My Jewish blog

Sukkot

I am very fortunate to be a one of the recipients of Hinda Langer’s mailing list. Hinda is part of Chabad San Francisco and the director of “Shalom School”, A child care and a pre-school. Hinda is a fascinating woman, with very interesting views, often very enlightening for me. I enjoyed her last piece about Sukkot. She gave it a new meaning and managed to move me.

Here is what Hinda Langer wrote:

“During the holiday of Sukkot, we leave our permanent homes to dwell in a ‘hut’. But what sounds like a fun family camp-out is also a great life lesson. The Sukkah reminds us that we are all just travelers, making our way through a material world. When you light your candles to usher in the festival of Sukkot, vow to celebrate all that is eternal in your life, like family. Sit in the Sukkah, look around those flimsy four walls, and say, ‘At least some things are everlasting’.

I celebrated sukkot in Israel every year, of course as a secular girl, coming from a secular family, we never tried to explain and understand the reasons behind the holidays and the traditions we followed, we stuck with what was fun, and that was good enough then. I guess that why  I find Hinda’s words so valuable.

When I tell people that Jewish people go camping once a year at their back yard, they find it shocking, which always make me laugh.

For those of you who never saw a sukka. Here is a youtube that will give you an idea how it looks like. And yes! we spend the night there, well… the more observant do.