I've done it before. Think I did it last year too. I think, well, I'll take a little walk with the camera, and record some of the booths in the neighborhood. But even though I've done it, and things don't change much from year to year, each time it is a very different experience, and exciting too… and there always is something new. Today was wonderful. The hardest part was that it got dark too early. I could have gone on and on. I was a little tired after about an hour and a half of walking through my neighborhood, meeting people, talking to kids, and checking out booths, but I was on a roll. I was high. It was a moving experience, and I loved it.
The holiday of Tabernacles is a very special and different one. Just as the summer comes to a close, and most civilized people are through with their vacations, and get back to real life, we move out of our homes, and spend a week in temporary booths made of material or raw boards and covered with leaves or branches, with the ability to see the stars through the roof. Sometimes it rains. Sometimes it's cold. If it rains you can go back to your house till the rain stops, but the holiday is definitely about getting out of the house, and camping. For those of us who live in the city, it's not so easy. Some of us build a booth on the balcony. Others build one right next to our apartments or houses. Ostensibly, we are meant to be reminded of what it was like, many years ago, to leave Egypt where we were slaves, and go off, inspired by the leadership of Moses, to the holy land. But our sages say, that this holiday is also a reminder that life can not be taken for granted, and that we have to be aware that all the pleasures and comforts of home are in fact part of something temporary, for our lives in this world are temporary. This holiday is the only one in which we are commanded to be happy. And I remember reading a very interesting article by a Chassidic rabbi, years ago, in which he pointed to this commandment as the hardest one he encountered in Judaism. It is one thing to fast on a fast day, or to eat on a feast… and it's not that hard to follow the precepts connected to other special days… but to be happy because you're supposed to?! That's hard. But not that hard, for the weak is filled with feasting and festivals, and the getting together of friends and family in a week long celebration.
We start building the booths after the day of atonement, which was on Monday. And the holiday of tabernacles starts this Friday night. As I walked through the neighborhood, a lot of people were still setting up their booth, and some had been started and weren't finished yet. The municipality spreads branches around the city in piles, every few blocks, so that people can take them and use them for the roofs. People who want something a little more stylish, buy date palms for a modest price. And then there are the 'four items' which are an important part of the ritual, and the prayer connected to this holiday. If I have an opportunity, I'll write about these 4 items later.
For now, let me finish with something I encountered for the first time today. I met two young brothers who were building a "children's booth". It was all in miniature, but it was meant just for children. And the children involved were quite excited and very enthusiastic in the preparations.
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