Lessons of Sukkot

Rabbi Adam F. Miller

By the time this reaches you, we will be well into the new year of 5784. Thinking about how we want to start that year, allow me to share a story: One day, a professor gave his students a surprise exam, passing out the papers face down. Once he handed them all out, he asked the students to turn over the papers.

To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions, just a black dot in the center of the paper. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone’s faces, told them the following:

“I want you to write about what you see there.”

The students, confused, got started on the task.

At the end of the class, the professor collected the exams and started reading each one of them out loud in front of all the students. Every answer, without exception, defined the black dot and described its position in the center of the sheet.

After he finished reading the exams, the professor looked up and addressed the students:

“I’m not going to grade you on this. Interestingly, no one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot, and the same thing happens in our lives. We insist on focusing only on the black dot — the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the complicated relationship with a family member, the disappointment with a friend. The dark spots are very small when compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that pollute our minds. Take your eyes away from the black dots in your lives. Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you. Be happy and live a life filled with love!”

While many of us think of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as the most significant days at this time of year, we should not neglect the upcoming festival of Sukkot. This holiday, which biblically focused on the harvest, is sometimes overlooked in our more modern and tech-centered world. Yet, it continues to carry meaning and significance, which is valuable to us in our lives.

At its core, Sukkot is a Jewish festival of thanksgiving that teaches us to focus on the white spaces in our lives. We are called to construct and gather during this time in sukkot booths. These structures echo the dwellings built by our ancestors during the fall harvest. The Israelites would gather all they could by day and sleep in the sukkah at night. Conscious that the sukkah was temporary, and that their harvest could not last forever, it would have been easy for our ancestors to dwell on the dark dots, living season to season, worrying about the future, unable to predict or prepare. Instead, they celebrated their harvest, gathering in Jerusalem for a major festival, focusing on the blessings they had, instead of the challenges ahead.

Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you. Be happy and live a life filled with love!

Though we do not rely upon the harvest as our livelihood and source of sustenance, the lessons of Sukkot remain just as relevant. We, too, need to focus more on what we have, finding the bright spaces, instead of letting the black dots dominate our focus. This means putting more energy into being grateful for our blessings and less into worrying about what we lack. If we can live this way, then we will soon come to realize that the world is a much brighter, lighter and more joyful place than we ever realized.

May the year ahead be one of blessing, light and joy for us all.

Shana Tova U’vracha,

Rabbi Adam Miller serves at Temple Shalom.