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September 29, 2023 (14 Tishrei 5784) Parashat Sukkot - Can We Go Out?
Dear Friends, I trust that you had a meaningful, uplifting, and fulfilling High Holy Days, whether you were with us in person, on Zoom, or visiting with dear friends and family elsewhere. Here at CBIOTP, we share our continued good wishes for a 5784 overflowing with good health, prosperity, joy, and fulfillment. Please join us this Saturday morning for in-person Shabbat services, which will commence at 10:15 am in the sanctuary. These services will be available, as always, on our regular Zoom prayer link. Weather permitting, we will enjoy the introductory blessings of Kiddush and HaMotzi in the Sukkah before we regroup for lunch in the social hall. We thank our member and my buddy, Brian Perlman, for sponsoring the Sukkah luncheon in honor of his special birthday! If your experience was anything similar to mine, you probably have some fond childhood memories framed around playing outside with friends after school. I vividly recall hustling home after the last period of the day, leaping into the house, and excitedly inquiring, “Can we go out and play?” Blessed with an affirmative response, the results of such granted permissibility, precipitated an amazing chain of events! Phone calls were quickly dialed (yes, this is pre-cellular service), attire was changed, a ball/puck was discovered, and, within a few brief moments, the games began. Street hockey involved the picking of teams, the selection of a goalie, and the choice of a teammate, who was designated with the task of being on the lookout for cars entering the cul-de-sac. Next, one friend would claim the role of Darryl Sittler, number twenty-seven, and the beloved captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, while another neighbor would antagonistically pretend to be a member of our arch-rival, the Montreal Canadians. Football involved hopping over the backyard fence and staking out our “gang’s” territory of grass on a large patch of “real estate,” located conveniently behind the apartment complex. In Canada, tackle football was rarely considered dangerous as a “takedown” simply resulted in the ball handler gently landing in a fluffy two-foot bank of arctic chilled snow. Regardless of the sport, however, the games definitively continued until thick dusk enveloped our playing field and one of the mothers predictably cackled out from the window the authoritarian command of, “Boys, come inside. Dinner is ready!”’ Being outside represented freedom. We were freed from scholastic concerns, household chores, and various communal responsibilities. Being outside represented at-oneness with nature. To this day, I can reconjure the smell of fresh Canadian air, freshly fallen snow, and perennially scented evergreens. Being outside, simply put, was unbridled fun. Similarly each year, when the holiday of Sukkoth approaches, I am filled with the same excitement and love of life. I am replete with memories of tabernacles, both big and small, as well as those elaborately decorated and those naively constructed. I recall my Feta (uncle) Mordecai’s Sukkah in Toronto, which fit only a small table and mattress and, at the same time, I recall the Sukkah at JTS, which is recorded to be the largest Sukkah in North America. I recall the Sukkah of a congregant in Chicago, who claimed to have been required to get a village permit for his strange outdoor Jewish booth, in a town that was predominantly non-Jewish. I relish dedicating the time to snap together my own family’s, thirty-year-old Sukkah made from tent pieces, bungee cords and drop cloths. Being in a Sukkah reminds me of indescribably hilarious and meaningful outdoor sleepovers with my now grown-up daughters, the requisite cold and sore throat that inevitably followed, and the sound of critters looming about the backyard. Being in the Sukkah reminds me of the ebb and flow of the Jewish calendar. While many stress regarding the approach and reverence of the High Holy Days, Sukkoth is the time for us all to embody Devarim’s command of V’Samachta B’chagecha, simply to be and to be joyous. As Shabbat approaches and Sukkoth arrives, I pray that your experience will be enhanced by memories of holidays past and engagement with the rejuvenation of nature. As we “go out and play,” may we be cognizant of the many present joys that Hashem offers each and every one of us, during these holidays and, in fact, each and every day. Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach, Rabbi Eric L. Wasser, EdD, Hon.DM
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