RABBI JOEL BERMAN Sukkot provides lessons about life

Most of our non-Jewish neighbors are familiar with the just-passed Jewish holidays that are known as the High Holy Days: Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year; and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Fewer are aware of the holiday that follows just five days after Yom Kippur: Sukkot, which is also known as Succos.
Judaism asks its adherents to demonstrate various aspects of the faith in concrete ways, and not just silently affirm the tenets of the faith. For example, we eat matzot, or unleavened bread, on Passover, and have public prayer on the sabbath and holidays. People are frequently known to be Jewish because they are seen doing Jewish things.
On the holiday of Sukkot, or Tabernacles, Jews are instructed to build a temporary hut, or succah, and, as much as possible, live in it for a week. It puts us, as it were, at the mercy of the elements. In the diaspora, it is sometimes difficult to fulfill this commandment for a number of reasons: climate, availability of space, etc.
Symbols for everyone
I have been living in Jerusalem for the past 11 years, and there are many sights there for people of all faiths. For example, in the Old City of Jerusalem you can see the Wailing Wall, the last remnant of the ancient temple built by King Solomon. You can also see the Church of the Redeemer and the Via Delarosa, the Stations of the Cross, as well as the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque.
But my favorite sight is the sukkot. As soon as the Shofar, the ram's horn, sounds at the end of Yom Kippur, people start putting up their booths. There are sukkot everywhere. You can see them on the lawns of rich people and you can see them next to the apartment buildings of the poor and middle class.
Sukkot is the holiday par excellence in the Bible. Whenever the Hebrew word chag or holiday, is mentioned, it's almost always referring to the pilgrimage holiday of Sukkot. At night you can walk around the various Jerusalem neighborhoods and see the sukkot everywhere, lighted from within. Many people actually sleep in their sukkot, and live in them for a week.
An equalizer
The sukkah is an equalizer. People live in them, eat in them, rest in them, to remember that when we left Egypt we lived in booths, much like these, possibly uprooting them at a moment's notice to follow the column of cloud by day or fire by night. The life on the road was perilous and tentative. Entering a sukkah now reminds us how precarious life can be. To see the rich and poor alike in their sukkot teaches me that at a very basic level we share common values, that we see life as precious, and fleeting, and we need to take advantage of every day.
Chag Sameach, happy holiday! And Shabbat Shalom.
XRabbi Joel Berman is the rabbi at Ohev Tzedek-Shaarei Torah Congregation in Boardman.