Sukkot

According to the ancient rabbis, the s’khakh (covering) of the sukkah is a reminder of the ananei ha-kavod, the clouds of God’s glory that accompanied the Jewish people on their journey through the desert, reminding them that God was present among them.

Why were clouds an appropriate manifestation of God’s presence? Perhaps because they shielded us from the sun and held the promise of rain, which in the desert (whether the Sinai or the Sonoran desert) is particularly precious.

Like those clouds, the s’khakh covering the sukkah teaches us to hope. Even as its impermanence reminds us that all things are temporary, its beauty and its shade assure us that the same applies to the parched times in our lives. They do not last forever. Eventually the blessings of life pour forth again.

May this Sukkot be a time of joy for all of us.

• Candle lighting this Friday evening September 29, is at 5:57 pm.
• The New Shul’s services for the first two days of Sukkot, Saturday and Sunday September 30 and October 1, are from 9 to about 11:45 am. Afterwards, on both days, everyone is invited to a kiddush-lunch at the Kanter-Wasserman sukkah (please contact us for directions).
• Minyanim during the week are on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm at the shul. Kabbalat Shabbbat is on Friday evenings at 6 pm at the Kanter-Wasserman home.
• Our service for Sh’mini Atzeret, Saturday morning October 7, is from 9 am to about 11:45 am, and includes Yizkor (the memorial prayer). The kiddush-lunch afterwards is sponsored by Jodi Fialkin in memory of her mother Sandra Fialkin.
• Join us at The New Shul for hakafot and dancing on the night of Simhat Torah, Saturday October 7 at 7 pm. Our service on the morning of Simhat Torah, Sunday October 8, begins at 9 am.