Trenton's Jews

                e hope you find these sources interesting to explore and share with others during the holiday celebrations. Why build (and dwell in) a sukkah? In the book of Leviticus (23:42-43), we find both the commandment to dwell in booths and the initial reason for doing so. Over the ages, many scholars have pointed to additional meanings in the act of living in an impermanent home, even for a brief period. In a 17th-century commentary called the Kli Yakar, Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz suggests that the sukkah can remind us of our own ephemerality, while Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in a 20th-century essay, points out a connection to the Tabernacle and the journey we’re all on. It’s raining, it’s pouring. What happens if you can’t sit in the sukkah due to weather and other pesky outdoor problems? This question was first explored in the Mishnah (Sukkah 2:9), where the rabbis use a colorful metaphor to clarify wha...