Parshat Haazinu: Sukkot – Get Happy
We are over the hump of Yom Kippur and getting ready for the Chag of Sukkot. On Yom Kippur Jewish people attend synagogue in droves. But unfortunately many will not return until next Yom Kippur. And it’s sad and unfortunate that these one-hit-wonder Jews miss the most important message of these Yamim Noraim – Days of Awe, or High Holidays.
There’s no question that Yom Kippur is up there as one of, if not the most important days in the Jewish calendar. As physically taxing as it may be, it is a wonderful opportunity to truly cleanse oneself spiritually. As the Yom Kippur prayers declare, it’s an opportunity to feel pure and white as snow. I feel bad for anyone who hasn’t experienced Yom Kippur with its total fasting, coupled with intense self-scrutiny of every aspect of one’s life, goals and aspirations and where we examine everything under a microscope and judge ourselves with the lofty goal of becoming a better person. While it is a draining experience – both physically and emotionally – it is also immensely rewarding. We are very fortunate to have a Yom Kippur every year.
But it’s not supposed to stop on Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur isn’t the real goal. It’s not the be all and end all but actually a means to something bigger. In fact, the goal of the High Holidays in many ways is the holiday of Sukkot. Indeed both series of the five Torah holidays dovetail into Sukkot. Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot as well as Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot.
Every holiday has a theme. Pesach is Freedom. Shavuot is receiving the Torah. Sukkot is called zeman simchatenu – the Time of our Joy. The Freedom from slavery and the gift of the Torah has the goal of Happiness and Joy of Sukkot. The same goes for Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur where we repeatedly focus on requesting and showing our desire for Life. In the prayers we express how much we want and love life and to take pleasure in the gift of creation that God has given us. But what is the ultimate purpose of this life that God grants us? Sukkot again.
Judaism’s view is that the purpose of creation is pleasure and joy – the theme of Sukkot. This is reflected in the fact that when God made Adam and Eve he put them in גן עדן – Gan Eden, which is translated as The Garden of Eden but literally means The Garden of Pleasure. This is what God wants for Mankind and our real purpose – to enjoy the meaningful pleasures in life. Sukkot is about Joy and Happiness and is the key to help us get there.
The Sukkah is a simple structure and doesn’t offer much in the way of protection and security. Whether in humid and hot Florida or in the cold and damp of Toronto, London or New York, we don’t eat, drink and sometimes sleep in the Sukkah because it offers comfort from the elements. And yes, it happens to be that the weather in Israel during Sukkot is perfect – no accident there – but it is still a very simple and vulnerable structure. And yet somehow we are to find Joy and Happiness in it.
What is the Joy that a Sukkah offers? I have a good friend who loves to go camping. I have even joined him on an occasion or two. Why do people enjoy camping? What would possess millions of people all over the world to leave the comfort of their homes and venture out into the wild with minimal electricity, toilets and warm, comfy beds? Even for those who go Glamping – it is still not as comfortable as their real home.
People go camping because they like getting back to the simpler things in life. They enjoy extricating themselves from all of the trappings that society says they must have in order to achieve happiness. Being one with nature allows one to get back to basics – if only for a short time – and to refocus on what is truly important in life. All the luxuries that society and media deem so crucial to our well-being and happiness are exposed to be false when we find ourselves in much simpler surroundings such as the outdoors. Or in a Sukkah.
And this is what Sukkot is all about. Sukkot is the opportunity to take leave from our homes and realize that true joy and happiness arrives when we are able to break free from those things that we feel are necessary and crucial to being happy. Only when we know that our happiness is not dependent on any thing are we able to ultimately enjoy those things.
In a Sukkah we come to realize that trusting in God for our material pleasures, enjoying our families, living a life of values and of truth and good – that these are the things that bring true happiness. It’s only when we take leave from our Stuff and go to the simple Sukkah that we can then utilize our possessions to add to our happiness, and come to the full understanding that they don’t define or create joy and happiness in and of themselves.
“That’s what Sukkos is all about, Charlie Brown.” To miss out on Sukkot is to miss the fruits of Yom Kippur. If you have experienced the pain of Yom Kippur, you owe it to yourself to experience the pleasure of Sukkot. So get thee to a Sukkah – better yet, build your own – and take your Yom Kippur to a whole new level. Take it to the Joy and Happiness found only in the simplicity of the humble Sukkah.
Old days, good times I remember
Fun days filled with simple pleasures
Take me back to a world gone away
Memories seem like yesterday
-Chicago
