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DISMANTLING THE SUCCAH

Now that the glorious holiday of Succot has ended, I, like many of you am faced with the daunting task of dismantling my succah. Whereas I always have a feeling of pride, anticipation and happiness in erecting my succah I am filled with sad nostalgia (especially this year) at the thought of taking it down. Nothing lasts forever, not even Succot and all things come to an end. Yet, I am truly saddened to let the holidays go. They were a source of shelter and comfort to me, a taste of the soul and spirit of Judaism and the eternity of Torah and its values and commandments. Days of awe and happiness, of nostalgia and tears, of children and grandchildren and laughter and wonder, these are the days of the month of Tishrei.

Dismantling the succah brings home the reality that the month is almost over and that it will be a half year before the great holiday of Pesach comes to renew our spirit and hope. But Jews are not allowed to be despondent or overly sad. Thank God for life and health and the opportunity to accomplish noble things with them. The succah is meant to inspire us and give us spiritual strength and to nurture our hopes over the next half year. Even dismantling the succah is part of that process. All of the wonderful succah decorations are lovingly placed back into the storage boxes having served their holy purpose and hopefully they will all be restored in the succah again next year in health and happiness.

 

There are many Jews that are loath to dismantle their succah after the holiday ends. In a joking manner, I would announce to my children when we lived in Monsey that they should check around town and see who kept their succah up the longest. There were reports of succah sightings as late as Chanukah. Usually the first good heavy snowstorm (for which Monsey is justly (famous) demolished any succot still left standing much to the chagrin and cost of the procrastinating succah owners.

I always sympathized with the late succah taker-downers. I also did not want to leave Succot so suddenly and finally. All of this feeling is summed up in the expression that Jews use for the day after the holiday – isru chag. It literally means “binding the holiday sacrifice to the altar.” In our days it simply means attempting to hold on to the spirit and taste of the holiday for at least one more day.

Maybe postponing the dismantling of the succah is an aid and tool in accomplishing the isru chag spirit and mission. Still, my personal nature of not being a procrastinator impels me to dismantle my succah, albeit with great reluctance and a tinge of sadness as soon after Succot as I can. So I dutifully bring out my stepladder and lovingly begin to remove the succah decorations from their lofty heights under the schach roof covering of my succah. Reality thus overcomes nostalgia and emotion.

My succah contains decorations that my wife and I purchased in our many trips throughout America and around the world. It is truly an international succah with artifacts from Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, the countries of Western Europe, Hawaii, Canada, Alaska, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Greece, Morocco and naturally Israel and the many national parks in the United States.

Every decoration therefore has a special memory and location attached to it. It is not too far an exaggeration for me to say that my succah decorations are a miniature review of my life and career. In the Torah we read that Moshe reviewed for the children of Israel all of the places of encampment that they visited during their sojourn in the Sinai desert. Moshe did not intend to record a travelogue. Rather, as Rashi points out, he reminded them by this means of the events, both good and better, that befell them at each and every one of the way stations that where they encamped.

The mere names of these places encapsulated for Israel the entire story of their desert experience. So too is it with me with my succah decorations. Every one of them is a memory, a lesson in life, a reminder of events and experiences. So, taking down the succah and its decorations is a vitally important instructional event for me. Perhaps that is why I do it so swiftly after Succot. It serves as my method of isru chag. It is thus not only a physical chore but it is a spiritual challenge and lesson as well.

Shabat shalom.

Rabbi Berel Wein
Shabat shalom.