Inviting Inspiration and Diverse Views into the Sukkah

The week-long holiday of Sukkot is upon us when Jews from all over the world build sukkot, temporary outdoor shelters celebrating the Fall Harvest. Unless the owner is some kind of industrial engineer or DIY fanatic, the sukkah tends to be a lovingly messy structure with weathering decorations and an organic roof called a s’chach. Invariably, in climates where I have lived, the rain makes things soggy, and the time of year brings bugs that nibble, bite, and pester, and wind that threatens to topple the whole structure.

Being outdoors, this odd, highly asymmetrical structure encourages investigation and discussion. Its owner is encouraged to welcome Ushpizin, guests, into the sukkah. The idea of Ushpizin comes from the Zohar – a kabbalistic, medieval Jewish text of Jews living in Spain. The word ushpizin is Aramaic and is derived from the Latin for hospes (guest), which yields such words as hospitality, hospital, hospitable.

Sukkot is a powerful reminder of our obligation to include a diverse array of family, friends and acquaintances in our lives, even – especially – those with whom we disagree.  

Sukkot is a powerful reminder of our obligation to include a diverse array of family, friends and acquaintances in our lives, even – especially – those with whom we disagree.  

Who are these guests and what is the virtue — or divine manifestation — that we invoke with their name? Abraham (grace), Isaac (reverence), Jacob (splendor), Joseph (righteousness), Moses (humility), Aaron (holiness), David (kingship). Other guests may include Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Yocheved, Tamar, Deborah, Esther, Hulda, Miriam, Tzipporah, or Michal.

By bringing our ancestors into our sukkah, we connect ourselves with generations past, reminding God to have compassion on us bizchut avoteinu (because of the merit of our ancestors), and hope to find inspiration from the past to live lives that are upright and meritorious. 

The Jewish calendar is brilliant because just five days after we have beaten our chests for our wrong-doings during Yom Kippur, which include slanderous speech, we are commanded to dwell in Sukkot (temporary, fragile huts) in which we are to be hospitable and welcome guests. In other words, no sooner have we digested the food following the fast and the ideas of repentance which we have examined intensively, than we are to put into practice our highest goals for improved behavior and sacred living to which we committed on Yom Kippur.

I could play it safe and surround myself with like-minded souls on Sukkot. But the spirit of true hospitality requires us to stretch. 

I could play it safe and surround myself with like-minded souls on Sukkot. But the spirit of true hospitality requires us to stretch. What happens when I bring in someone whose viewpoint is diametrically opposed to mine? 

At the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values, we are trying to see how the sukkah of liberal values — our ability to engage in the free expression of ideas — can support the Jewish idea of “eilu v’eilu — these and these are the teachings of the Living God.” Is it possible for us, as Jews, to live within the delicate walls of one sukkah? Or maybe, is it enough simply to honor and respect each other’s sukkot? And if we can’t do that … then what?  

There are critical Jewish teachings which allow for multiple opinions but at the end of the day, we are challenged to find one agreed upon practice. We, as a people, clearly do not agree on one practice. We certainly shouldn’t limit ourselves to one opinion – God forbid. But we are nevertheless commanded to seek consensus in doing what is right and best for Jews and Judaism. In the process of engaging, we stand to learn from each other and to drop our righteous indignation and presumption of being right, even if in the end we can’t settle on a single approach. 

Too often, rigid dogmas get in the way of civil, communal discussions. 

In today’s America, there is far too much radical ideology endangering Jewish lives. Look no further than the number of surveillance cameras and active guards outside any Jewish institution. There is also far too much radical ideology endangering Jewish teaching, living, celebrating and even communicating. Look no further than the Ethnic Studies curriculum in California or college campuses that vilify “Zionists” and “Israel” and seek to end the discussion over complex social issues. 

Are we willing to look inward to see if certain ideologies within our own organizations or synagogues are off-putting and insulting, and might even, however inadvertently, fan the flames of populist passions? Are these same ideological trends preventing us from sitting in the sukkah together?

At this season of hospitality and being hospitable, of gratitude and remembrance, I am ready to sit with my neighbor — especially if that person is someone ideologically different than me. When I sit in the sukkah, I will wonder: Are they ready to sit with me? Might I learn from them and them from me? Who are the obvious invitees and who are the folks that we have to push ourselves to invite? And are there people that we simply cannot — and maybe even, should not — invite in?

A sukkah is a shelter. When the storms of self-righteousness and radicalism threaten, a humble shelter in which guests and visitors respectfully share ideas could be just the setting for the messianic vision envisioned by our ancestors for a better world for all nations.

Rabbi Mark Cohn is the Rabbinical Liaison for the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values