Why Does Hashem Hate Oregon?
Translation by Philip Blackman, Judaica Press, Mishnayoth, Tractate Succah 2:9:
Throughout the seven days a man must make his Succah his principle abode and his house a temporary dwelling. If rain fell, when may he clear out? When a dish would be spoiled. They made a comparison: To what can the matter be compared? To a slave who came to fill the cup for his master and he poured the jug over his face.
Mishnayoth, Tractate Taanith 1:1
From what time should they begin to mention the Power of Rain?….Said R. Joshua to him, Since rain during the Holyday is but a sign of a curse, why should one make mention of it?
Once again it is Succoth and once again it is raining here in Oregon. Every year it rains. It rains a lot. It doesn’t matter whether the holiday falls early or late, or if we have had 90 consecutive days without rain prior to Sukkot, as soon as the holiday starts, so does the rain. Always. It usually rains for at least five days. Sometimes there are gale force winds too. One year I was forced to declare the sukkah unsafe for use when it began to lean alarming to one side after experiencing 60 mph wind gusts. Mostly it is just really damp. Even if it happens to not rain on one day, since it rained the two previous days everything in the Sukkah is wet and the schach is dripping continuously. This year the rain began on erev Shabbas, then it drizzled on and off on Shabbas, then it poured all day today, 2 inches so far. The forecast is rain continuing through next Shabbas. We invite the ushpizin to the succah and then I ask them to come join us in the house because that is where we are all immediately headed for.
So why, when it seems that Hashem absolutely does not what us to fulfill the mitzvah, do we even bother to put the succah up? For those one or two wonderful days each year when, bundled up in our hats and parkas, we do get to dwell in the sukkah.
1 Comments:
Maybe it's time to be oleh regel to Yerushalayim for Sukkos?
Post a Comment
<< Home