Ron and I enjoy decorating our sukkah each year in anticipation of the Festival of Sukkot. Traditionally, people put photos of ushpizin/ “special guests” that typically include the biblical and rabbinic ancestors in Judaism. Often hosts will add pictures of generations gone by.
We also make the opportunity to take advantage of the open nature of the sukkah – and we invite family, friends, and neighbors to join for a meal.
All this makes me think…. If you could invite one person (in our time or historically) to join you for a meal as a special guest, who would it be? What would you discuss? And for how long would that person stay?
After a week, the sukkah comes down. It’s a reminder that things in life change – and that we therefore have opportunities to nurture a moment in time to harness an important conversation.
Success in the war against Iran – which every American and Israeli should hope for – will only strengthen the tendency of both leaders to highlight their dominant personalities as the state axis, at the expense of the boring institutions that serve them.
Tangy, bright and filled with irresistible umami flavor, turshi is the perfect complement to burgers, kebabs and chicken, as well as the perfect foil for eggs and salads.
On Purim, re-reading Persia, we stand at the intersection of the past and this very moment. May we merit not merely a temporary cessation of war, but true peace — the ultimate end of all conflict.
When future generations tell your story and mine, which parts will look obvious in hindsight? What opportunities will we have leveraged — and decisions made — that define our legacy?
For over half a decade, I had seen how the slow drip of antisemitism, carefully enveloped in the language of social justice and human rights, had steadily poisoned people whom I had previously considered perfectly reasonable.
Today, amid rising global antisemitism and uncertainty in the Diaspora, many Anglos considering aliyah are searching not only for housing but for belonging.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.
A Moment in Time: “Inviting Guests into the Sukkah”
Rabbi Zach Shapiro
Dear all,
Ron and I enjoy decorating our sukkah each year in anticipation of the Festival of Sukkot. Traditionally, people put photos of ushpizin/ “special guests” that typically include the biblical and rabbinic ancestors in Judaism. Often hosts will add pictures of generations gone by.
We also make the opportunity to take advantage of the open nature of the sukkah – and we invite family, friends, and neighbors to join for a meal.
All this makes me think…. If you could invite one person (in our time or historically) to join you for a meal as a special guest, who would it be? What would you discuss? And for how long would that person stay?
After a week, the sukkah comes down. It’s a reminder that things in life change – and that we therefore have opportunities to nurture a moment in time to harness an important conversation.
With love and shalom,
Rabbi Zach Shapiro
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