I

n the Torah on the first 
day of Sukkot, on Shabbat 
morning, we read about 
sacred times and sacred 
actions. 
In most communities, we 
have heard our last shofar 
blast at Neilah, the conclud-
ing service of Yom Kippur. 
A final t’
kiah g’
dolah — a blast 
pushed until one is out of 
breath — making 
the space for some-
thing new. And we 
said l’
shanah habah 
bi-rushalayim, similar 
to the Passover seder 
— we are looking 
forward to the year 
ahead. 
In that moment of 
looking ahead, we 
may feel very fragile 
or vulnerable, after 
fasting and repenting 
and doing the hard 
work of asking others 
for forgiveness. In 
this potentially fragile 
frame of mind, perhaps with 
a softer heart, we sit in a 
fragile structure, the sukkah, 
built just for this moment. 
It’
s a moment of transition, 
caught between looking back 
and looking ahead, the Torah 
reading on Sukkot calls out 
to us to live with intention.
The Torah reading on the 
first day of Sukkot is from the 
Book of Leviticus. God called 
to Moses and the Torah calls 
out to each of us to find that 
still small voice inside, to 
share it with others and to lis-
ten to the voices of others.
In Vayikra 22:26-23:44 
ancient Israel is called to 
mark sacred moments and 
given details for when and 
how to observe several 
Jewish holidays, including 
Shabbat and Sukkot. Israel is 
to engage with God through 
ritual offerings, sacrifices, 
of animals and grain. One 

could imagine in the ancient 
Near East what it might have 
meant to ask people to give 
up animals or grain that takes 
so much time and energy to 
raise or grow. This would not 
have been a simple ask, nor a 
simple action. Israel is asked 
to sacrifice something deeply 
personal. As my teacher in 
rabbinical school Dr. Job 
Jindo has taught me, 
perhaps what one sac-
rifices is the intention, 
effort and love. As we sit 
in our sukkot, our tem-
porary huts, we are frag-
ile; and we can consider 
what we intend to offer 
this year. How much of 
our time, our resources 
and our hearts will we 
sacrifice for others? 
A central teaching 
from Vayikra is found 
just before the reading 
on Sukkot, Leviticus 
19:18, “love your neigh-
bor as yourself.” Rabbi 
Aaron Bergman of 
Adat Shalom often says, in 
order to love your neighbor 
as yourself, you first have to 
love yourself. In a moment of 
fragility, we can find strength 
in knowing that sacred acts 
of chesed, of kindness and 
empathy, show honor to the 
Divine, to each other and this 
will make us stronger for the 
year ahead. 
Rabbi Shefa Gold has 
written, “When we walk in 
connection, listen well and 
act in accordance with that 
interconnection, then the 
Divine Spirit moves within 
and between us. We come 
into relationship not just with 
the parts, but with the Whole 
of Creation.” 

Davey Rosen is a rabbinic intern 
at Adat Shalom Synagogue in 
Farmington Hills and a rabbinic 
student at the Academy for Jewish 
Religion in New York.

Parshat 

Sukkot I: 

Leviticus 

22:26-23:44; 

Numbers 

29:35-30:1; 

Zechariah 

14:1-21

Davey Rosen

32 | OCTOBER 1 • 2020 

Spirit
torah portion

Seeking Inner Strength

