World’s Largest Sukkah in the Heart of Israel

I’m always thrilled when my husband is involved in good things. Here he is helping build one of the largest Sukkah’s in the world, on the Bnei Baruch roof in Petach Tikva, at 12 HaRabash Steet.

My husband is a cook by profession, and his friend on the scaffold happens to be a professional contractor. When I took this photo there were people from our groups all over Israel, who had come to help build this special Sukkah in the heart of Israel.

We reached out to the Guinness World Records in the UK, to have them make a record of the special structure. They were very kind, but said they couldn’t because there is no standard to judge it by, and according to their procedures they can only judge permanent structures. I tried to explain that the entire essence of a Sukkah is that it’s a temporary structure.

Our friends from around the world have already started landing for this special Jewish holiday, that is all about transforming our egoistic nature. It’s an opportunity to widen the circle and connect with those that are different than us.

It’s the greatest example of inclusion & diversity in the world.

In the words of Michael Laitman:

The holiday of Sukkot represents an essential change of values. By changing our values—from individualistic and egoistic to connective and altruistic—we will be able to create a safe, harmonious and happy world.

Such change requires an assessment of what’s most important in life: self benefit or other people’s benefit?

The holiday of Sukkot (the Tabernacle Feast) and the work in conjunction with it, such as the construction of the Sukkah, explains how we can increase the importance of the very small desire we have to benefit others, until it’s greater in importance than all of our self-aimed desires.

The desire to benefit others is called “waste” because we instinctively perceive caring about others as completely unnecessary. That is, our personal concerns—”What will I eat?” “Who will be my partner?” “What will happen to my family?” “How can I make my money and living?” “How can I earn other people’s respect and appreciation?” “How can I achieve my life’s goals?” “How can I meet all my needs?”—easily bury any thought or concern we have to benefit other people.

The construction of the Sukkah symbolizes raising importance of this “waste”—the desire to benefit others—above all of our desires to personally benefit.

Therefore, Sukkot is a holiday celebrating the overcoming of positive human connection above our egoistic, materialistic approaches to life.

Sukkot typically has a lively and happy spirit, with people gathering, dining, singing and having a good time together under the Sukkah.

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains that the time will come when humanity as a whole will enter one great big Sukkah.

Obviously, this is not about a physical structure. It’s about a major shift in society’s values: love, bestowal and positive connection prevailing over selfishness, exploitation and detachment.

At that time, humanity will experience harmony, happiness and perfection through its balance with nature’s quality of love, bestowal and positive connection.