Four Days....

There are four days between the end of Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Those four days always seem to overtake me!  This year a Sabbath and an outing with one of my sons consumed more of the sukkah-building time. I wondered if I would even complete it on time.

For me, the building of a sukkah is not only the completion of a mitzvah (commandment), but an act of faith for the coming year. The sukkah, a temporary dwelling place, represents my House, my family.

Two years ago I first experienced faith-building of my sukkah.  My family was in crisis and I was compelled to build it anyway in faith that we would survive. We have, though there have been some painful absences.

This year the High Holy Days came just as quickly. We were already into the month of Elul, the countdown to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and I was jarred from my slumber. My life was not where it should be. I knew from years past that this season is one of discovery and I needed to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily beset me!

So I did, I made a plan, took action, turned around. I went without. The season of the yetzer hara ie. the season of deception had run its course. I was awake now and was vigilant again. There was still discovery, there always will be, but if I am already turned around, I can better face the ones I've hurt.

I built my sukkah with a clean conscience. It received from me an off-plumb frame. The painter's tarps I use for walls would cover its flaws. But I would know. Those inside would know. Even the tarps had seen their day with weathered stains from Sukkots gone by. Effective as a covering, but nothing covered the covers!

We ate dinner in the sukkah that evening, and only one was missing, her absence keenly felt. We moved aside the tables and chairs so my girls' could claim the first night, then sanctified this Sabbath of Sukkot, the Birthday of King Messiah.

There are always many lessons to be learned in this a Season of Our Joy, the Feast of Ingathering.

I cannot by decree, action, or will power have life on my terms, but I can build my sukkah, as is, in faith that the Lord will build my house, and that I have not labored in vain!