 |
| A soldier with the Daled Minim on Sukkos |
Sukkos in Israel is a real treat for me. Israel is truly the
best place in the world to feel you are a member of
Klal Yisroel. The spirit of Yom Tov pervades every segment of society here,
from the extremist Charedi to the extremist Chiloni. Everyone knows its
Sukkos. That is the way it is for every one of the Shalosh Regalim (the three
Jewish holidays mentioned in the Torah).
Israel is the
one place in the world where one’s Judaism is palpable. One is immersed in it
here this time of year. From Magidei Shiur on the radio to secular disc jockeys... everyone wishes all
their listeners ‘Chag Sameach’ - ‘Happy Holiday’. Even the Coke bottles are specially decorated and have the words Chag Sameach printed on their labels!
It is the equivalent of Christmas time in the US…. where the
focus of just about everyone and every thing is about that holiday. If as a Jew one feels a bit out of place in the
US at that time…. the exact opposite is true here on Sukkos.
In a place like Ramat Bet Shemesh where I am staying –
virtually everyone is busy either building their Sukkahs, buying their Daled Minim (i.e. the Lulav, Esrog, Haddasim, and Aravos), or shopping for Yom Tov . Charedim… Datim… Chardalim… it doesn’t make any difference everyone is
doing the same thing.
With all the factionalism and divisiveness that takes place
here on an all too regular basis, Yom Tov s is the great equalizer... the one thing that actually
says, ‘We are one people!’
I know that this is still far from the Achdus that I would
love to see happen someday. I would even say that the Jews of Israel are - religiously
- the most divided people in the world. And yet I can’t help feeling that being
Jewish in the holy land with all of us celebrating the same Jewish time of year
that - one way or another - at least at
some basic level there is a sense of Achdus. That gives me hope for the future.
Chag Sameach!
