Rabbi MP Weisblum

October 11, 2003

When I was a freshman in a Yeshiva high school, we all knew that at some time during the year there would be a special "hashbaah", or taking of an oath ceremony. The seniors do something to remind the younger students who is in charge. It happened one night, deep in the middle of the night. Suddenly, from nowhere, they awoke us. We were about 60 ninth graders and we were commanded to go to the field. We were all wearing pajamas, freezing, in the middle of the night, running to an unknown field, scared to death. Then they blindfolded us, moved us to a deserted field, and they told us, "Now only G-d will help you and protect you." They told us that we were fresh meat, and greenhorns. They told us, "We want you to be aware that nothing meaningful comes cheap and easy." At the end of that "ceremony" we had to take an oath that we would respect the seniors. We needed to understand that we were beginners and that we had a long way to go.

Today we read the Torah portion with the story of Sukkot. When I read it, I was thinking, what is the message that G-d wants to convey to us? The rabbis tell us that there is a very important message to learn, the idea of feeling a connection between us and G-d. The reason that G-d wants us to build a Sukkah is because when we left Egypt we were in a desert, a lonely nation, freezing at night, very hot during the day and without food. But the Torah tells us that for 40 years we had manna from heaven, a pillar of clouds for the day and a pillar of fire for the night to protect us from severe weather. It is hard to teach and digest just a little message. However, when we are told to get out of our daily routines, leave our permanent homes to go to a Sukkah, we are to consider the Sukkah to be our permanent home. We are under the sky, and it gives us a feeling of connection to our history and past. It reminds me of when I was a soldier in the Israeli army. We had an officer and trainer who was extremely hard on us. No one liked him. Later on, at the time of war when we had to deal with many hardships, we appreciated him.

When G-d wants the Jewish people to build a Sukkah and make a permanent home, the rabbis tell us, He wants us to feel connected to three important values. G-d wants to physically dwell in the Sukkah in order to be more in touch with our history, to be connected to the Bible, and most importantly, to be connected to G-d and to ourselves. We believe that there is a living G-d all the time among us, involved in our lives.

I am disturbed when people say to one another before Yom Kippur, "Have an easy fast." The fast should not be easy, because repentance and soul searching do not come without effort and physical hardship. It’s not something that G-d wants us to do for fun. It should be something that requires hard work and yet is extremely meaningful and fulfilling. Telling someone about our history is one thing. However, when we act out the situation and experience what happened to our ancestors, we understand what it means to be fully in touch with the need for G-d’s protection. We are out in the open in the Sukkah, with the beauty of nature but also the many inconveniences and discomforts such as bees, mosquitoes, heat, and cold.

Why did the seniors make the freshmen suffer? Why do the army commanders make the soldiers endure so much pain? They are doing this to show us that nothing meaningful in life comes easy. By being out in the sukkah seeing the sky and G-d’s creations, we are in touch with the fact that we owe our existence to G-d. We realize that we cannot always rely on modern conveniences and on friends to help us in a difficult situation. There are times in life where it is totally up to us to work through a tough situation, try to help ourselves and pray to G-d for success. We realize that we are dependent on G-d for protection.

May this time of Sukkot be the time for us to meditate and to be in touch with G-d. May G-d grant us many blessings in the coming year. As we say during the evening prayer, "G-d who spreads the canopy of peace should spread the canopy upon all of us and our beloved Jerusalem, Amen."