Sukkot: Don’t Rain on the Party
Dear Friends,
As we enter the holiday of Sukkot this coming Sunday, I am thinking especially of the people impacted by Hurricane Ian. Sukkot is a holiday where we build temporary dwellings and, by spending time in them, better recognize the gift of having a solid and safe home. It is so easy to take this basic necessity for granted. Too often our society treats it as a privilege not a right.
Back in ancient days, Israelites would travel to Jerusalem for Sukkot and live in sukkah huts for the week. It was the Israelite equivalent to a Thanksgiving travel weekend. The Israelites were practical. If you were going to trek all the way to Jerusalem and live in a little hut, you certainly did not want it to rain. The Sages remarked that Israel should always pray that the festivals be free of rain, for rain spoils the enjoyment of the festival. The rain did a whole lot more than “spoil enjoyment” down and up the East Coast this weekend.
The traditional liturgy reflects the ancient desire not to have it “rain on the party.” The Israelites, prayed for rain from the last day of Sukkot until the first day of Passover – the rainy season in Israel. These blessings are still part of the traditional liturgy. Conveniently, Passover, the next time after Sukkot when Israelites traveled in masse to Jerusalem, falls outside of the rainy season.
From the first day of Pesach through the last day of Sukkot, the ancient Israelites prayed for dew instead of rain. The ancient Israelites, of course, believed God brought the rain and the dew.
For theists who believe in a personal God with agency, events like Hurricane Ian must be very difficult to reconcile. I’d rather consider Sukkot’s more important mandates – rejoice in the harvest and the hard work that it required, rejoice in spending time in the sukkah with family and friends and appreciate the gift of having a safe, comfortable home. May the sukkah experience help us recognize our bounty as a right and not a privilege.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Debbie Cohen
