Sukkot is about making connections. One connection suggested by Sukkot is connecting with our fellow
humans. Despite our often turbulent relationship with Christianity over the
centuries, our Christian neighbors are trying to make connections in a new and
surprising way. Two brief examples will suffice. A television pastor based in
Texas recently taught his flock how to enhance their prayer life by wearing a
tallit. A Bible college in New York State conducts a Passover seder on their
Holy Thursday. This phenomenon is still spreading for a very simple reason.
They want what we’ve got. They think that by copying our rituals they will find
our secret.
We Jews have something special. We can be proud of who we are and what we represent. Unfortunately too often we are so concerned about declaring the universalism of our message that we sacrifice our uniqueness. It is precisely that unique quality of Judaism that makes our rituals so appealing. Our connection with God empowers us. Our connection with each other enables us.
When poet Emma Lazarus wrote “The New Colossus,” she painted a word picture of a country able to transform “huddled masses” not only socially and economically but spiritually as well. That has been the Jews’ unique contribution to society over the millennia of our existence. Good people do good deeds because “it’s the right thing to do.” And good things happen. People in need have their needs met. But when we climb just a little higher on Rambam’s ladder, when our motivation comes from a genuine love for mankind, when our neshamah inspires us to act, the world can be changed, one life at a time. Imagine what can be accomplished by everyday acts of kindness. During this holiday reach out to a world full of desperately needy people and invite them, Jew or gentile, into your spiritual sukkah. Comfort someone in mourning. Call someone who you know is lonely. Visit someone who isn’t feeling well. You might just change a life.
I close with just one little story from my favorite teacher, my daughter Arianna. My wife Valerie and Arianna were at Children’s Hospital. As often happens Valerie was engaged in a conversation with another mother and her daughter, who was about Arianna’s age. The mother suddenly began to cry. Valerie of course wanted to know if there was a problem. “Oh no,” the mother assured her. “Your daughter just gave my little girl the greatest gift ever!” The little girl had been born with all her faculties but lost her hearing as a result of disease. She had learned sign language but thought that she was the only girl in the world who talked with her hands. She was alone in her silence. Until she met Arianna. We had taught Anna some simple sign language and she absorbed it like a sponge. Using her skill to connect with this stranger, Arianna and her new friend were having a silent conversation using their hands. Suddenly this little girl was no longer alone. What gift might you have to share with the world?
This year as we leave our safe and secure homes and sit in our sukkot with the leaky roof, our challenge is to move out of our comfort zone and dare to be vulnerable; to connect with God in a new and personal way; to connect positively with our fellow Jews, even when we disagree; to connect with our world by simple but profound deeds. Perhaps this is the year to reach new spiritual heights, to come together and to bring about that more peaceful world for which we all pray. On this holiday let us celebrate what we and God together may accomplish.
Chag Sameach.
Related links:
The Meaning of Hesed
An Introduction to Sukkot
We Jews have something special. We can be proud of who we are and what we represent. Unfortunately too often we are so concerned about declaring the universalism of our message that we sacrifice our uniqueness. It is precisely that unique quality of Judaism that makes our rituals so appealing. Our connection with God empowers us. Our connection with each other enables us.
When poet Emma Lazarus wrote “The New Colossus,” she painted a word picture of a country able to transform “huddled masses” not only socially and economically but spiritually as well. That has been the Jews’ unique contribution to society over the millennia of our existence. Good people do good deeds because “it’s the right thing to do.” And good things happen. People in need have their needs met. But when we climb just a little higher on Rambam’s ladder, when our motivation comes from a genuine love for mankind, when our neshamah inspires us to act, the world can be changed, one life at a time. Imagine what can be accomplished by everyday acts of kindness. During this holiday reach out to a world full of desperately needy people and invite them, Jew or gentile, into your spiritual sukkah. Comfort someone in mourning. Call someone who you know is lonely. Visit someone who isn’t feeling well. You might just change a life.
I close with just one little story from my favorite teacher, my daughter Arianna. My wife Valerie and Arianna were at Children’s Hospital. As often happens Valerie was engaged in a conversation with another mother and her daughter, who was about Arianna’s age. The mother suddenly began to cry. Valerie of course wanted to know if there was a problem. “Oh no,” the mother assured her. “Your daughter just gave my little girl the greatest gift ever!” The little girl had been born with all her faculties but lost her hearing as a result of disease. She had learned sign language but thought that she was the only girl in the world who talked with her hands. She was alone in her silence. Until she met Arianna. We had taught Anna some simple sign language and she absorbed it like a sponge. Using her skill to connect with this stranger, Arianna and her new friend were having a silent conversation using their hands. Suddenly this little girl was no longer alone. What gift might you have to share with the world?
This year as we leave our safe and secure homes and sit in our sukkot with the leaky roof, our challenge is to move out of our comfort zone and dare to be vulnerable; to connect with God in a new and personal way; to connect positively with our fellow Jews, even when we disagree; to connect with our world by simple but profound deeds. Perhaps this is the year to reach new spiritual heights, to come together and to bring about that more peaceful world for which we all pray. On this holiday let us celebrate what we and God together may accomplish.
Chag Sameach.
Related links:
The Meaning of Hesed
An Introduction to Sukkot
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