An Antidote to a World Gone Mad
By Slovie Jungreis-Wolff
October 13, 2024
Who could imagine that the atrocities of October 7th would bring tens of thousands around the world to march in support of such barbarism? Israel is attacked, men, women and children are slaughtered, and innocent victims and wounded are blamed.
Hamas took 250 hostages to Gaza after raping, burning, and killing 1200, yet it is Israel who is being accused of a war that Hamas started. Hezbollah terrorists launched 80,000 missiles, rockets and drones in the last year, and drove 60,000 Israelis from their homes near the border. Hassan Nasrallah, known to be a bloodthirsty terrorist, is killed by Israeli forces while the New York Times paints him as a “powerful orator, beloved, who helped provide social services for Lebanon”.
This is the man who proclaimed that if all Jews gathered in Israel it would save Hezbollah and Muslims the trouble of going after them worldwide. He called Jews the “descendants of apes and pigs” and promised to destroy them in the name of Allah. In order to finance terrorism, he saw Hezbollah become one of the largest drug-trafficking and narco-terrorist groups in the world. This is the darling figure being mourned?
Not a week goes by that I do not hear from a student or parent whose child has faced harassment, threats and ugly antisemitism on campus while professors and administrators turn a blind eye. Universities meant to educate have become hotbeds of hatred. Jews are thought of as “privileged”, ignoring thousands of years of persecution and racism. Like a cancer, this anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist, new-fangled antisemitism has become vogue amongst keffiyeh-wearing students and professors alike.
Our world has gone mad.
Where can we find serenity?
The holiday of Sukkot offers an antidote to the ills we are facing.
Shelter of Faith
The sukkah takes us outside, under the stars. We abandon our homes, our daily comforts, and find protection in the “Sukkah of Peace”. In a world where truth and security seem to be vanishing, let us find serenity within the walls of the sukkah.
Sukkot lifts us to a higher world. Sit inside your sukkah and recall the Clouds of Glory that accompanied the Children of Israel in the desert after leaving the slavery in Egypt. As a symbol of their newfound intimate relationship with God, they were surrounded by God’s shelter. The Jewish nation discovered that they were beloved, raised up from a life of pain and misery.
Many of us have been grappling with fear, sadness and anxiety. How did we suffer the worst tragedy since the Holocaust? Are Jews safe in America? Will the next generation endure?
Sukkot reminds us that we each have our own personal Clouds of Glory in our lives. We can recapture that feeling of closeness with God. Yes, we are grieving. We have endured the bitter taste of persecution and hatred that has left us reeling. But at the same time, we are standing tall and proud. Our comfort comes not from material things in our homes but from the magic within our souls.
In the midst of all the darkness, we have seen the light of a spiritual awakening. Jews who had never thought about it now adorn their necks with Stars of David. Many have asked to discover Jewish wisdom, join others at a Shabbat meal, or kindle a Shabbat candle for the very first time. A connection has been ignited. Pride comes not from our possessions, but rather from knowing who we are and where we came from.
If we’ve learned one thing this past year, it’s how precious life is. Sukkot gives us the opportunity to leave behind our “stuff” – the material pleasures, the incessant accumulation, the never-ending stream of posts, pings and texts, and to focus on what truly matters in life – the connection with our family, friends and with the Divine.
Think about how many mothers and fathers are waiting for their children to come home. How many sons and daughters cry themselves to sleep imagining hearing their parent’s voice? What they would not give for one more kiss, one more hug, and one more chance to say “I love you.”
Sukkot is called “the holiday of joy.” Our journey this past year has been filled with heartache. While the sorrow remains, we must find room now for solace. The Jewish people are a nation of love. We build our world through lovingkindness. This past year I have met many Jews who may look different from me, think differently from me, but we have discovered that we are family. This has been the experience of countless of people who have opened their hearts to brothers and sisters they never knew existed.
This Sukkot experience the joy that comes when we are surrounded by the shelter of faith, of trust and of love, when we are connected spiritually as one nation. Am Yisrael Chai.