Shana Tova! Let the Celebration Continue!

Shanah Tovah!
It was so wonderful to bring in the New Year with all of you. What a blessing to have David Wasser leading us in prayer! They were truly Days of Awesomeness! Thank you also to our musicians: Angela Libman (vocals), Dan Cohen (percussion), and Jonathan Finkle (keys).

Join us for more music and song at Sukkot Friday Night Live (Oct 6). You can shake your lulav and eat in the sukkah Sunday morning (Oct 8), and at 4pm, we are hosting a men’s l’chayim with scotch and cigars in our home sukkah.

Now if I were to ask you, “What is the holiest day of the Jewish year?” You would probably say “Yom Kippur.” However, the Netivot Shalom taught that Sukkot is actually holier than Yom Kippur. Why? It is the climax full moon of the holy 7th month of Tishrei. All of the work of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur has prepared us to more fully appreciate eating, drinking, and celebrating on Sukkot. On Yom Kippur we had to negate our bodies and cry “Avinu Malkeinu!” (Our Father Our King) up to the heavens. On Sukkot we have to feast and sleep in the womb of the Shechinah (Feminine Divine Presence) also known as “Sukkah.”

We also learn that Sukkot is holier than Yom Kippur for another very important reason. On Sukkot we are not just praying for Israel, we are praying for all nations. In the ancient Temple, seventy bulls were offered, one for each of the 70 nations of the earth. Our national vision from the Torah is Universalist because we hope for all nations to live free and in peace. Yet we are also very Particularist in our need to be have our own indigenous homeland.

Recently we sang “Hatikvah - The Hope” Israel’s National Anthem at a school family service. We stood around the Israeli flag and I asked, “What is the Hope that we are singing about here?” One of the clever students read from the translation in front of her, “To be a free people in our land, Zion and Jerusalem.”
“Yes, this is true and in addition to this the Jewish people have a hope that includes all nations.” In this time of great division the Jewish people have an essential message for the world, that it is possible to be both Nationalist and Globalist at the same time.

May the joy that we offer up on Sukkot and Simchat Torah bring peace and abundance to all of the nations of the world.

Chag Sukkot Same’ach! (Happy Festival of Sukkot)
​Rabbi Aaron