Having survived another Simchat Torah filled with much music and dancing, I find it difficult to get back to a regular work week. I am reminded of a story told by the Baal Shem Tov. He said:
Once a fiddler played so sweetly that all who heard him began to dance, and whoever came near enough to hear, joined in the dance. Then a deaf man who knew nothing of music, happened along, and to him all he saw seemed the action of madmen- senseless and in bad taste.- Buber
Is Judaism a wonderful dance or something senseless or worse in bad taste? I guess it depends on your perspective.
In this weeks Torah portion, we learn that Noah saved humanity because he was righteous in a corrupt generation. (See Rashi on Tzadik B Doro) In many ways Noah needed to be counter-cultural to build an ark. In the end, the story teaches us that we cannot determine taste by the majority.
I hope that even with the holidays behind us, we can all strive to find ways to continue to dance to the rhythms of Jewish living. I believe that commitments that are personally meaningful, universally relevant, and distinctively Jewish will ensure our sustained contribution to the world. It is not so bad being counter cultural; it might just be the secret to our survival. Together we can find ways to dance to our timeless music and talk about how we might do our part to ensure a safe future for all of God’s creatures.
Last Shabbat, being Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot, we read Kohelet and this Shabbat, being the Shabbat after Simchat Torah, we will be starting to reread the Torah from the beginning of Genesis. How do we go from Kohelet to Genesis?
Kohelet is written from the perspective of Solomon. Like Siddhartha, Solomon was the king and had everything, but he gave it up to find a life a meaning.There we read:
1 I said in my heart: ‘Come now, I will try you with mirth, and enjoy pleasure’; and, behold, this also was vanity.2 I said of laughter: ‘It is mad’; and of mirth: ‘What does it accomplish?’3 I searched in my heart how to pamper my flesh with wine, and, my heart conducting itself with wisdom, how yet to lay hold on folly, till I might see which it was best for the sons of men that they should do under the heaven the few days of their life.4 I made me great works; I built me houses; I planted me vineyards; 5 I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit. ( Kohelet 2:1-5)
Solomon has everything, but he realizes that is it not enough. You can even see here in his trying to plant every kind of fruit that he is trying to recreate Eden itself with the trees of Life and Knowledge of Good and Evil. There is a profound parallel here between Solomon ( Kohelet) and Adam. If only we could conquer on inner need to have more, we might be happy with what we have. In this time of year as we return to nature in the Sukkah we try in different ways to return to Eden. Last year I wrote about how the act of bringing together the four species on Sukkot itself is an act of putting the fruit of the tree of knowledge back on the tree. But maybe that itself is missing the point.
Would returning to Eden and access to all of the trees itself be vanity of vanities? This year I want to focus on all of the great things I have in my life without wanting more. I am truly blessed and for that I strive to be content.
At synagogue this past Shabbat I saw a father of a child that goes to my Yadid’s school. He said, ” I see that Yadid is having a good time at school”. I asked him what he meant. It turns out that his children get on the bus after Yadid. This father has been having trouble getting his kids on the bus, but every morning he sees that Yadid is sitting there happy as can be on his way to school. I had not thought about it that much but Yadid, who just started kindergarten this year, never hesitated to get on the bus. While I was initially proud of Yadid being so independent, I then became a little sad that Yadid was so quick to get on that bus and leave me behind.
I have been reflecting on this as we come up to the end of this interminable litany of holidays. With the advent of Elul we have been saying L’David. There in Psalm 27 we read:
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the graciousness of the Lord, and to visit early in God’s temple. 5 For God conceals me in God’s pavilion in the day of evil; God hides me in the covert of God’s tent; God lifts me up upon a rock.
It seems that now, during Succot, we have finally arrived. We are spending our time in “the house of the Lord”. In this festival we used to visit “in God’s temple”; but even without the Temple, we get to spend Succot concealed in “ God’s pavilion”. And then just like that, along will come Simchat Torah and we will be gone. Just like my son getting on the bus without looking back, we will abandon the Succah and stop saying L’David.
Coming to the end of a period of our trying to get close to God it would be fitting to declare our sadness in having to leave that space. It makes sense that we turn from Pslam 27 to Lev Tahor, (Psalm 51). There we read:
12 Create for me a pure heart, O God; and renew a righteous spirit within me. 13 Please do not cast me away from You; and do not take from me Your holy spirit.
We do not want to spend the rest of the year in exile from God. We want to spend all of our time in God’s presence. It is hard to maintain that intense connection all year long. We want to move on to being productive, just as Yadid is excited to go to school. Our only hope is that after the holiday season we have been changed. That we have returned to the purity of spirit of a 5- year-old heading off to school. Adina and I hope that Yadid will learn about the world with an open mind, will learn from people with an open heart, and will always act as a Mentsch.
As Adina has taught me, sometimes words can only get so far and then music needs to take over. So before the moment passes I wanted to share with you a version of Lev Tahor by Pharoah’s Daughter that I have been singing all of Succot.
I feel as if they really capture the sentiment of the song. I hope that this song will give you pause to appreciate the present of presence we have on Succot. We are not being sent away (תַּשְׁלִיכֵנִי), we are leaving as messengers (שְׁלִיכים) carrying out our duty. It is bitter sweet to say goodbye, but with a pure spirit we turn our attention to the work ahead.
