Sukkot – Praying for what?

his is a busy time of year. We just finished the High Holydays and now we’re right into Sukkot. Since nothing in the Torah is there by chance, there must be some reason that Rosh HaShanna, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot fall so close together.

The relationship between Rosh Ha’Shanna and Yom Kippur is clear. On Rosh Ha’Shanna we’re judged based on how well we used our lot in the past year and on how we plan to use our lot next year. Then we have a chance to perform teshuva so that some of our transgressions can be undone on Yom Kippur. But how does Sukkot relate into this?

On the High Holidays, what we’re really praying for is life. Being inscribed in the Book of Life rather than the Book of Death. Who shall live and who shall die… Once that has been determined (and we’re hopefully in the book of life), we can start praying for other things; physical things. But it seems anti-Jewish to associate praying for physical wealth to be associated with a major holiday.

The holiday of Sukkot has always been associated with rain. It falls at the start of Israel’s rainy season, during Sukkot we start to add the line to the Amida “mashiv ha’ruach u’moriv ha’gashem” - “Who makes the wind blow and the rain descend”. What does it mean to pray for rain? In ancient Israel, having rain meant you would have plentiful crops, which means you would eat and be wealthy for the year. If it didn’t rain, you would be poor (and worst case – you would die from starvation). So praying for rain is really praying for wealth.

The Hebrew work for rain is gashem, which comes from the same root as gashmias, which means physical. Today, when we pray for rain, we’re really asking for quality of life.

Of course, at the same time as we’re asking for quality of life, we’re told to leave our luxurious homes and live in a temporary hut for the week. This puts everything into perspective, the only thing we really have, the only think that will really comfort and protect us is G-d. Once we have that correct mindset, there is no harm in being given a good quality of life on top of that.

So tonight, when we eat our first meal of the year in the Sukkah, lets appreciate the quality we have in our lives, and know where that really comes from.

Chag Sameach