Sukkot: More Than Dining Out

This Shabbat falls on the third day of the festival holiday of Sukkot. The Torah readings are Shemot (Exodus) 33:12 - 34:26 and Bamidbar (Numbers) 29:17-22. Our Haftarah portion is Yechezkel Ezekiel 38:18 - 39:16.

The festival of Sukkot calls us to acknowledge and thank our Creator for the miracle of an abundant food harvest. We build a shelter from natural materials and harvested food items and basically live in this place for seven days. These activities release us from modern conveniences and reliance upon man made things, giving us an opportunity to feel the need and presence of God for sustenance and protection.

For city folks, this can be quite traumatic, and an effective dose of spiritual and physical reality. Even for those who enjoy nature, this drastic change of location can be demanding, especially when autumn temperatures fall. Like so many biblical directives, those who observe the holiday do so to the degree possible, the main reason being to teach our children that our lives emanate from God and it is only through His love and concern for us that we continue to eat and prosper.

The Torah reading this week repeats the parts of the Exodus narrative in which Moses recovers from breaking the first two tablets after the golden calf incident. God reassures Moses that He forgives the people for turning back to idolatry so soon after the manifested miracles of the Exodus. He tells Moses to make a second set of tablets, and gives him a unique peek at His Holiness. God explains His covenant with the Jewish people. The success of the contract rests on each side meeting their responsibilities. Simply stated, God will supply everything the people need if the people worship Him and live according to His statutes. The contract is nullified if the people live by idolatry, the practice of idol worship that includes sexual sin and child sacrifice.

Within these verses, mercy countermands divine justice. The thirteen attributes of mercy listed here restore the covenant, contingent upon the nation's unconditional, wholly sincere repentance for sins committed while AWOL.

This Torah reading also includes commandments for holiday observance, including the harvest festival of Sukkot. Within these verses, the Almighty actually states in Exodus 34:19, "All that opens the womb is Mine."

Wow, that makes it crystal clear who owns that baby in the womb, the baby that so many people think is their own property to do with what they 'choose.' By the way, the Biblical text in Deuteronomy 30:19 that reads, "Choose life, that you and your children will live" is no suggestion. It's a law. Severe penalties at the hand of Heaven apply for breaking it.

Our Haftarah portion this week, Yechezkel (Ezekiel) 38:18 - 39:16, selects verses in the middle of the prophet's 22 years of work during the Babylonian exile. Ezekiel preaches that idol worship at its worst caused the demise of the Jewish people, as well as the suffering of many other nations at that time. The verses in our Haftarah focus on a holy war between Israel and God, and the enemy Gog from the land of Magog, as told in Ezekiel 38:2. This conflict follows a cleansing of idolatry and sin from the nation of Israel, as described in Ezekiel 36:22-23. "Therefore, say to the house of Israel; So says the Lord God: Not for your sake do I do this, O house of Israel, but for My Holy Name, which you have profaned among the nations to which they have come. And I will sanctify My great Name, which was profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord-is the declaration of the Lord God-when I will be sanctified through you before their eyes."

As military casualties mount and war escalates in the Middle East, secularism still pervades Israeli society and government. I read of celebrations in Israel after the IDF takes out a bad guy, but I read of no calls for national repentance for child slaughter and other state sanctioned practices antithetical to Torah. This attitude prevails in many other nations, as well, which accounts for ongoing suffering without an end in sight after years of failed military and diplomatic efforts.

For those who think this prophecy unfolds in real time, it may be wise to take the long view of Jewish history. The cycle of national immorality and strife followed by national rectitude and peace repeats several times in the Bible, but the peace doesn't last. In Ezekiel's prognostication, God redeems Israel to save His own reputation. Perhaps for peace to last Israel needs to sincerely and willingly repent to save herself.

And soon.

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Cecily Routman

May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.