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Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel
The
P recoifoTursannessisence
M y aunt says air conditioners
destroyed the bungalow The first verse in Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, The source that gives this beauty its
colonies. People just felt too is often translated as: “Utter futility! sublime transcendence also causes it to
comfortable. Besides, it made everyone – said Kohelet – Utter futility! All is be transient, impossible to hold on to.
leave their porches and go indoors, futile!” However, the word “hevel” (that Every brief blooming, each autumn fall,
changing the whole social climate. appears 38 times in Kohelet), is not to every sunset, evokes a longing, almost
be understood as futility, nonsense, or a distress. The experience of beauty
We had this discussion in our Israeli emptiness, but as transience. The verse carries an eternal life in the elusive
sukkah. Surrounded by some of our best means that everything is temporary and moment and then… it’s gone.
furniture, cozy and comfortable, the last fleeting.
thing we missed was an air-conditioner. That is neither judgmental nor negative. “Enjoy a life,” Kohelet teaches us, “with
But aren’t we supposed to feel just a It is a fundamental truth King Solomon your wife, whom you love, all the days of
bit uncomfortable? How else will we assumes throughout his book: Our lives this meaningless life that G-d has given
remember we’re in a Sukkah? are finite. Nothing will last forever, you under the sun.” That is not the
certainly not us. correct understanding of hevel! These
“The Torah said: emerge from the When Rabbi Yochanan finds the sick are not meaningless days! If it was
permanent residence and reside in a Rabbi Elazar crying, (Berachot 5b) he meaningless, what would be the point of
temporary residence.” (Sukkah 2a) asks him why he is crying. Did you not investing in love? Kohelet is telling us:
study enough Torah? The hardships of Treasure the days we were given together,
The need to feel that a sukkah is not earning a living? The loss of sons? Rabbi because life is fleeting, and therefore
a permanent home influenced many Elazar replies: “over this beauty that will invaluable.
halachic discussions: maximum height, decompose in the earth.” Everything
minimal size, how it’s made, and more. you asked about, I could handle. But I We spend Sukkot in the temporary
Living in an impermanent hut, we are weep for your amazing beauty, Rabbi sukkah. Yet we understand nothing
reminded of the hardships in the desert Yochanan, that like all of us shall be is really permanent. The home and
and G-d’s miraculous protection. consumed in the dust. Rabbi Yochanan life we consider stable are themselves
astonishes us with his answer: “Yes, we impermanent. But within our home,
Here’s the other side. A major principle should certainly weep over this!” And we can also fulfill “Teshvu Ke’eyn
on Sukkot is “Teshvu Ke’eyn Taduru” they both cried. Taduru.” We can learn to experience
– sit in the sukkah as you would in a When we watch a spectacular sunset, our the full beauty of every moment; in our
permanent home. This greatly affects breath is taken away. Something in this personal, family, and communal lives.
the sukkah experience. It’s what makes beauty touches eternity. We do not have Remembering the desert Sukkot, we
us schlep our favorite armchair outside, the capacity to contain it. We desperately can also fully appreciate and cherish the
the number of meals we eat it in it, even try to take it in, because it will be gone in immeasurable goodness our generation
a husband and wife’s ability to share seconds. We sense infinity in the essence has been blessed with in Eretz Yisrael.
their bedroom might be considered a of this fleeting moment. Nowadays, we
necessary part of a permanent living immediately attempt to photograph, Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel is a Torah
experience. but we feel how pathetic that is. It is e ducator at Nishmat and Matan
impossible to pocket this majesty.
We feel permanent within the temporary.
We live in the moment.
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