Chag Samayach!
In the Erev Sukkot service tonight, we will share these thoughts about the significance of the main Sukkot symbols, the lulav and etrog:
The palm resembles a spine. It says:
Stand straight, be brave; do not fear to be yourself.
The myrtle is like an eye. It says:
Look well upon this lovely world. Look at all its creatures with joy.
The willow's shape is like a lip. It says:
Sing and smile; say words that are tender and kind. Let all who hear you be blessed!
The etrog is like a human heart. It says:
Open your heart to every living being; feel their pain and know their gladness;
give your love with a willing heart.
We receive a new Lulav and Etrog every year (it arrived yesterday!). During the week of Sukkot, these symbols are passed from one person to another and waved in six directions (and a seventh direction inside of us as we bring the symbols to our chest before waving them up and down). We build the Sukkah every year just before Sukkot and then take it down after the holiday to remind us that it is only temporary, just as the Israelites, as they moved through the wilderness, made shelters that stood only as long as they remained in one place. The Lulav, Etrog and Sukkah are all symbols of change that, today, coincide with the beginning of fall. They teach us that we are partners with the natural world that we live in, which is always growing and changing.
On Rosh Hashanah evening, we read together from Gates of Repentance, “Now is the time for turning,” a special reading about changes that happen in the world and that can also occur inside of us. Growth and change applies to our personality and character as much as to nature. Sometimes we “roll with the changes” around us, and, other times, we create those changes ourselves. Judaism asks us to be dynamic, not static, so that we will not say, “that’s the way I am and I can’t change,” but, rather, “that’s the way I should try to be.” In the words from our Sukkot service, we can continue to try to stand straight, look well upon the world, be kind, open our hearts, feel the pain of others and know their joy.
Hopefully, many of you will have a chance to see and stand in our Sukkah and recite the blessings over the lulav and etrog. May this “season of our rejoicing” bring us together in gladness and in hope for year of health and unity!
L’shalom,
Rabbi Larry K.
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