Seeking Stability & Permanence in the Sukkah

Our beautiful Sukkah

It's Chol Hamoed (the interim days) of Succos. It's one of the most joyous festivals of the Jewish year. As much as we are celebrating the literal fruits of our labor in this harvest season, Succos also honors the joy of the spiritual fruits of our labor. We just finished an intensive period of self-reflection, conversation with and connection to G-d and teshuva (repentance); we are now celebrating the happiness and comfort of knowing we have a "clean slate" and a fresh start. So how do we celebrate? By exposing ourselves to the unpredictability of the Autumn climate and eating in a temporary makeshift hut outside, of course! That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, you say? What about being nibbled on by mosquitoes and shivering through a festive meal conjures up feelings of joy? Furthermore, wouldn't it make more sense to focus on the strength, stability and permanence of our connection to G-d than to spend seven days in structure comprised of 3 "walls" and a "roof" full of holes?

The day before Succos was to begin, I was feeling exhausted. It was less than 24 hours before another 3-day yom tov, and I was feeling yom tov-ed out! We've been home here in Williamsburg for about a month, and with all of the holidays, we have still barely been home. After talking with my husband, we both realized we felt the same way and decided rather than traveling again to celebrate the beginning of the holiday with our community about 40 minutes away, we wanted to spend it together in the peace and quiet of the house and to have an opportunity to enjoy our first sukkah as a married couple. For me, the occasion brought the added element of excitement of having my first sukkah at home! Since women are not obligated to build or eat in the sukkah, I'd enjoyed many meals in other families' sukkahs since becoming religious, but had never had my very own. So after making some apologetic phone calls to families in Norfolk who had so graciously invited us to eat with them over the first three days and now so understandingly accepted our last-minute change of plans, we set out with only five hours to go to prepare for the next three days of yuntiv and Shabbos. The house was a mess. The sukkah wasn't up all the way yet. We had no food prepared and six festive meals to eat!

Up goes the schach...

My husband was the very essence of calm. He vacuumed, organized, worked on finishing our sukkah, washed dishes, took out the trash, took us to the grocery store. He hung up some of our artwork around the house, made arrangements to meet some very kind and generous friends who would drop off a lulav & esrog for us, and made calls to friends and family. He set up the holiday candles for me and even formed some makeshift candlesticks from tinfoil as our usual candlesticks were still in our Shabbos apartment in Norfolk.  He did this all b'simcha (joyfully). His wife, on the other hand, eh em, was in a bit of a tizzy. I tried and tried again to conjure up that sense of joy and peacefulness as I prepared many of my favorite recipes and set the holiday table. I tried to feel and act joyful as I set the lights and made the beds and filled the hot water urn my husband had taken extra time to kasher that afternoon. Spending three blissful days with my husband in our home was exactly what I'd wanted, why couldn't I tap into that joy while plowing through preparations instead of feeling overwhelmed?

Well, we accomplished the seemingly impossible. As the yuntiv came in and I lit the candles, the house looked amazing. The sukkah was up. We had three days of feasts fit for royalty, still warm in the oven. My husband encouraged me to finally sit and take a load off, to revel in the beauty of that moment. We no longer had to rush; we could now revel in the appreciation of all that hard work, of having accomplished a task that seemed insurmountable. And that is when it hit me; this is the meaning of Succos. We have accomplished the seemingly impossible, an ostensibly insurmountable task. Through teshuva, through our prayers on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we have worked tirelessly to prepare. Just like preparing our homes and tables, we have prepared ourselves. We have taken inventory, done a little shopping to fill in the empty spaces, and cleaned up the messes. We have repaired the structure of our relationships to each other, to our Creator and with ourselves. Now, we can take a load off. Now we can revel in the appreciation of all of that hard work being done. But we do so in a sukkah, in a makeshift temporary structure that is exposed to the elements, because that is the nature of our lives. We are in this world temporarily. We exist in a state of impermanence. We live and breathe at the whim of the elements. Sometimes our lives are smooth sailing and sometimes the waters are rough. At all times, we can focus on the fear of that which is temporary and unpredictable or we can sit back, smile, and enjoy the ride. We can plan, prepare, and plot as much as we want, but that sense of stability and permanence can only come from truly letting go and trusting we can weather this perfect storm. G-d runs the show so we don't have to.

Nothing says Sunday morning like challah French toast in the Sukkah!

And there is one more truly beautiful part of that. We are not alone. On  the seven days of Succos we invite the seven holy ushpizin (guests) to "join" us in our sukkah. We welcome the beautiful characteristics of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joesph, and David into our sukkahs one by one with each day. Chabadniks also honor the beautiful characteristics of the Baal Shem Tov, the previous Lubavitcher Rebbeim, and the Rebbe. It is a mitzvah to share the festive meals with actual guests as well. We invite others into our sukkahs both physically and spiritually to mark that we are not alone. Just like I must learn that my husband is happy to help around the house and being asked to do so brings him joy, so too must we all learn that it is ok to ask others for help in this journey. We can turn the pages to turn to the holy characters of the Torah  and to the wisdom of the Rebbeim for much needed guidance. We can turn to each other for much needed support and companionship. And we can always turn in prayer to G-d. Just like it brings a parent or teacher great joy to see her children work together and support one another, so too does it bring G-d great joy to see His children lend each other a gentle helping hand.

Rainy havdalah in the Sukkah after Shabbos

And so come rain or shine, for seven days we find joy in the sukkah not because it is strong and stable and will last forever, but quite because it is the opposite of all that. We can find stability and permanence in this temporary structure that is exposed to the elements because it mirrors our own existence in this world. And we can glean great comfort and even joy from welcoming the help of those who love us truly and completely for who we are. Moed tov & chag sameach!