Blog/October 2016/Oct 21st

October 21st

moʿadim lesimeḥa!

We’re in the “intermediate days of the Holiday”, of sukkot, and it’s been an interesting week. More on that later — first, a few words about the holiday.

There are three main mitsvot (commandments) which we have to observe during sukkot: sitting in the “sukkah”, waving the “four species”, and to be “entirely joyful” during the Holiday.

The first is fulfilled simply by sitting down in any properly made sukkah. No special frame of mind is required, no other actions performed. The second is fulfilled by picking up the four specific species in a certain manner, and waving them in a certain manner. Also quite easy, though one must perform the actions in the correct manner. The last is more problematic.

One aspect of this “joy” is physical: men are commanded to eat meat and drink wine, women to acquire new clothing. Of course not every man enjoys eating meat, and not every woman likes to shop for clothes. Nevertheless, the idea is that we should indulge our physical pleasures within reason and in appropriate ways, in the framework of “joy of the holiday”.

Another aspect of the “joy” is spiritual: at the national level, in periods when the Temple exists there is a mandated sacrificial process which continues for the entire week. 70 bulls, representing the “70 nations” — that is, all humanity — are brought as elevation offerings. At the private level, we are still in the period after the “days of awe” and should still be involved in introspection and self-evaluation for the sake of our own improvement.

The third aspect of the “joy” is ethical: we are not only to indulge in good food and fine clothing, we are to bring the less fortunate — the poor, the downtrodden, widows and orphans — to our tables and indulge them as we do ourselves. By bringing in the less fortunate we can raise their spirits and help bring them more joy than they otherwise would have. Contrariwise, if we close our doors and turn them away, it is “as if we worshiped idols”, in our sages’ words.

So. We started the week preparing for the first holiday day, and observing that day. That went nicely, though the weather was quite hot at the start of the week.

The day after the holiday, we awakened to the roar of diesel engines and the tattoo of jack-hammers and the screaming of Arabic. Apparently, one of our local residents couldn’t find another time of the year to upgrade his house, and decided that the intermediate days of sukkot was the perfect time to bring in heavy equipment. We were not amused, nor were any of our other neighbors. On the second day of the cacophony, I sent a message to the Individual In Question, who responded with “I’m very sorry”. Well, I was very sorry too, to have two days of my holiday filled with loud disturbances.

One of the days we were invited to one of our neighbors, where we had a lovely evening in their sukkah. The next day we had my nephew and his wife, and my cousin and her husband over to our sukkah for another lovely evening. Lovely, that is, until the next-door neighbors started caterwauling Mizrahi karaoke very loudly. We were not amused, for the second time this week. I sent them a message, and they were also apologetic… and eventually the sound was made bearable.

All’s well that ends well.

Despite the injunction against working during the intermediate days, I’ve had no choice this year due to the demands of my contracts. Trying to find some kind of balance has been my personal challenge, which I fear I have been not too successful at. The positive side of that is that I will have billable hours this month, which we need very much.

Sarah’s landed an interview for a job which is outside her field of study, but which will provide her some income in the meantime. We wish her success in landing the job. We’ll probably know more next week or so.

Esther’s been doing her best to keep us well-fed. As always, but this holiday (and pesaḥ) bring out her particular talents.

Daniela and Jeremy have been enjoying their holiday; Daniela actually has the whole time off, while Jeremy doesn’t, unfortunately.

We’ll enjoy the last days in the sukkah, and then on Sunday night we have the final holiday of the season, shemini ʿatseret. Also known as: “the holiday that stands alone”. More on that, next week B”H.

This shabbat we’ll be taking it easy:
roast chicken, roast veggies, roasted potatoes, green-beans, fried tofu, salatim, and brownies.

Until next time,
shabbat shalom and ḥag sameaḥ!

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