Celebrating - Holy Blossom Temple

8
Youth Engagement
One sukkah for the world:
a metaphor for our community and a place within it for every youth.
We are taught, by our sages, that it is fitting for all of Israel to sit
in one sukkah.
This is derived from Leviticus chapter 23 verse 42, which reads:
“For seven days…all who belong to the people of Israel shall live
in Sukkot.” In this verse, the word sukkot, which is the plural
of the word sukkah, is spelled without the letter vav. This means
that the word can also be read as sukkat, “the sukkah of” in the
singular, implying, as says the Talmud, that “the entire nation of
Israel may, and ought to, dwell in a single sukkah of [the people].”
Obviously, no sukkah is large enough to hold the entire Jewish
people. So what, then, is the meaning of this seemingly absurd
vision?
Our tradition provides at least two ways in which to derive
meaning from this incongruous idea of a single sukkah for all the
Jewish people. First, according to Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook,
rabbi of pre-modern Israel, “as long as we are plagued by pettiness
and other character flaws, we cannot attain true collective unity.
But after experiencing the unique holiness of Yom Kippur, we
merit an ever-increasing harmony among the diverse sectors of
the nation. During this special time, it is as if the entire nation is
sitting together, sharing the holy experience of the same sukkah.”
“It is our obligation to make our
congregational community a place for all,
including our youth”
According to the Hasidic master Rabbi Nathan, in his work
entitled Likutei Halachot, “One should concentrate on being part
Rabbi Karen Thomashow
kthomashow@holyblossom.org
of the entire people of Israel, with intense love and peace, until it
may be considered as if all of Israel dwells together in one sukkah.
While Rabbi Kook believed that after the high holidays we are
naturally more akin with one another, Rabbi Nathan believed that
while we may be more naturally akin with one another, we
still need to work at kinship and community. And that effort we
make is what will lead to unity—the type that makes one feel as if
he or she is dwelling in one giant Jewish sukkah.
“as long as we are plagued by pettiness
and other character flaws, we cannot
attain true collective unity”
In approximately one month, at the URJ Biennial in Washington,
our Reform movement will launch and embrace a call to action,
reprioritizing human and financial resources toward the end of
wider engagement of the youth of our movement. It will be a
2020 vision, re-energizing our own congregation’s emphasis on
youth engagement.
One of the proof texts that speaks to me of a place for every youth
within our congregation is this profound text which calls for all
of our people to unite under one sukkah. It is our obligation to
make our congregational community, which the sukkah may be a
metaphor for, a place for all, including our youth.
Rabbi Karen Thomashow, member of the URJ Campaign
for Youth Engagement Vision Team. For more information and to
participate, please email kthomashow@holyblossom.org
Holy Blossom Temple