When my kids were little, one of our favorite family activities each year was building and decorating our sukkah. As small children, they would help mainly with the decorations. One year, I got them little toy tools that they could use to help hammer pretend nails as Jacqueline and I put in the real ones at the same time. As they got bigger, they helped with both the building and the decorating.
The tradition of decorating the sukkah is an example of hiddur mitzvah, the value of fulfilling the commandments in the most elevated way imaginable. By putting time and effort into making the sukkah beautiful, we show our love for our tradition.
A story is told about Rabbi Chaim of Tzanz (1793-1876, Poland). Each year during the time when he could have been decorating the sukkah with his family, Rabbi Chaim would instead personally distribute tzedakah to those in need, going to the homes of members of his community who had experienced financial hardship and delivering food and other necessities.
One year, just as the holiday of Sukkot began, he entered his Sukkah and said to his family:
“It is our custom to decorate our sukkah with all sorts of lovely items so as to make the commandment more beautiful — hiddur mitzvah! For me, there is no better way to bring that value of hiddur mitzvah to the Holy Days of Sukkot than by distributing tzedakah to those in need.”
Rabbi Chaim decorated his sukkah with acts of kindness and charity.
During this season called by our tradition z’man simchateinu – our time of joy – I hope that we will all have the chance to celebrate Sukkot either here on our campus or in our homes. But just as Rabbi Chaim demonstrated, the holiday is not simply about building or decorating a sukkah. There are many ways through acts of kindness and tzedakah to bring simcha to others during this “season of rejoicing.”
Chag sameach and Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Yoshi