Posted on 10/05/25
A Week of Liberation
Each year, just before Sukkot, I am reminded of some of the first words of Torah I ever heard. I was fifteen, and was attending an educational event for young people in Jerusalem. As we were about to eat, a girl named Daphna declared that “we can’t sit here and eat without a dvar Torah, even if it’s just something short.” I did not know what a “dvar Torah” was, but she immediately continued. “There is a clear connection between Sukkot and Pesach. Both of these festivals teach us to appreciate the most basic necessities of life. On Pesach we learn to appreciate bread after a whole week without it, and on Sukkot we learn to appreciate our homes after a week of living in booths.”
This simple thought stayed with me for years. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, a recipient of the Israel Prize, was one of the great leaders of Torah, Talmud and Chassidut in our generation. He adds depth to the idea that Daphna shared: “In a life that is too settled and fixed, there is a danger of complacency, of an exaggerated sense of security. People and nations that feel too self-satisfied in their present situation can find themselves on the edge of an abyss. The sukkah jolts us out of our comfortable existence, takes us away from the stability of our homes and instills within us a feeling of transience. The sukkah liberates us from the feeling that ‘I deserve this’ and that things are ‘mine,’ feelings based on superficial perceptions. Instead, we live in the sukkah for an entire week with the sense that everything in life is, in fact, temporary.”
Our Time of…Family
Sukkot is distinguished from other festivals as Zeman Simchatenu, “our time of joy,” but it is also our time of family. My mother-in-law, family guidance counselor Ziva Meir, shared these thoughts:
“Many parents ask: ‘Where do I draw the line between time devoted to myself and time devoted to my children?’ There is a misunderstanding in the question however, as the time we devote to our children is, in its very essence, meaningful time devoted to ourselves. There is nothing more wonderful than this. If we regard family time as servitude and sacrifice, it means we are missing something. Those who feel enslaved to their children are not doing it right. The most worthwhile self-development comes from within the family unit. This is the best workshop for personal growth. If we are truly connected to ourselves we will find time for parents, siblings, children and spouses without a sense of guilt and the feeling that we are constantly losing or missing out. True, during holiday periods things can get complicated, but equating personal time with family time should be our guiding principle. There once was a girl who said to a great rabbi that she wanted to sacrifice her life to Torah. Instead of an enthusiastic response, the rabbi said: ‘Don’t do us any favors.’ So, too, we should not feel like we are martyrs suffering for our children for, after all, Judaism opposes human sacrifice.”
A Season for Everything
The words of Shlomo Hamelech are full of wisdom, and that includes the book of Kohelet, which we read on Chol HaMoed Sukkot. It’s one of the five megillot that belong to the Ketuvim section of the Tanakh, and includes the famous words: “Everything has an appointed season, and there is a time for every matter under heaven. A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot that which is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break and a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time of mourning and a time of dancing. A time to cast stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.”
There are many commentaries on these words, but let us look at the simplest explanation: There is a time and a place for everything. In this frantic, confounding, global world of ours, there is a tendency to rush in and do everything simultaneously, erasing definitions and boundaries and mixing everything together. Shlomo Hamelech reminds us of a basic truth: Everything has its own proper time and place. We go through different periods in life and it is full of change. There is both good and bad in our world; it is important to be aware and see what it is needed at which time.
A Sukkah Life
Each night of Sukkot we traditionally invite one of the seven “Ushpizin” (visitors) into the sukka: Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Yosef, Moshe, Aharon and David. What can we learn from this custom?
When we look at the story of their lives, we see that these seven figures had to continually confront challenges and crises. Avraham was called upon to leave his homeland and journey to the unknown Land of Israel, and from there to Egypt and back again. Yitzchak encountered enemies throughout his travels in the Land of Israel. Yaakov was forced to flee to Haran, returned to the Land of Israel, and subsequently journeyed down to Egypt. Yosef was sold by his brothers and wound up in an Egyptian prison. Moshe was hidden in a basket in the Nile River, grew up in Pharaoh’s house, fled to Midian, and eventually returned to Egypt. His brother, Aharon, wandered with him for forty challenging years in the desert. David’s life, too, was filled with war and rebellions.
Our forefathers lived transient “sukkah lives” without permanent homes. But despite all their challenges, they continued to flourish: they learned, they educated, they brought good to the world, and so they became significant figures, powerful and eternal. They did not put everything on hold until “after the crisis.” Just the opposite. They understood that the time is now, that life is lived within the maelstrom. Instead of waiting for peace and tranquility in order to do great things, they knew how to focus on what was important even while the world around them shook and trembled.
Before we leave the sukkah, this is the message we should take with us: No more excuses, the time is now.