Sukkot 5787
What a Sukkah Teaches
Context: Sukkot, which is called The Holiday (heChag) and Zman Simchateynu (the time of our Joy) is arriving. It is also associated with redemption. (Pesach-Liberation; Shavuot-Revelation; Sukkot-Redemption).
Objectives:
1. Engage in Mishnah Study and build learning community
2. Discuss and debate and dimensions of Jewish and Human identity
3. Explore themes of humility and pride, particularism and universalism
Sources
Text #1: Mishnah Sukkot 1:1 (codified approximately 200-220 CE) A sukkah that is more than twenty cubits (approx. 30 feet) high is unfit (not kosher). Rabbi Yehuda deems it fit (kosher). Similarly, a sukkah that is not even ten handbreadths high (approx. 3 feet high), and one that does not have three walls, and one whose sunlight is greater than its shade are unfit (not kosher).
סֻכָּה שֶׁהִיא גְבוֹהָה לְמַעְלָה מֵעֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה, פְּסוּלָה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה מַכְשִׁיר. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ גְּבוֹהָה עֲשָׂרָה טְפָחִים, וְשֶׁאֵין לָהּ שְׁלֹשָׁה דְּפָנוֹת, וְשֶׁחַמָּתָהּ מְרֻבָּה מִצִּלָּתָהּ, פְּסוּלָה.
Questions Part 1
A. Height
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Review the requirements for building a kosher sukkah?
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If the Sukkah is a metaphor for human nature, what could each of the height details represent in personal terms? (what are the dangers of building the sukkah too high or too low?)
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What constitutes the minimal requirements for human dignity? What is healthy Jewish pride versus being too proud?
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Sukkot can be understood as a challenge to live lightly. Why is this difficult? What leads us to hoard (hold on to) material possessions?
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When do you experience fragility, dependency, interdependency?
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How does being in a Sukkah change our relationship with God?
Questions Part 2
B. Open/Closed
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What are the requirements for openness/closedness of a Sukkah?
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What does the Sukkah teach us about our Jewish identity and how we relate to the larger world?
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What does it mean to be too open/closed to others/the larger world?
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Bonus: How is Jewish Identity like a semi-permeable membrane?