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SUCCOT

I have always been intrigued by the Jewish tradition of ushpizin visiting our succah on the festive holiday of Succot There are times when we have difficulties dealing with known and visible guests. Even more so, there certainly are difficulties in having to deal with unknown and invisible guests. But the truth is that at our holiday tables there are always guests that are now not visible to us but their presence is felt deeply and emotionally. For we are a product of our past and our past lives.

  

Our parents and grandparents, our spouses and beloved relatives, even if no longer alive and visible, are nonetheless part of our holiday experience. This always makes our holiday experience meaningful if not sometimes bittersweet. For when we have guests we assume a certain posture, a mode of courtesy and concern. When our children were small and mischievous, as children naturally tend to be, my wife said to them: “Children, we have to have ‘company manners’ tonight because there will be guests at our table.” Unseen guests also inspire us to have “company manners.” And perhaps that is the purpose of our ushpizin custom. Imagine having all of the unseen generations of our ancestors come to visit us. What would they think of us? Would they recognize us as being their descendants? Would we have a common ground of interests and goals?

  

These are important questions that are posed to us. They go to the heart of the matter of Jewish tradition and our own eternity. But like all hard questions in life these questions also deserve an honest answer.

  

It is interesting that the presence of ushpizin is only recognized on Succot. I think that that is because of the fact that we have left the ordinary comforts of our home to sit in our succah unprotected from the elements. For no matter how sturdily our succah is constructed it is still exposed to outside forces over which we have no command or influence. Our guests want to see how we perform under those circumstances, without the protection of home and imagined security.

  

The measure of a Jew is how one responds to living in a succah. Our ancestors were adept at succah living. They realized that, in the words of Psalms, our homes are temporary and more fragile than we like to believe. It is the succah that is the reality of our existence, our true and ultimate home.

 

Abraham the wanderer, Isaac the bound sacrifice, Jacob the victim of his brother and uncle, Joseph in prison, Moses the stutterer, Aaron the witness to Israel’s slavery in Egypt and the unwitting victim of the Golden Calf debacle, and David the father of rebellious children are our succah guests. They are the ones who can truly judge us and guide and inspire us. When Jacob arrived in Israel after his long exile he built succot. Houses and homes no matter how magnificent they may be are only temporary abodes for us. The permanent home of the Jew is in the succah with all of its uncertainties and glory.

 

Chag Sameach and a good new year to all.

 

Rabbi Berel Wein