I generally write here about flowers and flower design in different contexts.  This piece may seem a bit off the usual theme although, in my classes I always talk about the importance of “the container” and spiritual practice. So I suppose, this missive is in keeping with my core concerns.  I hope you’ll let me know.

After a long talk with dear friend about feeling impotent in the face of the horrors of the current administration (postcards and phone calls to voters notwithstanding,) I finished reading Samantha M. Shapiro’s desperately sad N.Y. Times piece about homeless children https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/09/magazine/homeless-students.html.  Which sank me into deep(er) despair.  Despair, according to my Rabbi, is not really “allowed” in Jewish tradition.

One of the treasures of the Fall (besides dahlias and figs) is the Jewish holiday of Sukkoth - the Feast of Booths.  It originated in the ancient middle east at harvest time. Rather than go back and forth from field to home, farmers erected little booths where they could eat and sleep.  Fast forward many thousands of years, you’ll notice in Williamsburg all the little wooden structures on every balcony.  Maybe you even got to see the amazing interpretations of the Sukkah (which has VERY SPECIFIC design parameters) in Sukkah City in Union Square in 2010.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQY-Vx5tNpw .

The Biblical parameters for the form of the Sukkah make me think how the more creative restrictions you have, the more interesting designs emerge… but that’s for another time/class. Ordinarily, a Sukkah has 4 walls and a door  - the modern ones are made of tent material and go up in about half an hour.  You start with a metal structure that makes a room big enough for a table and chairs - because that’s the main purpose. You eat there and because there’s no roof, only plant materials (skakh is the popular one - bullrushes) you can see the stars - and feel your place in the universe.  You are also commanded to invite guests.  According to the Jewish Kabbalistic book the Sefer ha-zohar (“Book of Splendour”,) the Ushpizin, (Aramaic: “visitors”) seven ancient worthies, are invited to take turns visiting the homes of all pious Jews to share their dinner on the festival of Sukkoth.  (There’s a wonderful movie by the same name.)  

With Covid, having guests is tricky.  We are outside.  So perhaps we can host a few people, reasonably distanced. What if I leave the sides off?  Just build the framework.  Forget the “tent.” Maybe a few ribbons or some other indicators of sides.  I just want to make it enough of a sukkah that a few people can feel its presence and sit with us outside and eat under the stars.  

But then there’s those homeless children and their families.  Do I invite them in? Forget (for a minute) Covid or bureaucratic complexities.  Do I want strangers in my house?  How do I manage the commandments to “Share your bread with the hungry, take the homeless into your home…” with my own need for borders?  I can criticize the other side for being unfeeling, not caring for anyone but themselves, elst how could they possibly vote for … But how different am I?  Separate from platitudes, checks, or voting as a way to represent my beliefs, what am I willing to do to make room for people who are in deep need?  I am in awe of social workers.  I applaud the professionals out on the streets and in numerous agencies trying to help homeless people find stability.  I could not do what they do.

Abraham Joshua Heschel,  considered by many to be one of the most significant Jewish theologians of the 20th century said, “What is involved in authentic living is not only an intuition of meaning but a sensitivity to demand…”  And… ”What is the truth of being human? The lack of pretension, the acknowledgment of opaqueness, shortsightedness, inadequacy.  But truth also demands rising, striving, for the goal is both within and beyond us.  The truth of being human is gratitude; its secret is appreciation.”

Spirituality is, among other things, about intention.  I plan to leave the walls of the sukkah down this year - for health reasons.  I hope that the metaphor of the Sukkah - surrounding ourselves with the bounty of the harvest, enjoying it under the sky, feeling our smallness AND our richness -  will help soften the borders of my heart.

p.s. If you’re looking to support a group working with the homeless in NYC ( although there are many) I recommend BRC https://www.brc.org/invest-brc   They are on the frontline here in NYC and have been doing this essential work for a very long time.

.