Shabbat Sukkot
Sukkot is the third of the shalosh regalim cycle. Each year we celebrate three yom tovs, or “chag/chagim” in the Torah – Pesah, Shavuot and Sukkot.
Did we not just celebrate a new beginning at Rosh HosShanah? We confessed our sins and asked God to wipe our slates clean on Yom Kippur. Now to end a the cycle yom tovs?
Through this juxtaposition of the beginning of the year and the end of the holy days we are taught that both beginnings and endings are important in our lives. The Torah’s commandments to sound the shofar and to wave the lulav, to repent and purify and to sit in Sukkot are to consider the power of beginnings, starting anew, ending old patterns and gathering our gratitude. God is with us at every step.
Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameah,
Rabbi Bolton