Sukkot moves me from exhaustion to gratitude. After the transformative personal and professional intensity of the Days of Awe, I am exhausted. And so every year as I erect our sukkah, I wonder what God was thinking in putting these holidays so close together.
And every year, God answers. God answers as I decorate the sukkah with the abundance all around me, as I welcome guests into our sukkah and watch them eat and laugh, as I recognize the fundamental blessing of having a roof over my head. Sukkot is z'man simchateinu, the time of our joy, as we are re-energized by, and grateful for, the blessings we enjoy.
The same can be true of the synagogue. As we move through the intensity of our personal and professional lives, it is sometimes hard to see the incredible blessings this community provides. Every week we, or our family, or our neighbors, or our friends, sit down over a meal at the synagogue and eat and laugh. Every week, the abundance of skill and creativity and caring of our lay leadership makes this community so much greater than the sum of its parts. And every week, we are grateful to have a gathering space to do it (which, by the way, will be getting a whole new roof over its head this month!). And that joy and abundance re-energizes us and makes us grateful.
There are a myriad of ways to be grateful. One way is to contribute financially when we invite your support. Not because you are required to, or because someone is asking you to, but because you want to. Because God challenges us to move from reflection to rebuilding, from atonement to abundance, from exhaustion to joy and gratitude.
Thank you for all that you do, and for the joy that you share. Chag Sameach.