Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 October 2003 — Page 9

October 8. 2003 NAT 5

Sukkot

The sukkah still stands

A journey of discovery

By RABBI AVI SHAFRAN There is simply no describing the plaintive, moving melody to which Yiddish writer Avraham Reisen's poem was set. As a song, it is familiar to many of us who know it thanks to immigrant parents or grandparents. And, remarkably, the strains of "A Sukkeleh/' no matter how often we may have heard them, still tend to choke us up. Based on Reisen's "In Sukkeh/' the song, whose popular title means "A Little Sukkah," really concerns two sukkot, one literal, the other metaphorical, and the poem, though it was written at the beginning of the last century, is still tender, profound, and timely. Thinking about the song, as I - and surely others - invariably do every year at this season, it occurred to me to try to render it into English for readers unfamiliar with either the song or the language in which it was written. I'm not a professional translator, and my rendering is not perfectly literal. But it's close and is faithful to the rhyme scheme and meter of the original:

A sukkaleh, quite small, Wooden planks for each wall; Lovingly I stood them upright. I laid thatch as a ceiling And now, filled with deep feeling, I sit in my sukkaleh at night. A chill wind attacks, Blowing through the cracks; The candles, they flicker and yearn. It's so strange a thing That as the Kiddush I sing, The flames, calmed, now quietly burn. In comes my daughter. Bearing hot food and water; Worry on her face like a pall. She just stands there shaking And, her voice nearly breaking. Says "Tattenyu, the sukkah's going to fall!" Dear daughter, don't fret; It hasn't fallen yet. The sukkah will be fine, understand. There have been many such fears. For nigh two thousand

years; Yet the sukkaleh continues to stand. As we approach the holiday of Sukkot and celebrate the divine protection our ancestors were afforded during their 40 years' wandering in the Sinai desert, we are supposed - indeed, commanded - to be happy. We refer to Sukkot, in our Amidah prayer, as "the time of our joy." And yet, at least seen superficially, there is little Jewish joy to be had these days. Jews are brazenly and cruelly murdered in our ancestral homeland, hated and attacked on the streets of European cities, and here in the United States our numbers are falling to the internal adversaries of intermarriage and assimilation. The poet, however, well captured a Sukkot-truth. With temperatures dropping and winter's gloom not a great distance away, our sukkah-dwell-ing is indeed a quiet but powerful statement: we are secure because our ultimate protection, as a people if not necessarily as individuals, is assured. Continued on page 14

The season of our rejoicing

By RABBI YEHOSHUA CHINCHOLKER

Friday evening, October 10th, begins the festival of Sukkot. The holiday has two basic mitzvot associated with it: eating in the sukkah and reciting the blessing over the four species. The Hebrew word Sukkot means "huts." During the seven days of the holiday, we eat all our meals in the sukkah. The Torah states, "In booths [Sukkot] you shall dwell seven days....So that your generations may know that in booths 1 made the children of Israel dwell, when I brought them out from the land of Egypt." Sitting in the sukkah recalls the huts that G-d provided during the Jewish people's 40year journey through the desert. These huts were actually clouds which surrounded the entire Jewish camp throughout

their travels. The clouds protected them from heat and cold. The clouds also served as protection from wild beasts and the nations that wanted to harm them. Rabbi Yehoshua Heshil of Apta says, "Just like a bird provides food for its chicks, then places them under its wings for protection, so too, G-d provides us with our livelihood and sustenance on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, then comes the mitzvah of sukkah which symbolizes His protection of the Jewish people." The second mitzvah we perform during Sukkot is the blessing over the "four species." The Torah commands, "And you shall take to you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees (etrog), branches of palm

trees (lulav), branches of thick trees (hadasim), and willows of the brook (aravot), and you shall rejoice before the L-rd your G-d seven days...." According to the mid rash the four species represent the four categories of the Jewish nation. The mitzvah of combining the four species promotes the idea of unity amongst the Jewish people. The Talmud tells us that the etrog (citrus), unlike other fruits, can grow on its tree from year to year, uniting the four seasons and deriving nourishment from all of them. The sign of a kosher lulav (palm branch) is that its leaves are together. If the leaves are spread apart, the lulav is not kosher. Each three leaves on the hadasim (myrtle branches) grow out from the same place on the hadas branch. •Finally, the aravot (willow Continued on page 16

By JULIE COHEN As the high holidays come and go this year, they are taking on a new meaning for me. Last year around this time I wrote about active participation in the Jewish community

year-round, not just at the high holidays. I wrote about the importance of immersing yourself in Judaism, rather than being on the surface. As I look back, I realize that this past year has been a true test of my participation and immersion. Over the past year, not only did I mature in age, but I feel like I also matured a lot in my faith. Writing this column has pushed me to find things to investigate within religion and culture. If I am not active in my religion, how can 1 write in my column that other people should be active in their religion? I literally had to live up to what I wrote. Going to temple isn't something I am forced to do; it is something I enjoy. When people ask me questions about Judaism, which occurs more frequently now than ever be-

cause people my age are trying to figure out who they are (and religion is a big part of that), 1 can gladly and easily answer their questions. Over the past year, I have read books and articles and have discovered new aspects and facets of my religion that I never thought I would. I have begun to understand the fundamentals, the big picture. I feel like I can confidently identify what my religion is all about. As I become older, I know that more and more my religion will depend on how much I choose to practice it. I am becoming more independent by the day, and soon I won't have my parents urging me to continue practicing Judaism. For some, it might be a difficult task to undertake, but for me, I know that I will have the strength and conviction to keep discovering, keep going to synagogue, and keep believing what I believe. I hope to remain an active member of the Jewish community. I walk into the Jewish Community Center and feel a sense of belonging; it is where I can find Jewish people of all sects, from Orthodox to Reform, in one place. There is a common thread that I share with all Jewish people, and 1 want that thread to continue in my life. Continued on page 14

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