Lessons from the four species and sukkah in our relationships with God

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Sukkot 2011 — day 4

Daniel reflects on his hasty building of a sukkah for the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) amid sickness in his family. He learned from the four species symbols of Sukkot and the design of the sukkah about God’s dealing with him via his heart, soul, mind, strength and spirit.

I built a סֻכָּה sukkah (booth, tabernacle, temporary dwelling) for the first time for my family and my children this feast. They aren’t difficult to build, but it did take me the entire day to build it.  The sukkah, in a sense, spoke to me, as I was building it. Today I want to share what I learned with you. 

These are not traditional definitions, but are fairly accurate definitions of the four species.

There are five items usually found on all sukkahs: myrtle, willow, date palm, etrog and olive. 

Leviticus and Deuteronomy commands us to dwell in booths and that these booths should be covered in specific species of plant life, specifically the myrtle, willow and date palms. The etrog is not mentioned in the bible at all. The olive is mentioned later in Nehemiah 8, not in the Torah. 

When I was sitting in my family sukkah and looked up at it, I asked myself, why were my children and I sick? Why did God withhold the first three days of Sukkot from us? Our sukkot was “taken away” for three days. What did we not do? Did we fail God in some way? 

Both my wife and I came to the same conclusion through different means. The first conclusion was our  lack of preparation. 

We focus on different aspects of Sukkot: food, buying supplies, Feast gifts, etc. But I did not get a sukkah built. Food came first, I made food on Wednesday and Thursday leading up to Sukkot instead I could have built the sukkah anytime after Day of Atonement leading up to Sukkot, but I didn’t. It didn’t even enter my mind. I figured that it was covered by the community sukkah built at the feast site, but my family are not living here. We come here during the day but we go home to Healdsburg and live there at night. 

It is not a holiday of hotels. It’s not a holiday of stay in your own home. It’s a holiday of dwelling in booths. We weren’t dwelling in a booth. We didn’t have one. 

Three weeks ago, I noticed various pieces of wood laying around my property, spare pieces of plywood, etc. I plan to throw it away for a year now but haven’t gotten around to it. My wife and I were visiting my in-laws some time ago and a neighbor of theirs had given them a piece of lattice. They had no use for it and neither did I but I told my in-laws I’d take it off their hands anyway, even though it was entirely useless to me. 

Just happened this past Friday, I decided I would build a sukkah. What do I have? Just a bunch of scrap pieces of wood. I said I would not go buy anything, just use what I have. I asked God to forgive me for working on a holy day so that I could rectify my other transgression of not having a sukkah that I’m required to have. 

Every little square piece of wood I have, I used and I had a sukkah. That means that two and a half weeks ago, God had planned my sukkah, and I hadn’t, which was truly poor planning on my part. 

The kids decorated it the next day with plants and little drawings, but somethings were still missing. I didn’t have any willow or palm on it because I don’t have any nearby. I did find some wild olive and myrtle on it though to decorate with. 

I don’t want to discuss the plants themselves. We have discussed those before. I want to discuss the why. My son always asks me “why” which is the funnest question. 

Why do we build a sukkah? Does it glorify God? Does it glorify us? Does it benefit God in any way? Does it benefit us in anyway? What gain is there in it? Why do we dwell in a sukkah? 

How many of you have spent time inside a sukkah, not reading or performing a task but just looking up and thinking? 

What value is it? What I am missing if I don’t have a sukkah during my Sukkot celebration? Is it the plants? I don’t think so. I have plants all over. Am I suppose to contemplate it’s flimsiness? There’s no requirement that it be flimsy. It’s only required to be a temporary structure. So what are we supposed to get out of it? 

Let’s take a look at the myrtle. It is peace and soul. Esther was Haddasseh, She is the embodiment of the plant. She fasted and prayed to save people. She had no power in herself. She only had the believe that her prayers and the prayers of her people would save them and bring them peace.
The willow is song and heart. The bible defines it as the songs in the Psalms to impart sorrow and praise. That is the desire of heart. 

The date palm is righteousness and sweet works. Righteousness is in your mind. I will do what God wants me to do whether I like it or not, but I will learn to like it. I may not like something but I do it anyway and later when I look back I realize that the righteous act that I did reluctantly was a good thing and look back on it pleasantly. 

