Physical and Spiritual Protection

When the Israelites traveled in the wilderness they lived in temporary dwellings called huts or booths or sukkot. And in commemoration of that time in our Jewish past, we celebrate the holiday of Sukkot, this year set to begin Wednesday evening, October 12. God instructs the Jewish people in the Torah “For seven days you shall dwell in huts, every citizen in Israel shall dwell in huts, so that your generations know that I made the children of Israel dwell in huts when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.” Lev:23:33-44

Over time two different understandings developed about these sukkot, these huts.  The first, according to Rabbi Akiva is that these huts were in fact temporary, yet physical and real structures, which protected the Israelites from the harsh conditions of the wilderness. The sukkot provided shade from the hot desert sun, the blowing wind, and relief from the hot environment. In Hebrew the term used is sukkot mamash, real sukkot. 

The second opinion, according to that of Rabbi Eliezer is that these huts were not physical structures built of cloth, wood or any other raw material. Instead, they were clouds of glory, spiritual forces that God provided the Israelites under God’s protection. In Hebrew they are called annenei hakavod.

The real answer lies somewhere between these two rabbinic interpretations and this is one of the key lessons of sukkot. While we need physical facilities to protect us and provide us shelter, sukkot mamash are lives are not fulfilled or complete with the shelter of the divine, a spiritual component that helps protect and nourish us, the clouds of glory annenei hakavod. So may it be God’s will that we all are able to fulfill our lives physically and spiritually. Happy Holidays

Rabbi Brad Horwitz