opinion
Surprised by Joy
BY RABBI RAYMOND APPLE
C .S. Lewis wrote a book about his early life titled
“Surprised by Joy.” The name is from a sonnet
by William Wordsworth mourning the death of his
daughter Catherine in 1812.

Lewis said that joy was “almost as unlike secu-
rity or prosperity as it is unlike agony. It jumps
under one’s ribs and tickles down one’s back and
makes one forget meals and keeps one (delight-
fully) sleepless o’ nights.”
Lewis is trying to say that joy is a deep pleasant
feeling that suffuses every part of your life, coming
upon you with a glowing feeling that things are
going well.

Joy surrounds you in the sukkah in a combina-
tion of aroma, food, company, song and gratitude
for one’s blessings. Judaism also believes in wel-
coming the joy-giving presence of God.

Symbolism of the sukkah
• A sukkah must not be too high. A person must
not be too high and mighty.

• A sukkah must not be too small. A person
must not belittle himself.

• The walls must be able to withstand ordinary
gusts of wind. A person must stand up for his
principles. • The stars must be visible through the foliage
on the roof. A person must always see and
strive for the Divine light.

ungvar / AdobeStock
Adventures of the etrog
• One of the Four Species used on Sukkot is the
etrog. It is the odd man out, the only plant that
is not bound together with the others.

• The etrog is called in the Torah “the fruit of
a goodly (beautiful) tree” (Leviticus 23:40).

Each of the four plants symbolizes a part of
the human body. The etrog is the heart, which
makes the body function. It also represents
the Jewish people, a small separate group
who exemplify ethics. The four plants symbol-
ize four Biblical figures: The etrog is Abraham.

• The name etrog is from a Persian root tarag
and the original name might be torange. The
etrog was known for its aroma and medicinal
properties. • In size, the etrog must not be smaller than an
egg, even though today’s eggs are regarded
as smaller than those of Talmudic times.

• Etrogim used to be rare and expensive. The
question arose: “If one has to choose between
visiting a town that has a sukkah and one that
has an etrog, which should be chosen?” The
answer: “The one with the etrog!”
• Can one use an etrog owned by the syna- the Kiddush-time sponge cake. That synagogue
gogue? The members of the shul are partners had its sukkah in an open area outside the shul,
who jointly own the appurtenances of the and nothing could rival it.

synagogue. Up until recent times, city dwelling was rather
rare. The Torah makes a special point of Cain
Each festival has its theme. Sometimes, it is building a city (Genesis 4:17). That “city,” however,
the individual and his soul. Sometimes, it is the was probably only an encampment of two or three
family and its future; sometimes, the nation and its houses. In the Biblical era, the only city with urban
quality; sometimes, the people and its ethos. With status was probably Jerusalem, though in mod-
Sukkot, it is nature and God’s bounty.

ern terms Jerusalem was not much more than a
Maybe if you live in a rural environment, you village. The Mishnah Megillah speaks of villages,
already have nature as your neighbor, but if you towns and cities, but none of them had any pre-
are a city-dweller, there is a special dimension tensions to city status in modern terms.

to be found when you build your annual sukkah,
Until quite recently, most people lived in rela-
however small it might have to be if its nook is tively small settlements, and indeed, up to 200
hemmed in and its corner is precious.

years ago, no more than one person in 50 lived in
So many of our streets are concrete jungles, so what we today would call a city. So it’s only recently
many houses are brick building blocks, so many that the sukkah was desperately needed as a fleet-
ing contact with nature. How they managed to build
apartments are anonymous pigeonholes.

Living in Jerusalem, I constantly wonder why the sukkot in Eastern Europe I have no idea.

Move on to today, and you see how hard it is
ubiquitous building projects seldom have sukkah
to find a nook that is open to the sky, and how
balconies. In our case, there is a sukkah balcony,
important it is to have a festival that gives us a
which is one of the jewels of our home. Having a
feeling for
branches, greenery and the fresh air.

sukkah makes sure that at least once in a while, you
Because of
the sukkah, the Jewish people always
encounter a bit of fresh air and greenery. Even if it’s
had a
feeling for nature and gave thanks to the
only for eight days you can get a tiny taste of nature.

Creator. And
thanks to the Arba’ah Minim (“Four
In the cramped conditions of urban living, we
Species” or
“Four Kinds”)
used on Sukkot, we
don’t all have the chance of building our own
Jews saw,
held and
celebrated samples of God’s
sukkah, so we try to make do by being invited
creation. to someone else’s or spending time in the syna-
JE gogue sukkah. Some of us can do both.

I well recall, even after many decades, the fra- Rabbi Raymond Apple served congregations in
grance of a certain synagogue sukkah I patronized London before becoming chief minister of the
as a child; I still vividly remember the greenery Great Synagogue of Sydney, Australia, for 32
around the walls, and I inhale the air and can taste years. Now retired, he lives in Jerusalem.

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