THEY TRIED TO KILL US, WE WON, LET'S EAT

Rabbi Perry Raphael Rank

So there you have it: a summary of all Jewish holidays according to the conventional wisdom as found on the Internet.  After chuckling over the kernel of truth the summary contains, we might do well to examine both its accuracy and popularity.  The truth is that this witty precis may work to some extent for Pesah and to a larger extent Hannukah, but beyond that, the accuracy level drops precipitously.  It certainly does not characterize Shabbat, Shavuot, Tu B'shvat, Rosh Hodesh, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and it certainly doesn't characterize Sukkot when, in spite of the many festive meals taken in the sukkah, we commemorate no battle nor celebrate any victory.

Why would so inaccurate a saying gain such widespread popularity?  Perhaps because the two holidays it points to, Pesah and Hannukah, are so widely observed.  Yet Hanukkah is only a minor holiday, and Pesah, major though it is, is on par with two other festivals, Shavuot and Sukkot, neither of which fit the popular summary.  Maybe the time has come to reassess the holidays we're paying attention to as opposed to the ones we're ignoring.  It may be easier to celebrate our victory in war, but it's nobler to celebrate our positive mission on earth.

The Jewish holidays are service stations.  It's where we pause to reenergize ourselves and check the engines.  The Jewish holidays are celebrations of life and living.  Our businesses reward us for hard work, but Judaism addresses the question, "Why work hard at all?"  Work is no end in itself, unless our work is so constituted as to fit into some larger mission - relieving pain, healing the wounded, protecting the vulnerable, and so forth, and even then, at the end of the day, what do we do with our salaries?  Do we feed our bellies or nurture our souls?  Do we spend on ourselves or assist those with little to spend?  When our time comes to leave this earth, will anyone care?  If our lives have made no difference, what is the point of survival?

As Jews, we have gotten to where we are today precisely because our mission has been much more than survival.  Our lives have been about living responsibly, with freedom and with purpose.  Where most people have allowed death or sorrow to prevail, the Jewish people have always exalted joy and happiness.  We have closed our businesses for holidays that are all about joy.  If we are victors, it is because we have thrown meaninglessness to the mat, pinned sorrow to the floor, and kept hopelessness at bay.

The great poet Ogden Nash (1902-1971) wrote this ditty---

How odd of God, to choose the Jews;
It's not so odd, the Jews chose God;

The Jewish people is preoccupied with the mystery of its divine mission on earth, the compelling need to regularly reaffirm that mission, and the creation of sacred time wherein it can ponder the success of its activities and embrace the joys of living in God's world.  Ours has always been a positive approach toward life, a conscious choosing of God and God's life-affirming mitzvot, with our holidays being vast celebrations of that exalted mission.  That's how to celebrate the holidays, especially Sukkot.  Now---let's eat.