Sukkot: Sermons, videos, and (lighter than usual) blog posts for the holidays

Chag Sameach - Happy Holiday!

The greetings change, but the holidays continue. Now that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are both behind us, you might have thought that the holiday season was over. You'd be wrong! In fact, on Wednesday evening we launch into another holiday, Sukkot. We now move the party outdoors, and settle into the Sukkah (outdoor hut), for a little communing with nature. It also brings us back to the days of the Exodus, wandering in the desert (fall weather, be damned!) and living in nomadic, temporary dwellings. I guess they too hung up paper chains and plastic fruit, and had to contend with tarp-issues; my, how little has changed in 4,000 years!

Anyway, the celebration of yet another festival has made it challenging to get back into the normal weekly routine. Therefore, in lieu of a "regular" blog post, I will be offering you another set of High Holiday videos on our synagogue website. Unfortunately, the new videos are not yet available, but will be on the website by Monday, October 17th. Once they're there, I would like to draw your attention to the final sermon, and in particular the story that I shared at our Neilah services at the end of Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement may be in the past, but the messages of the season remain. On the Shabbat of Sukkot, we will be reading selections from the Book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew. It is indeed quite appropriate to be reading this book on Sukkot, because it reminds us of the fragility of life, the importance of living in the moment, and the idea of making the best of every minute of every day. Spending time in a Sukkah, especially during rain, wind, and sometimes even snow (try growing up in Sweden, and you'll understand...), definitely helps you focus on the precariousness of life. And this is also the message of my final High Holiday sermon.

Thank you for sticking with my blog during this trying holiday season. I promise to get back into the regular swing of things soon enough. In the meantime, enjoy the string of holidays ahead, don't eat too much, pray just enough, and I'll see you on the other side.

Chag Sameach!

Images courtesy of Rabbi Gerber and Congregation Ohev Shalom.