Dear Families,
The holiday of Sukkot, the celebration of booths, pushes us out the door and into the natural world. Maybe it wasn't designed for our unpredictable climate, especially as we think about the commandment "leishev ba'sukkah" (to dwell in the sukkah). The rabbis imagined this commandment as all encompassing: we eat, study, and even sleep in our sukkot! We live in the impermanence. We don't run away from it. Maybe we learn something from it.
There is a lot in our world right now that is changing and turning upside down. Sukkot comes to teach us that we have much to learn if we keep our eyes and ears open to a constantly changing world. What grounds us? Who grounds us? How do we acknowledge that?
The world may feel disorientating but hopefully we find our feet along the way. When we do, we have the opportunity to take hold of Torah and dance, as Simchat Torah marks the completion of Torah and its beginning. May we find ourselves moving outside in peace, and even finding space to dwell in the Sukkah and dance at this turbulent time.
Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Weininger
The holiday of Sukkot, the celebration of booths, pushes us out the door and into the natural world. Maybe it wasn't designed for our unpredictable climate, especially as we think about the commandment "leishev ba'sukkah" (to dwell in the sukkah). The rabbis imagined this commandment as all encompassing: we eat, study, and even sleep in our sukkot! We live in the impermanence. We don't run away from it. Maybe we learn something from it.
There is a lot in our world right now that is changing and turning upside down. Sukkot comes to teach us that we have much to learn if we keep our eyes and ears open to a constantly changing world. What grounds us? Who grounds us? How do we acknowledge that?
The world may feel disorientating but hopefully we find our feet along the way. When we do, we have the opportunity to take hold of Torah and dance, as Simchat Torah marks the completion of Torah and its beginning. May we find ourselves moving outside in peace, and even finding space to dwell in the Sukkah and dance at this turbulent time.
Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Weininger