While it is part of the craziness of the Jewish High Holiday season,
it holds a special place in my heart.
I've never been able to pinpoint exactly why -
I'm not particularly outdoorsy,
but I'll tell you I do HATE flies in my food.
building a sukkah is not easy,
and the roof always falls in,
and the decorations always get rained on.
But this year, amidst all the difficult life adjustments going on for us lately,
I think I've got it.
Rosh HaShanah is about thinking about the way things have been, about how we've behaved over the past year.
Yom Kippur is about thinking about how we want things to be, about how we want to make amends and become better people.
After the intensity of those ten days, about fretting over who we were and who we want to be, comes blessed Sukkot.
Sukkot is about how things are.
Right here, right now.
Our only tasks are to build a sukkah,
and then to be inside of it for seven days.
That's it. Just to be there.
And that being in the here and the now has felt so healing to me this year.Sukkot sends the message: things may been good, things may be bad, things may be easy, things may be difficult, you may be smiling, you may be in tears, or you may be both in the same hour. You may have had a really hard year so far and you may not know what the future holds for you. And for now, for these seven (eight) days,
your task is to be inside of whatever is going on.
To sit there and to experience it.
So, from the Kopans sukkah, I present to you:
"Right Here, Right Now."
Right here, right now....
my baby is licking a pumpkin.
Right here, right now....
the Kansas winds have blown our schach in five times.
Right here, right now....
the boys are entertaining themselves with my iPod. Outside. At 7 AM.
Right here, right now....
my children are doing zero decorating at the shul's Sukkah decorating party.
Right here, right now....
Rami will only paint without his diaper on.
Right here, right now....
Asher is taking his nap outside. At 5:26 PM.
Right here, right now....
Rami has only had honey cake to eat all day long.
Right here, right now...
Asher is *ahem* repurposing corn stalks from the sukkah roof as He-Man power swords.
Right here, right now....
we are making kiddush in our pajamas.
Right here, right now....
Rami would rather play with toy knights than learn to shake the lulav.
Right here, right now....
my children are happy and healthy and beautiful.
my family is together.
my husband is awesome.
And I am reminding myself, moment by moment,
to be here for all of it.
Posts
LOVE THIS.
ReplyDeleteWhoa, Sukkot looks like SO MUCH FUN at the Kopans house :)Wish I were there to nap in the sukkah, lick pumpkins, and eat honey cupcakes all day :) Love this post-- we all need to live in the right here, right now more often. Thanks for sharing your holiday :)
ReplyDeleteLove auntie al
What a beautiful post! One of my readers pointed me here, and I'm so glad she did; I didn't know your blog, and now I'm glad that I do.
ReplyDeleteI found you through a comment you left at Mara's blog and followed you over here...are you local? Are you the new education person at KI? I think your oldest may be close in age to my middle, who turned 3 in June.
ReplyDeleteHi Dara, thanks for commenting! Yep, I'm the new school administrator at KI. Where are you? Have we met (I'm awful with names?) Asher turned 3 in July, so they're about the same age!
ReplyDeletenope we haven't met, but maybe we should! :) I live at 101st and Antioch.
ReplyDelete