Aside from everything being pumpkin spice flavored, it’s hard to tell when the seasons change just by looking at our grocery store shelves. I can buy watermelons in February, apples in June, and strawberries in December if I wanted. Those out of season fruits and vegetables were likely flown here from someplace warm for my cooking convenience, possibly from thousands of miles away.
In Israel, things are a bit different. The grocery stores are much smaller, and there are still many open-air neighborhood markets. Most people buy a few days worth of food at a time, or just the fresh ingredients for tonight’s dinner. And almost everything is grown locally. When I lived there for rabbinical school I didn’t notice the differences right away. But one day, strawberries were everywhere. I hadn’t noticed their absence until they were ready to be harvested and brought to my local market. And believe me, these strawberries were worth the wait. Bright red, juicy and impossibly sweet. They must have been harvested that day, or maybe the day before and from no more than a couple hours away, since that’s all it takes to drive across Israel. But then, after just a couple weeks, the strawberries were gone and the weather started to turn cold. We began to mark time by what was available in the markets and make the most of what fresh ingredients were available.
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Our local supermarkets here in St. Louis are so large and well-stocked, it’s hard to imagine running out of something. But that’s only because a huge network of greenhouses and transportation networks exist to make sure we can get any berry, melon, or vegetable whenever we want. This holiday of Sukkot is an important reminder that all things are temporary, and that we are reliant on the land to give us the food we need.
After the heaviness of the Yamim Noraim and the self-deprevation of Yom Kippur, Sukkot arrives to bring us back out into the world of our five senses. Rather than sit in services Sukkot asks us to sit outside in a sukkah and share our meals with family and friends. Rather than hold a siddur, Sukkot asks us to hold the lulav and etrog, four species of plants that remind us of parts of the body. Every aspect of the holiday beckons us to reconnect with nature and our physical selves.
The appropriate greeting for the holiday is moadim l’simcha, “The time of our joy.” It is time to sit together under the stars, feel the air begin to chill, and appreciate the flavors of fall. Like the strawberries in my local market in Jerusalem, the sukkah is only with us for a short time. But the time we spend in it can nurture our bodies and souls, all we have to do is listen to what this holiday asks of us. Invite friends and family over to have a meal in our sukkah (or get an invitation to someone else’s!), share stories of ushpizin, the guests from throughout history we would want to join our celebration, and laysheiv basukkah, dwell in the sukkah.
Let us make the most of this time together in the sukkah, and may it indeed be a time of joy for you and your loved ones. Moadim l’simcha.
