By Dan Tomsky
SAN DIEGO — As Jews we have a special convergence occurring this week. Our Sukkot festival coincides with the northern hemisphere’s beginning of the fall season. As the second day of Sukkot overlaps with the Autumnal equinox, I point to this with the hope that it will inspire us to be more mindful of nature, the rich bounty of our growing season, and the blessing – yet fragility – of our earthly habitat.
As we celebrate Sukkot, what intention can you bring into this joyful Jewish festival? It’s a time for celebration. It’s a time for enjoying fruits, grains and vegetables as we reap summer’s produce now being harvested. It’s a time for mindfulness.
Coming out of the High Holy Days, with the freshness of repentance and forgiveness, we now can be illuminated by the full Harvest Tishrei moon with full hearts and commitment to all that is life.
A time of feeling fulfillment is upon us. Sukkot is an opportunity for celebrating with joy and gratitude what planet earth provides when we wisely plant, farm and reap.
Sukkot celebrates the annual cycle of the sun. It’s our biblical fall festival – a spiritualized time to celebrate the blessing of fruits, grains and other fulfillment, six months beyond the spring festival of Pesach.
Sukkot also is a reminder of traveling through the wilderness under G-d’s protection, when our ancestors camped in temporary huts or booths. What did they encounter and gain? What spiritual riches may you be gathering this Sukkot?
As we sit in the Sukkah and experience the temporary shelter it provides, what mindfulness can we exit with in regards to meeting daily needs for shelter, food and coexistence with nature?
To everything turn, turn, turn.
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose, under heaven …
A time to plant, a time to reap.
Concurrent with Sukkot this year, we welcome autumn as the equinox signals the start of increasingly less sunlight in our days for the next three months.
Autumn like Sukkot is a time for reaping what has been sown since the spring; it’s likewise a time for expressing gratitude as we begin turning like the birds and marine life heading south.
Amid autumn’s colorful glory we begin transitioning too. Will we be blessed with adequate shelter from the cooler, longer and sometimes rainy nights ahead – and, if so will we be grateful? How can we shine our own light onto others, in need, as the nights grow longer?
As the Sukkah reminds us, shelter for many is at best temporary. Can we collectively answer the call to reduce homelessness and food insecurity of others as autumn brings us more indoors and winter closer?
As we begin praying for rain at the end of Sukkot, let’s couple that with appreciation for what nourishes and sustains us, our neighbors and our global community. How can we protect our air, land and water to better sustain life in these evolving times?
In closing, I look to the unique celebration of holding the etrog and shaking the lulav during Sukkot. The etrog – symbolizing our hearts – points to integrity and compassion. The lulav with its palm, myrtle and willow represent our spine or backbone, our eyes, and our lips or mouth. What will we see? How will we speak? Shaking them together we can smell the fragrance of the season and feel a unifying global vibration.
In the spirit of gratitude during Sukkot and entering autumn’s harvest, let’s celebrate joyfully as we tune in with all our senses and strength to what we can be grateful for, but must not take for granted.
To this I say Amen.
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Dan Tomsky is a retired community practice Social Worker who has specialized in community health, safety and revitalization initiatives engaging diverse community stakeholders.