Shabbat Hol Hamoed Sukkot

In every evening service, at the end of the section in which we recite the Sh’ma, we say the prayer that begins “Hashkiveinu — let us lie down in peace.” It is a prayer for comfort and security as we face the vulnerability that comes with darkness and with sleep. In the version of the prayer that we say on Shabbat and holidays, we end by asking God to “spread over us your sukkah of peace.”

Why do we think of the sukkah — a temporary, flimsy structure — as a symbol of security? It seems to represent the opposite, vulnerability.

Perhaps the point is to remind us that we do not find comfort and security behind thick walls and locked doors. Rather, we find them in the support of those around us, and the love of God. It is in the sukkah, with its openness and fragility, that we find real peace, because it is there that we remember where our real strength lies.

May our openness to one another bring us peace throughout the year.