The Garden House - Poem
In 2021, the United Synagogue published a tribute book in memory of the Emeritus Chief Rabbi L-rd Jonathan Sacks zt''l, in which family, friends and colleagues, paid their respects in various short articles, some reflecting on his Torah teachings, others reflecting on his time as Chief Rabbi, others on his authored works and so on.
Right at the beginning of the book, in an article about Sukkot, Rabbi Pinchas Hackenbroch, Senior Rabbi at Woodside Park Synagogue shares a beautiful lesson about the festival, based on a teaching by Rabbi Sacks. Rabbi Hackenbroch shares that one of the two main mitzvos of the festival, which in the Torah, is called "times of our rejoicing", is to leave our permanent homes and live in a exposed, wooden, temporary house outside of our house. How is that a cause to rejoice? Would that not be a thorn in our side? We just prayed our hearts out begging for the gift a good year and now as if to add insult to injury the Torah commands us to leave our home and live in a flimsy old structure of a "house"?
Rabbi Hackenbroch answers qouting the Arba'ah Turim (Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher zt'l) who says a classic answer. One might dwell in the the Sukkah in the spring or summer as a way of protection from the sun, but not necessarily for the sake of G-ds commandments. It is precisely when the season shifts to autumn that we go outside in the changing temperatures, from hot, to cold, to live in the structure called a Sukkah, simply because G-d told us to.
Rabbi Hackenbroch ends the article by saying that, in the autumn when Sukkot comes around, one goes outside to the flimsy hut and realizes, reaffirms in his strong faith in G-d. Outside in the cold, without the comfort of a strong home, one is not just doing this Mitzvah for G-d, but also recognizing that only in the house of G-d is where he is ultimately protected from the bitter elements of the outside world.
To end by qouting Rabbi Sacks and then to share the poem I wrote based on this concept:
"Sukkot is a complex set of variations on the theme of life: Stripped of all illusions of security. It tells us that home, like immortality, is in how we live, not where or for how long. It is the festival of a people who have known more starkly then any other that the canopy of faith is the only shelter we have. It is no small testimony that we gather beneath its shade and sing."
Rabbi L-rd Jonathan Sacks zt'l
I hope you will enjoy your reading of this poem as well as your Yom Tov,
With Blessings,
Yitzy Schweitzer
Rabbi Hackenbroch answers qouting the Arba'ah Turim (Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher zt'l) who says a classic answer. One might dwell in the the Sukkah in the spring or summer as a way of protection from the sun, but not necessarily for the sake of G-ds commandments. It is precisely when the season shifts to autumn that we go outside in the changing temperatures, from hot, to cold, to live in the structure called a Sukkah, simply because G-d told us to.
Rabbi Hackenbroch ends the article by saying that, in the autumn when Sukkot comes around, one goes outside to the flimsy hut and realizes, reaffirms in his strong faith in G-d. Outside in the cold, without the comfort of a strong home, one is not just doing this Mitzvah for G-d, but also recognizing that only in the house of G-d is where he is ultimately protected from the bitter elements of the outside world.
To end by qouting Rabbi Sacks and then to share the poem I wrote based on this concept:
"Sukkot is a complex set of variations on the theme of life: Stripped of all illusions of security. It tells us that home, like immortality, is in how we live, not where or for how long. It is the festival of a people who have known more starkly then any other that the canopy of faith is the only shelter we have. It is no small testimony that we gather beneath its shade and sing."
Rabbi L-rd Jonathan Sacks zt'l
I hope you will enjoy your reading of this poem as well as your Yom Tov,
With Blessings,
Yitzy Schweitzer
The Garden House - Poem
Every year at autumns entrance,
We venture out into the gardens, outdoors,
To our home away from home,
To our house under the stars,
Wooden walls, bamboo planks,
To make up a roof,
Eating a meal under the nights blanket,
G-ds essence is felt, as he sings on high, with us.
We place our belief in G-d,
As we are now at the mercy of elements,
Just as autumn begins,
We proclaim with pride,
“It is not our homes, which provide our shelter,
Not the strong walls, roof, or, ceiling,
But as we step outside to our garden hut, this hut of G-d,
We know, we internalize that only on him we rely.”
Our permanent home shelters us from the outside elements,
While in our little home outside, we are open to it, exposed,
But our belief is strong, as we sing under the stars,
G-d is guiding us, he always has been.
So we venture outside at G-ds command,
Because he instructed us to do so,
We do this, to show the world,
Within the home of G-d, is where you will find me.
Every year at autumns entrance,
We venture out into the gardens, outdoors,
To our home away from home,
To our house under the stars,
Wooden walls, bamboo planks,
To make up a roof,
Eating a meal under the nights blanket,
G-ds essence is felt, as he sings on high, with us.
We place our belief in G-d,
As we are now at the mercy of elements,
Just as autumn begins,
We proclaim with pride,
“It is not our homes, which provide our shelter,
Not the strong walls, roof, or, ceiling,
But as we step outside to our garden hut, this hut of G-d,
We know, we internalize that only on him we rely.”
Our permanent home shelters us from the outside elements,
While in our little home outside, we are open to it, exposed,
But our belief is strong, as we sing under the stars,
G-d is guiding us, he always has been.
So we venture outside at G-ds command,
Because he instructed us to do so,
We do this, to show the world,
Within the home of G-d, is where you will find me.
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