Today is the 5th day of Sukkot.
Although the festival of Sukkot has evolved throughout the millennia, its significance to the Jewish household has waned with the passing of time. Surveys reveal that Jews across the world, including those in Israel, observe festivals such as Passover, Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, or Hanukkah far more widely than Sukkot. This may have to do with the festival’s agrarian, rather than narrative, origins. Though Sukkot has evolved over time, it has always been a harvest festival looking for religious and national significance.
The book of Leviticus makes a half-hearted claim that Sukkot represents a reenactment of the Israelite journey through the wilderness, even though every other mention of Israelite desert dwellings refers to their abodes as tents, not booths. Significant ritual events, including the dedication of the first and second Temples, as well as the first public reading of the Torah, were scheduled on Sukkot, adding to the festival’s religious and national significance. Meanwhile, the book of Nehemiah describes several new traditions associated with Sukkot, including a public Torah reading and the practice of building a sukkah in every household.
Perhaps, however, a practical application of the festival’s many traditions would prove the most meaningful option for the modern Jew. As an agrarian festival set during the autumn harvest, Sukkot provides an opportunity to celebrate the bounty of the harvest and share it with those in need, not unlike American Thanksgiving. However, in asking all Jews to live outside for one week and to wave the four species in all directions, the holiday also emphasizes our dependency upon the land and upon weather.
Even for those of us who have never built a sukkah or held the four species in our hands, taking one week during the year to eat outdoors and to consider our relationship and responsibilities to the earth, as well as those who spend their lives outdoors, could portend great significance, especially in an era when increasing fires, storms, and heat have reminded us just how precarious our permanent dwellings can be.
—Rabbi Josh Knobel