Material and Spiritual Joy

by Dr. Erica Brown
October 1, 2009

"The days of the holiday are days of great joy for Israel since it is the time of the harvest of grain and fruit for the home; therefore, the people experienced great happiness...as a result of the material generating happiness, awe for God is also generated...for the four species all gladden the heart of those who look upon them.'
Sefer Ha-Hinukh
 

It is always a challenge to celebrate an agricultural holiday in a non-agricultural setting.  Without knowing the intense joy and economic relief of the harvest, it is difficult to understand the abiding happiness delivered each Sukkot in the ancient world.  We are detached from the world of farms and fields; never do we experience that distance from a Jewish perspective more than on Sukkot.

Sukkot is a biblical holiday mandated in Leviticus: "The fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be a feast of booths for seven days to the Lord" (23:34).  It is a time when we are tasked with two responsibilities.  We must combine the memory of days long past when we dwelt in booths in the wilderness for forty years, symbolized by the building and living in a Sukkah, and contemporary feelings of joy at the harvest, symbolized by the purchase and waving of the four species - four different types of plants: the palm, the willow, the myrtle and the etrog, a wonderful smelling citron.  This blend of memory and experience blurs the past and the present, in the way that Judaism so often does through its rituals.

The Sefer Ha-Hinukh, from which the above quote was culled, is a medieval compilation of the 613 mitzvot organized by the weekly Torah reading.  It is attributed to Rabbi Abraham of Barcelona, about whom we know little, but was initially published anonymously.  Because there was a great deal of medieval debate about which commandments were included in the number 613, the Sefer Ha-Hinukh, or Book of Education, is only one among many such collections.  It is written in clear and simple Hebrew, and the author takes time to explain the meaning and application of each mitzvah.

What Rabbi Abraham contends above is that when people feel happy about themselves, they have a greater sense of reverence and gratitude to God.  On the one hand, we may feel that this is not an original thought.  On the other hand, we may not always see the connection or try to inspire greater religious joy through making sure that our own material wants are tended to first.  Many religions believe that by negating our basic human needs we achieve greater unity with God.  In contradistinction, Judaism celebrates bodily needs and sanctifies them.

In this current economic climate it is not hard to appreciate that it is easier to experience wonder at God's creations when one's annual income is secure, as was true for harvest days.  One rabbi of the Talmud encouraged his students not to come study with him during the harvest season because the anxiety of making sure all was in order in the fields would be too distracting for the mind.

Leo Rosten, in The Joys of Yiddish, offers an interesting understanding of Sukkot from a different material perspective: Philo considered the sukkah a democratic institution because all Jews, rich or poor, were asked to dwell in a primitive shelter.  Equality of this sort, he reckoned, moved the concept out of theory into practice.  Here, the sukkah is more than a place of memory, it is a place of material equality.  We leave our homes, which are decorated with individual tastes and reflect very different economic realities, and enter a space that is defined by its very vulnerability and simplicity.  Having once had to hold up the wall of a sukkah where I once had a meal, believe me, I felt vulnerable.  That simplicity can be a great economic equalizer, which may itself be a source of happiness.

Whatever linkage between the material and spiritual appeals to you, Sukkot awakens many sensitivities: to economic anxiety and relief, to pride in our own labor, to submission to the earth's elements and God's force in the world, to the sense of a shared past and a present democratic bond among all of Israel.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Sukkot!  Happiness deserves an exclamation point! 

Dr. Erica Brown is the Director of Adult Education at The Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning and Director of the Jewish Leadership Institute at The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. She is also an adjunct professor at American University and George Washington University, was a Jerusalem Fellow and is a faculty member of the Wexner Foundation. Brown lectures widely on subjects of Jewish interest and leadership, in addition to extensive writing in journals of education and Jewish studies. She has chapters in "Jewish Legal Writings by Women, Torah of the Mothers," and "Wisdom from All of My Teachers" and writes a weekly internet essay on topics of Jewish interest. Brown is the author of the book, "Inspired Leadership: A Jewish Perspective" and co-author of "The Case for Jewish Peoplehood." This article first appeared on the web site of The Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning.