Sukkat Shlomecha

Today's Readings:
-Waskow, "Harvest Moon - Fulfillment at Sukkot"
-Waskow, "Seed for Winter - Sh'Mini Atzeret"
-Waskow, "Dancing with Torah - Simcaht Torah"
-Waskow, "The Towers - and a Sukkah" http://www.theshalomcenter.org/node/146
-Waskow, "The Sukkah and the WTC" http://www.theshalomcenter.rg/node/1458

When Arthur Waskow discusses possibilities for repairing the damage done to the world on September 11, 2001, he says, “We must spread over all of us the sukkah of shalom.” According to Waskow, we can apply the vulnerability of the “time” and “space” of the sukkah during Sukkot every year to the universal vulnerability of man. If we all realize our commonalities, mankind can establish the peaceful understanding of our mutual sukkah of mortality. We can apply such a sukkat shlomecha to the celebrations of such Jewish holidays as Sukkot, Sh’mini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah.

Sukkot, the seven-day celebration of the fulfillment of the harvest season, is the only holiday in which Jews are commanded to demonstrate joy. In modern times, Jews celebrate Sukkot by building a fragile hut called a Sukkah, waving a lulav and etrog, and praying to the compassionate aspects of God. In the time of the Second Temple sacrifices and ample festivities occurred during Sukkot, along with a water-pouring ritual to symbolize a call for rain in the coming season. Originally, Sukkot was connected to a pagan sun-worshipping ceremony that took place during the autumn equinox and to the worship of Baal, the Canaanite weather god. In the practice of Sukkot, the Jewish celebration of harvest and weather reflect a celebration common in all cultures and beliefs. The Jewish God of nature can be paralleled to any other culture’s gratitude for the world we all live in. On Sukkot, the Jewish people can pray for a sukkat shlomecha to craete a peaceful world that all of mankind can share, no matter how we choose to be thankful for it.

During Sh’mini Atzeret, Judaism quietly prays for a rainy winter. With such subdued prayer, Judaism acknowledges the existence of a more private joy that Sukkot somewhat overlooks. On the second day of Sh’mini Atzeret, Judaism celebrates the completion of the annual cycle of Torah reading with Simchat Torah. In this celebration, Jews complete seven hakkafot, or circle-dances with the Torah, before reading the end of Deuteronomy directly into the beginning of Genesis. Everyone in the synagogue, no matter what age, gender, or experience, may carry the Torah during the hakkafot. In modern times, Simchat Torah has turned into a celebration of the beginning of young children’s education about the Torah. With Sh’mini Atzeret’s call for more personalized prayer and Simchat Torah’s welcoming embrace of all members of the Jewish community, these holidays provide a shamanic place for Jews to find their niche in the world. Beyond the sukkat shlomecha of the Jewish community, the themes of Sh’mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah can extend to the world’s call for a successful rainy season and for the successful education of children.

In a season of holidays such as Sukkot, Sh’mini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah, Jews can transform their celebration of God into a celebration of the world that God has created and the countless different beliefs that exist within such a creation. Through mankind’s infinite different beliefs, infinite similarities in threads of prayer can harmonize into the creation of an international sukkat shlomecha, an ultimate shelter of peace.