Jerusalem Post

DISMANTLING THE SUCCAH

Now that the glorious holiday of Succot has ended, I, like many of you am
faced with the daunting task of dismantling my succah. Whereas I always have
a feeling of pride, anticipation and happiness in erecting my succah I am
filled with sad nostalgia (especially this year) at the thought of taking it
down. Nothing lasts forever, not even Succot and all things come to an end.
Yet, I am truly saddened to let the holidays go. They were a source of
shelter and comfort to me, a taste of the soul and spirit of Judaism and the
eternity of Torah and its values and commandments. Days of awe and
happiness, of nostalgia and tears, of children and grandchildren and
laughter and wonder, these are the days of the month of Tishrei.

Dismantling the succah brings home the reality that the month is almost over
and that it will be a half year before the great holiday of Pesach comes to
renew our spirit and hope. But Jews are not allowed to be despondent or
overly sad. Thank God for life and health and the opportunity to accomplish
noble things with them. The succah is meant to inspire us and give us
spiritual strength and to nurture our hopes over the next half year. Even
dismantling the succah is part of that process. All of the wonderful succah
decorations are lovingly placed back into the storage boxes having served
their holy purpose and hopefully they will all be restored in the succah
again next year in health and happiness.

There are many Jews that are loath to dismantle their succah after the
holiday ends. In a joking manner, I would announce to my children when we
lived in Monsey that they should check around town and see who kept their
succah up the longest. There were reports of succah sightings as late as
Chanukah. Usually the first good heavy snowstorm (for which Monsey is justly
famous) demolished any succot still left standing much to the chagrin and
cost of the procrastinating succah owners.

I always sympathized with the late succah taker-downers. I also did not want
to leave Succot so suddenly and finally. All of this feeling is summed up in
the expression that Jews use for the day after the holiday – isru chag. It
literally means “binding the holiday sacrifice to the altar.” In our days it
simply means attempting to hold on to the spirit and taste of the holiday
for at least one more day.

Maybe postponing the dismantling of the succah is an aid and tool in
accomplishing the isru chag spirit and mission. Still, my personal nature of
not being a procrastinator impels me to dismantle my succah, albeit with
great reluctance and a tinge of sadness as soon after Succot as I can. So I
dutifully bring out my stepladder and lovingly begin to remove the succah
decorations from their lofty heights under the schach roof covering of my
succah. Reality thus overcomes nostalgia and emotion.

My succah contains decorations that my wife and I purchased in our many
trips throughout America and around the world. It is truly an international
succah with artifacts from Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam,
Australia, New Zealand, the countries of Western Europe, Hawaii, Canada,
Alaska, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Greece, Morocco and naturally Israel and the
many national parks in the United States.

Every decoration therefore has a special memory and location attached to it.
It is not too far an exaggeration for me to say that my succah decorations
are a miniature review of my life and career. In the Torah we read that
Moshe reviewed for the children of Israel all of the places of encampment
that they visited during their sojourn in the Sinai desert. Moshe did not
intend to record a travelogue. Rather, as Rashi points out, he reminded them
by this means of the events, both good and better, that befell them at each
and every one of the way stations that where they encamped.

The mere names of these places encapsulated for Israel the entire story of
their desert experience. So too is it with me with my succah decorations.
Every one of them is a memory, a lesson in life, a reminder of events and
experiences. So, taking down the succah and its decorations is a vitally
important instructional event for me. Perhaps that is why I do it so swiftly
after Succot. It serves as my method of isru chag. It is thus not only a
physical chore but it is a spiritual challenge and lesson as well.

Shabat shalom.

Rabbi Berel Wein
Shabat shalom.