The etrog became a part of Sukkot due to gematria, not based on anything in the Tanak. The Torah only says to decorate the sukkah with “goodly fruit.” What is goodly fruit? The sages defined it by analyzing the numbers down and looked for a fruit that had the same numerical number as the Hebrew phrase for “goodly fruit” and found the etrog fit the bill. Goodly fruit is a fruit you can eat so, strictly speaking, apples, pomegranates or any edible fruit would fit the definition just as well as the etrog.  Fruit you can’t eat is not a goodly fruit, it’s just a fruit.  

The “goodly fruit” works very hard to make something beneficial to others is might. I perceive it as your work and the result of your work. 

The olive is a goodly fruit, not for edible in its native state but is used to make wonderful oil. I see the olive as the Spirit and I see the menorah. The menorah is lit with olive oil. The bible says that the eyes of the menorah are the eyes of God. When we light our Sabbath candles or our menorah, we are inviting God to observe, critique and fix our thoughts and works. I was critiqued and fixed this Sukkot. God looked at me and found a deficiency in my home and said, “You will fix this because this is important.” 

How many ways are you to love God? With all your heart, soul, mind and strength. What is soul? How is it different from spirit? How do you love God with your heart? How do you love Him with your mind? We aren’t called to choose one but we are called to do all of them. 

I want to distinguish the different between soul and spirit. Soul, to me, and the way it seems to be used most frequently is who I am. What makes me distinctly different than David? Is it our appearance? What makes me unique amongst anyone else? Your personality and what God values in you and what He wants to produce in you. You can also argue it’s what makes you alive, what drives you. 

Spirit, on the other hand, is different. Spirit is not my identity, it’s what’s inside of all of us. God speaks to our heart, mind, soul and works through His Spirit. It’s transcendent. It is from God, not inherent in us. It’s what God gave us when we gave ourselves to Him. 

While I was in the sukkah, I saw clouds, I saw the occasional plane flying overhead. What did I feel when looking at it. If the sukkah is important to God, than I would expect God to use His spirit to communicate to my heart, mind, soul and strength. 

What do you feel in your mind while you’re in the sukkah? Do you see what you built or what God built for you? Initially, the day I built it, I said, “Thank God I built this.” The next day, I said, “Thank you God for building this.” Do I see my handiwork or God’s handiwork? After all, God made all parts of it. God created you and gave you the strength to build it and the mind to design it. 

The sukkah is not our handiwork but God’s. He built it for us to live in and to contemplate. However flimsy or weak it is, it’s always good enough and yet never good enough. It’s a bizarre mix of both. 

Regardless of how flimsy or weak it is, it’s the sukkah God built for you. 

No matter what I learn or how much I accomplish, God says, “That’s good, now I want you do better next time.” God sets a new minimum requirement every time. No matter how far up the bar I go, it’s now the new minimum. How “good” or “perfect” it’s still just one step above pathetic, but now it’s the minimum. Next year, God will expect me to do a better job than I did this year. 

Your works are always the bare minimum you need right now. Accept that. God will expect you improve. 

I read Psalm 61 last night. This psalm just happens to be a psalm for Sukkot. I read it nearly every Sukkot. “I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.” Any sukkah you build that God uses His spirit to speak to your heart, soul, mind and strength, what does that sukkah turn into? When you focus on your work and His work. It’s like being in His home and you don’t want to leave. It becomes a refuge. I realize I am safe in this flimsy, weak structure. 

It’s not about you, it’s about God to focus upon Him and what He is doing. I can’t express what I experience when I’m in the sukkah. 

Every child wants their parent to like them, not just love, but like. You can love your children but not like them very much. When I’m in the sukkah, I almost feel like God likes me. 

How many people have prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Billions over the millennia. Despite how small or “worthless” we are, God says He will spend time to listen and answer our prayers. Why does he spend any of His time on me? Why doesn’t He just focus on the powerful people and the leaders? It’s because God says He wants to gather up the lost sheep. 

Speaker: Daniel Agee. Summary: Tammy.