A Balanced Shelter

In London many onlookers
See Jews sitting out on their tuchus:
For our ancestors' tramping
We sort of go camping
And spend a week eating in sukkahs.
(Student Rabbi Gabriel Webber)

Where Yom Kippur is all about denying our senses, bodily needs  and focusing on the spiritual, Sukkot asks us to do the opposite. This week-long festival is a riot of colours, smells, tastes, sounds and physical touch. We are dragged into the physical world through shaking the lulav, smelling the etrog, and sitting in the sukkah and we are asked to find great joy in it. 

When shaking the lulav (palm frond) we are meant to be reminded of the sounds of rain, gently filling up cisterns, ponds and rivers so that the crops can survive. The ritual of shaking the lulav in all the directions of the earth does feel like a form of ritual magic, a way to entreat the deity/the clouds to release rain and thereby ensure continued life. But while discussing this with our B'nei Mitzvah group this week, it struck me that perhaps this ritual is less about trying to control the weather and more the opposite, a reminder that no matter what we do, we have no control over the forces of nature.  We have seen this in abundance this past summer, with parts of the world engulfed in wildfires, and others devastated by torrents of rain. And this is where the message of Sukkot comes out so clearly, for a sukkah is a temporary, non-waterproof, unheated shelter, which reminds us to be grateful for our warm homes, but also raises the question about those without safe homes and permanent shelters. The eight Afghan families which are expected to arrive in Haringey are in exactly that situation, and the faith communities across the borough are gathering to help however we can.

Please remember to donate to our High Holy Day Appeal for Hornsey Food Bank who count refugees and locals as part of their guests, and is a true sukkat shalom (a shelter of peace) for those who need it.