After Yom Kippur, What’s Next? Sukkot
By Rabbi David Woznica
With last night’s setting of the sun, the High Holy Days have ended. I hope these days were meaningful and you feel some renewal and excitement for the year ahead.
What’s next?
We go from the personal introspection of Yom Kippur to one of the most joyful and communal holidays, Sukkot, which begins this Friday night. The Torah teaches we should “live in booths (sukkot) seven days…” (Leviticus 23:43). According to Jewish law, all food eaten during Sukkot is to be eaten in the sukkah.
The sukkot symbolize the huts in which Jews lived during their 40 years of wandering in the desert. They are, by definition, a temporary structure. Walls are often made of canvas or wood. The “roof” or “sekhakh” is made of material that grows in, and is cut from, the ground, such as bamboo sticks, branches, palm fronds, etc. In Jerusalem, there’s a contest to find the most beautiful sukkah in the city.
Sukkot also celebrates the harvest in the land of Israel. The lulav (palm branch) and the etrog (citron) make up four varieties of plants in celebration of the agricultural aspect of Sukkot. We wave the lulav and etrog together during the Sukkot festival.
In addition to the holiday’s centrality (one of three Biblically mandated festivals), Sukkot is fun. In fact, Sukkot is known as the “Season of Our Joy.” In my High Holy Day sermon, I spoke about the profound role Judaism can play in happiness.
I encourage you to have as many meals or experiences in a sukkah as possible. If you have a sukkah at home, welcome friends to celebrate alongside you. Of course, we have several sukkot at Stephen Wise Temple for our congregants.
May it be, indeed, a season of joy.
Rabbi David Woznica
[email protected]
Tomorrow, “My Unique New York City Sukkah”