Happy Sukkot!

THE BIG IDEA

Time to step out of the comfort of your home, move into a temporary hut, and get really really happy.

Now that your soul has gone through its yearly ritual cleansing, and you are (hopefully) feeling spiritually renewed, it is time to practice what you prayed. Leave the illusory hierarchies of this world and live under the stars… for seven days…. in a ritual hut (sukkah)…and love it! 

Seriously, this is the one holiday of the year that happiness is actually a spiritual requirement.

Whether you are rich or poor, live in a mansion or trailer park, this Friday night is time to leave your personal reality behind and enter (basically) the same ancient structure that sheltered your slave ancestors in the desert.  Allow yourself to access the deep soul joy that comes when you let go of the divisive materialism inherent in our world, and bask in sukkah consciousness. And don’t just sit in your sukkah like it is some bizarre jewish chore, bathe yourself in it, completely submerge your entire being in the collective memory of God’s protective sheltering essence, connect internally with the worldwide community of jewish practitioners sitting in the same huts, and experience the joyous soul relief that comes when you let go of your identity and accept the truth of your human vulnerability.

We all know (theoretically) that true happiness lies beyond the pleasures of this world, but few of us take a week to practice it. Take advantage of this energetic opening, this is your one chance of the year to experience the soul joy of just being (inside a cosmic truth). 

SUKKAH MEDITATIONS

Happiness is a challenging spiritual guideline. It is difficult to simple leave behind the pain inherent in the world of separation, and trip out with joy about your indigenous spiritual roots and divine connection. 

To help with the happiness requirement, here are some fun spiritual facts you can try at home:

1) FUN SPIRIT FACT 

Look out for spirit guests! Each night another ancestor will come and visit you in your sukkah. Welcome them in. Imagine yourself hosting them at your table. Ask them questions. Eat the foods you think they might like. Really go for it. 

If that is too much, try to meditate on the essence and lessons carried by those ancestors and sit with that consciousness each night. 

Schedule of visitors:

Day 1 — FRIDAY NIGHT- Abraham and Sarah (loving kindness) 

Day 2 — SATURDAY NIGHT - Isaac and Rebecca (healthy boundaries and personal strength)

Day 3 — SUNDAY NIGHT - Jacob and Rachel, Leah (truth and beauty)

Day 4 — MONDAY NIGHT - Moses and Tziporra (leadership and dominance through torah)

Day 5 — TUESDAY NIGHT - Aaron and Elisheva (empathy and peace making)

Day 6 — WEDNESDAY NIGHT - Joseph and Osnat (holiness and spiritual foundation)

Day 7 — THURSDAY NIGHT - King David and his 18 wives (the establishment of the kingdom of heaven on earth)

2) FUN SPIRIT FACT

One trusted interpretation of why we sit in a sukkah is because a cloud of God’s Glory covered the liberated Hebrew slaves immediately after their exodus from Egypt shielding them miraculously from the elements and burning sun. 

Drop into that protective essence and feel yourself sheltered by divinity. 

3) FUN SPIRIT FACT

This one is really fun. On the holiday where joy is a spiritual requirement, we read the Book of Ecclesiastes… which opens with a key awakening for your sukkah, “ Utter futility…. all is utterly futile..” And goes on to describe the riches and smarts and accomplishments of this world being utterly without value. (in conclusion only the relationship to the divine matters).

But try it practically. Sit in your hut and connect with everyone around the world in their huts (Sukkoth) and really really really really go deep into the illusion of material separation, the cloud of God’s glory that kept/keeps us alive. Sit in the gift of the practice of unity… all of us able to live in a hut, happy with what is actually real — our ability to connect and experience and submit to a power larger than our own.  

4) FUN SPIRIT FACT

This ritual has been going since the Hebrews first conquered the holy land of Israel with Joshua. But really think about it. The hut you are sitting in, more or less, has been sat in since that time. If you can’t trip out on that…...