Eating in the Wilderness

Sep 24, 2010 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Sukkot

With Sukkot on my mind, the wilderness controversy prompted me to imagine what the Israelites’ experience of the wilderness might be like nowadays in contrast to biblical times. How much of the hardship of their forty-year trek from Egypt to Canaan might they have been spared if their four-wheel (instead of four-legged)-drive vehicles had been guided by GPS rather than meandering pillars of fire and cloud, or if the signage in the desert had amounted to more than a few indecipherable graffiti (even more obscure than Garden State Parkway markers)?

An Environmental Journey

Oct 14, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Sukkot

One of my sweetest memories as a rabbinical student at The Jewish Theological Seminary relates to the holiday we welcome this week, Sukkot.

Ushpizin

Oct 2, 2015 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Commentary | Sukkot

Ushpizin, (literally, “guests”) is the tradition of inviting the exalted men and women of the Bible into our sukkot. Each year, since 5772, professional and novice artists including JTS students, faculty, and staff have taken the concept of ushpizin as the centerpiece and inspiration for an art installation in the famed sukkot built each year in the JTS courtyard. Part of the JTS Arts Initiative, the sukkot exhibit is managed under the guidance of Tobi Kahn, JTS artist-in-residence.

Innovation in Jewish Tradition

Oct 3, 2009 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Sukkot

I have yet to cave and get a Kindle, but I will be honest and say that it will probably be within a few weeks. From my years of schooling, I have gained an appreciation for, and on some level, a preference for the printed word—that is, a tangible, heavy, dusty, written word. I like holding a book, turning the pages, feeling the weight of the paper—and the Kindle just seems to fall flat. Nonetheless, the idea of browsing The New Republic and Commentary Magazine on one device seems almost a little bit too exciting to pass up.

The Ritual of Waters

Sep 16, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Sukkot

The festival of Sukkot is known as Z’man Simhateinu, the time of our rejoicing.

Work Transforming into Joy

Oct 14, 2011 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Sukkot

In my mind’s eye, I maintain quite an idealized image of Sukkot. I imagine a beautiful sukkah, resting on a lush green lawn, surrounded by trees not quite yet at the peak of autumn. I sit with my family and friends, leisurely enjoying a delicious meal (which appears magically, costs nothing, and requires no cleanup), under a radiant blue sky during the day and a glittering canopy of stars at night. The tension between ideal and real: exactly where we should be, four days after Yom Kippur.

Seeing Sukkot in the Book of Jonah

Oct 7, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Sukkot | Yom Kippur

This week, we make our preparations for the coming festival of Sukkot.

Ushpizin in the Sukkah

Oct 5, 2012 By Rabbi Ayelet Cohen | Commentary | Sukkot

By Rabbi Ayelet Cohen

Immediately on the heels of the intense spiritual work of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Sukkot challenges us to turn our lives inside out again, this time quite literally. The Talmud tells us that for the duration of Sukkot we must leave our permanent dwellings and reside in temporary dwellings (BT Sukkah 2b). By its very nature, the sukkah must feel temporary; we must experience the elements in a way that we do not when we are at home.