"To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.  I am not a teacher, only a fellow student."  (Soren Kierkegaard)

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A FEW PRE-SUKKOT and PRE-SHABBAT WORDS FROM RABBIA AARON

Moving from Yom Kippur into Sukkot - The Journey of Faith

Some very powerful personal narratives were shared this past Yom Kippur during the symposium. Beyond all the provocative food for thought, I was reminded of "This I Believe," the insightful and often moving program that is a sort of ongoing symposium within American culture. One of the intriguing pieces Jonathan addressed was the difference between belief and faith. The terms themselves have certain [Christian-informed] English connotation; in Hebrew, the picture is different. Belief is usually translated as "emunah." But the word "emunah" - as a noun - is not biblical. A few times, it is found as a [past tense, masculine third person] verb: He believed in, or/ he had faith in. More interesting is the root - אמן – yes, amen. But there's also this related word: אומן – omein, nursemaid or one who has adopted a child. What can we do with all this? Let me suggest that in the Hebrew, there is an embedded  image [subliminal] of faith as a nursemaid or nurturing persona, perhaps a midwife. I think this root cluster suggests that faith makes sense only if it relational. The notion of a a solitary individual thinking about articles of belief as a solo exercise does not really resonate with the Hebrew ideas about belief/faith. This is one reason I have a love for Kierkegaard's Leap of Faith; that leap of commitment is within the context of relationship. Jonathan's reference to Paul Tillich's vitally important concept - ultimate concern - really opened the door for the rest of our wonderful panel.  The stuff that elicits a person's all-embracing passionate commitment is Tillich's Ultimate Concern. Each panelist really shared what moves them, very much in the spirit of "This I Believe." By expanding the arena of where people's sense of Yiddishkeit takes them personally, we were challenged to leave the traditional parameters of classic belief. From each panelist, we learned how values found their translation into action.

The Days of Awe hold weighty matters: God judging all creatures, the gift of teshuva, the moral challenges posed by the banishment of Hagar and Ishmael, the Binding of Isaac. Sukkot represents a shifting of the gears. We are commanded to be joyous.  Yes, there's a revelry in appreciating the character of the sukkah we construct, a joyful feeling that accompanies the change in the seasons, but  but ושמחת  (v'samachta - "you shall rejoice") is communal; for us, our families, our servants, the strangers who live among us. I believe this joy is also about our blessing others when we rejoice on their believe, when we see the good in other people and we celebrate it. For me, dwelling in the sukkah takes our conversation about faith as relationship - wrestling with God, to circle back to Jonathan's remarks - and takes us out of our permanent dwelling and into nature, on a pilgrimage [chag / חג = Haj; a pilgrimage] back to God. Within the Holiday prayers we chanted from the prophetic literature: [God,addressing Israel in a moment of nostalgia] "I remember the loving kindness of your youth; you followed me into the desert, into an unsown land." The sukkah is intimate. It is about sharing with friends, it is about hiking in the wilderness with God as our partner. Sukkot is a demonstration of faith. We acknowledge the shaky truths of our lives [our lives are not really as solid as the physical structures of our homes might suggest] and we're ready to follow God anywhere. Faith is really about relationships, the people who are worth the Great Leap. And it is a journey. Everything is in a constant state of flux. Notice the cooler evenings and mornings. The leaves will begin to fall. This Turn of the Wheel is the natural backdrop for our journey of faith.

Chag same'ach - May your pilgrimage with filled with joy!

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