Sukkot – You Can Do It!

What could be finer than the holiday of Sukkot which follows on the coattails or Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur. As we make transitions to a new year, to a new reading of Torah, to the autumn and to our new and better selves, we are commanded to build a booth, or a Sukkah. This poem is about the actions that follow the command.

Do you recognize yourself in some of these actions? Do you have any to add? Surely there are many that I missed.

May you have a wonderful Sukkot!

Sukkot -You Can Do It!

Yom Kippur is over.

Ahhhh,

A small sigh of relief

and a simple command:

Build a sukkah.

A fragile dwelling.

Hmmmmm.

And so it begins..

Planning,

surveying,

listing,

comparing,

measuring,

shopping,

ordering,

driving,

buying,

shlepping,

transporting

and we haven’t yet begun!

Next come

sawing,

cutting,

dragging,

lifting,

shlepping,

climbing,

attaching,

hammering,

hanging,

lighting,

reaching,

separating,

straightening,

stretching,

stringing,

sweeping!

And then there is searching.

Always a problem….

Then finding!!!!

Phew!

But,

there still remains

clipping,

crimping,

cutting,

dusting,

adjusting,

gluing,

stringing

taping,

making,

hanging,

decorating

Ah, so beautiful!

Not finished yet!

There is still

checking,

chopping,

kneading,

paring,

peeling,

baking,

braiding,

broiling,

chopping,

mopping,

mincing,

frying,

forming,

frosting,

freezing,

boiling,

icing,

dicing,

spicing,

washing,

wrapping,

simmering

steaming!

We’re getting there!

Let’s not forget

texting,

calling,

inviting,

greeting,

hugging,

welcoming,

sniffing,

sniffling,

seating

This is important now…

Closer now

Closer, closer!

Squeezing,

squeezing,

squeezing,

squeezing,

and finally sitting!

Shmoooshing!

Voila, it’s a sukkah!

Under the full harvest moon,

wrapped in blue cloth,

covered with fragrant S’chach,

filled with greenery.

Fragile, but so beautiful.

And now,

final verbs are the best!

Seeing,

hearing,

chatting,

whispering,

joking,

jesting,

sipping,

tasting,

eating,

drinking,

sharing,

shaking,

shmoozing,

recounting,

remembering,

reveling,

telling,

toasting,

appreciating,

smiling,

smiling

(twice on purpose because it is important!)

joking,

laughing,

giggling,

singing,

elevating

It begins and ends with blessing.

And so a command becomes a reality.

It is the journey that makes its completion so sweet.

 לֵישֵׁב בַּסֻּכָּה

************

Mark, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the yield of your land, you shall observe the festival of the LORD [to last] seven days: a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day. On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. You shall observe it as a festival of the LORD for seven days in the year; you shall observe it in the seventh month as a law for all time, throughout the ages. You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I the LORD your God.

Leviticus 23:39-43