This Sukkot: Finding Meaning with Viktor Frankl

Since October 7th, as we approach each festival, the same question is going through our minds – how can we find the inner strength and emotional energy to be happy and enter into the spirit of the chag.

This is even more of a question as we prepare for Sukkot, as there is an additional command to experience, “simcha” more than any other festival in our Jewish calendar. In fact, Maimonides in his code of halacha, the “mishneh torah,” says that on Sukkot there is a command to experience, “simcha yetera” – additional simcha.

This extra dimension of happiness of Sukkot is expressed by inviting in “Ushpizin” and guests to our sukkot, enjoying simchat beit hashoevot in communal sukkot – replicating the joyous celebrations in the Temple and special prayers.

The climax of Sukkot is Simchat Torah – but how can we drink and dance with the Sefer Torah thinking back on this day last year, Israel experienced its worst ever terror attack.

As we enter Sukkot this year, our mood is very different to any other year I can remember since having been in Israel, 22 years.

We hear today on the news that Hamas have raised there demands to release our hostages and there is less chance of a deal; in these past weeks there have been several terror attacks in Tel Aviv, Yafo, Beersheva and Ashdod; the tragic attack on the Golani base in Binyamina killing 4 soldiers and injuring tens; soldiers falling in Gaza and Lebanon; and Israel having to defend itself from on multiple fronts – Yemen, Iraq and, of course Iran.

Tens of thousands of Israelis from the north will not be celebrating at home at all and are being put up in hotels and empty apartments throughout the country. Certainly, citizens in Haifa, Kiryat Shmonah and Tzfat will not be able to sit in their sukkot – and sadly, more chance, they will be sitting in their bomb shelters.

Soldiers have been called up – some for their 4th or even 5th round of “miluim” – reserve duty and so many families will be eating their festive meals without sons, husbands and brothers around the table. Instead they will be sitting around the table, praying their boys are safe and thinking of them incessantly.

One of my favorite books, is “Search for Meaning,” written by the Austrian Holocaust survivor, neurologist, psychologist and philosopher, Viktor Emil Frankl.

In that book, Frankl, writes about logo therapy, a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life’s meaning as the central human motivational force. Logo therapy is part of existential and humanistic psychology theories.

A famous Frankl quote is, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms” – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

Frankl believed that happiness can’t be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.

Frankl is famous for believing that the key to finding happiness is taking responsibility to ease the suffering of others. Frankl believed that responsibility is integral to finding life’s purpose. He argued that individuals must take responsibility for their actions and decisions, even in adverse circumstances. This sense of responsibility extends beyond personal well-being to include the well-being of others and society.

Applying Frankl’s theory of logo therapy and his approach to freedom, happiness and responsivity to Sukkot this year – however these challenging times have affected us and what we are going through as a nation and individuals – we need to look deeper and inwards, and through the mitzvot and customs of the day, we need to try to connect and empathize with those around us – especially those who have lost loved ones and have relatives serving in the army.

Through connecting with others, may we also be able to connect with G-d and our heritage and traditions.