by our Men’s Club, vigorously sckacked by our Youth, and lovingly decorated by the Religious School kids.  It is yet another example of how the circle of our Jewish life is supported by the whole circumference of our community. 

And you don’t have to drive all the way to Alaska.  It’s right in our backyard, just like that bluebird of happiness.

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