Shabbos/Sukkos, 5761
October 13th, 2000

A friend of mine, as he was putting away his tefillin after prayers this morning, remarked that he would be thinking and worrying all day about the plight of our fellow Jews in Israel.  (As will we all, I'm sure.)  I nodded in agreement, unable to stop my own morbid imaginings about the horrific final moments of the Jews murdered yesterday by an Arab mob; I couldn't really muster any words of encouragement or reassurance.    

"I guess we just gotta have faith," my friend concluded.

I realized afterwards that he had summed up the situation perfectly. With the clouds of Middle East war gathering (G-d forbid) and a grotesque feeling of Persian Gulf déjà vu descending--complete with a suddenly resuscitated Saddam Hussein and fresh terrorist attacks against American soldiers--, I don't know of anyone who has a better assessment of how we Jews should respond.  (That includes the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.) 

We just gotta have faith.

Military retaliation, formation of a unity government, other diplomatic endeavors…yes, sure, whatever.  But the main thing--that is to say, the spiritual thing-- is that we must have faith.  (Heartfelt prayer to G-d is the main concrete expression of that faith, and, in turn, a means to strengthen it.)

Is it any coincidence that this is the main theme of the festival we are entering--Sukkos--, and especially the commandment to dwell in the sukkah?  

"You shall dwell in booths for a seven-day period…So that your generations will know that I caused the Children of Israel to dwell in booths when I took them from the land of Egypt; I am Hashem, your G-d."  (Leviticus: 23, 42-3)

As the Talmud elucidates, the Sukkah is meant to recall to us the Clouds of Glory (figurative booths) that surrounded and sheltered us in the forty years of wandering in the desert.  They were the physical and tangible expression of G-d's Providence, of His special guidance of His chosen people.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, in his work on the commandments, Horeb, explains that the sukkah (the pre-fab one you and I put up in our backyards in Savannah, and elsewhere) is our yearly reminder of that selfsame--and never to be diminished--Divine Providence in our lives as individuals and as a nation. 

Although things may look bad, we should remember that part of the problem is that our gaze is too obsessively fastened on the television and the computer screen for the latest update on the situation (I include myself).  The holiday of Sukkos invites us to turn our eyes elsewhere: to the walls and the thin roofing (s'chach) of our backyard booths, and the lesson of faith that they teach. 

"…move into the sukkah and learn how G-d sustained your forefathers in their early wanderings in the wilderness.  He is with you in your present wandering in the wilderness too.  Look back upon your centuries of suffering, oppression, degradation, and darkness- were the protecting clouds of the Almighty wanting?  Did not the flaming fire lead the way?  Did not your G-d sustain you?"  (Hirsch, Horeb, Chapter 30)

We've had tough times before (it's been a long Exile), and we have survived.  Our enemies always raise a sound and fury, baring their teeth in truly frightening ferocity.  But they never have, nor will they ever, destroy us.  Every night in our evening prayers, we remind ourselves of G-d's eternal saving power: "'For Hashem has redeemed Jacob, and delivered him from a power mightier than he.' Blessed are You, Hashem, Who redeemed Israel."  He did it before, and He will do it again.  We gotta have faith.

And we gotta try to have joy (simcha)--a natural result of our genuine faith in the (ever-watchful) G-d of Israel.  Joy at a time like this?  Have I lost my mind??? 

That's what the Torah requires of us on our festivals…however difficult our personal, or national, situation may be in a particular year.  "You shall rejoice on your festival…" With our thoughts never far from our threatened Israeli brothers and sisters, we must still rejoice with the blessings--physical and spiritual--that we have.   I honestly consider this itself to be a great test of our faith: Can we rejoice as we should during this most perilous Sukkos of 5761? 

It may not be easy, but the Mishnah tells us: "According to the difficulty is the reward."

And I'm not urging anyone to feign lack of interest in the events of the coming week, and try to remain oblivious.   It certainly would be best to spend all of the festival absorbed in Torah study and prayer in the sanctity of the sukkah.  But I'm realistic.  If you and I feel we must read the newspaper, or log on to CNN, then at least we should try to do it in the sukkah.    (Indeed, we are supposed to engage in all our pursuits in the sukkah, elevating them thereby from the mundane to the level of kedushah--holiness).  When our eyes are tired, and our spirits depleted, from the grim message of the newsprint or computer screen, we can then lift our gaze to the s'chach and restore our proper perspective.  G-d protected us in the desert with Clouds of Glory, and He has protected us in the long exile we still endure.  

We gotta have faith and joy. 

If we do turn our thoughts in that direction (i.e., Above), King David guarantees us that the terror we feel will evaporate: 

"Indeed, He will hide me in His shelter (sukkah) on the day of evil; He will   conceal me in the concealment of His tent, He will lift me upon a rock.  Now my head is raised above my enemies around me…I will sing and chant praise to Hashem."  (Psalm 27: verses 5-6; Artscroll Tehillim translation.)  

May we all strive to feel joy on this Sukkos festival, and may the Almighty bring true shalom to Israel, and to all mankind. 

GOOD SHABBOS, AND GOOD YOM TOV!

STEP'S BUSINESS ETHICS LUNCHEON WILL BE A WEEK FROM TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24TH, AT 12 NOON AT PORTMAN'S MUSIC SUPERSTORE.  CALL RABBI EDELSTEIN (OR E-MAIL BACK) TO RESERVE A LUNCH, AND SPECIFY WHAT KIND  OF SANDWICH YOU WANT.