Page 14 - HaMizrachi # 23 Sukkot Simchat Torah 2020 USA

TORAT MIZRACHI MIZRACHI SCHOLARS-IN-RESIDENCE

Sivan Rahav Meir and Yedidya Meir

Eight Thoughts Under the S’chach

1. Freedom and yes, there are family meals that day and after all your effort, your child

ukkot is the chag of Faith. We need to address everyone’s preferences can give you a generous mouthful of
leave our homes, we don’t know and dislikes, and yes, sometimes the chutzpah. Outside you receive feed-
Swhat the weather will be, and noise from the neighbor’s sukkah is back and praise, inside everyone is not
we feel just like Bnei Yisrael in the annoying, and yes, you need to juggle always happy. Your work is sacred but
desert, under G-d’s wing. This year we all the kids, etc. But when you take not appreciated: why keep the house
understand this more than ever. Since what you’ve gleaned from Elul, Rosh in order if it’s just going to be chaos
Purim we have been participating in Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and apply again tomorrow?
a “Sukkot Workshop” – relax, let go, them to all these seemingly mundane “Eim BeYisrael” – mothers need to
understand you’re not in charge. Lock- assignments… that’s the ideal. Life value themselves and what they do.
down and quarantine, no shul, none itself. They’re full of self-criticism, taking
of our regular frameworks, schools, on more and more assignments and
shows… our beloved routine. This 3. Family constantly frustrated and unhappy. I
year it’s easier for us to relate to the These are very much family-oriented urge them to connect inwards, give
chag, and fulfil the wonderful pasuk in days. Here’s one idea, from the well- themselves a pat on the back for being
Tehillim: םי ִ קלֹ ֱ א י ִ כֹנ ָ א־י ִּ כ ּוע ְ דּו ּו ּ פ ְ ר ַ ה – ‘chill known Israeli parenting counselor, who they are and doing what’s right
out’ and know that I am G-d. Ziva Meir (who also happens to be my for them. Do that from the inside and
mother-in-law): “Notice that many of everything outside will change as well.”
2. Between Yom Kippur and Sukkot the most moving songs in the world
We tend to think the highlight of the are about “Mother.” In all styles. In all 4. Know to Differentiate
chagim is Yom Kippur, Neilah, and languages. “Umi” in Arabic, “Mama” in On Shabbat during Sukkot we read
then we come back down to earth. Yiddish, everyone worships Mommy. Megillat Kohelet. In our crazy times,
But no, the peak is now. To fast all How did Deborah the Prophetess say the profound words of Shlomo
day like angels is not the ideal. There’s it? “Until I, Deborah, arose, I arose as HaMelech carry a lot of significance:
something even higher, and it’s called mother in Israel.” ל ֵֽ א ָ ר ְ ׂשִי ְּ ב ם ֵ א, a mother “Everything has its season and there is
Sukkot. in Israel, is a concept. A Jewish mother time for everything under the Heaven:
should be proud of who she is. She does a time to give birth and a time to die,
Yom Kippur is only one day, when not need to put herself down. Mom has a time to plant and a time to uproot…
everything stops. The aim is to draw often become a focus of guilt. We blame a time to cry and a time to laugh, a
strength from it for the other 364 days her for anything that’s not okay or we time to eulogize and a time to dance…
of the year. To take the messages and just blame her for the sake of blaming… a time to hug and a time to avoid
energy of this special day into our hugs…”
lives, into nature, into the world. Thus Mothers! At this time of year, find out
writes Rav Kook: “Those days between who you really are. Don’t follow the In our confusing reality, we try to
Yom Kippur and Sukkot were given to external needs of others but connect do everything at once. Career and
educate us about returning to the mat- to yourselves. After all, the world is family and marriage and relation-
ters of this world.” In other words, one lying to us all the time: at work, it’s ships and studies and hundreds of
needs to build a sukkah. One needs to easy to glean compliments and at WhatsApp messages in between all
go to the market to buy arba minim, home, you can work hard all day every that. Kohelet reminds us of a simple

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