(ד) מׇשְׁכֵ֖נִי אַחֲרֶ֣יךָ נָּר֑וּצָה הֱבִיאַ֨נִי הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ חֲדָרָ֗יו נָגִ֤ילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה֙ בָּ֔ךְ נַזְכִּ֤ירָה דֹדֶ֙יךָ֙ מִיַּ֔יִן מֵישָׁרִ֖ים אֲהֵבֽוּךָ׃ {פ}
(4) Draw me after you, let us run! The king has brought me to his chambers. Let us delight and rejoice in your love, Savoring it more than wine— Like new wine they love you!
https://open.spotify.com/track/7cLI9yRvEXX1a6khS5krMj?si=m2YWp7n1QBqvYkKFT-nonQ
Setting: The Epichorus
(22) You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the first fruits of the wheat harvest; and the Feast of Ingathering [aka Sukkot] at the turn of the year.
(כ) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ה׳ סָלַ֖חְתִּי כִּדְבָרֶֽךָ׃
Sefat Emet (Rabbi Yehudah Lev Alter of Ger, 1847-1905), 5:203-4
The holiday of Sukkot resembles the Mishkan, or travelling sanctuary, that was given to the Children of Israel after the sin [of the golden calf] was repaired through doing teshuvah. As we read in Exodus 35:1 “And Moses assembled”, which the great medieval commentator Rashi explains occurred on the very day after Yom Kippur, when Moses came down the mountain [with the second set of tablets], and God wanted to rejoice with the Children of Israel in joy…
And the voluntary contributions to the Mishkan, which were given joyfully, were a preparation for Sukkot, the “season of our rejoicing” year after year.
As the midrash comments on the verse from the prophet Hosea (14:5), “I will love them voluntarily”: it was the voluntary gifts that made up the Mishkan, given in joy, that awoke the love which is between the people and their Heavenly Father.
From my Recharge article: Sukkah of Peace published by MJL last week (Oct 2024):
Anthropologists tell us that initiation rites follow a common pattern. First, the candidate is prepared for the coming transformation. Next comes the test itself. And finally, the initiate returns to society, where their new status is recognized and celebrated in community.
How Judaism turns the wheel of the year follows this same pattern. At Rosh Hashanah, as Yom Kippur approaches, we prepare by blowing the shofar, a wake-up call alerting us that the great books of life and death are open before the Holy One. On Yom Kippur, we undertake the ordeal itself, fasting and restricting ourselves in a ritual rehearsal for death. It is a trial we hope to come through lightened, maybe even a little enlightened, awash with a sense of forgiveness and the possibility of a fresh page in the book of life.
The final stage, acknowledging the space traversed and celebrating our survival, is Sukkot. By constructing a fragile booth, a distinctive semi-outdoor environment in which we gather for seven days, we literally create a container in which to integrate and affirm the initiation we have undergone.
You can read the rest here:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/sukkah-of-peace/
Melinda Ribner: Living in the Divine Flow - Monthly Spiritual Gifts and Blessings (2024), pp.40-1
When we sit in the sukkah we experience our vulnerability but we feel safe because we sense God’s surrounding presence. Life is simple and joyous. We learn directly that all the external structures we build in our lives to protect ourselves from the experience of our vulnerability are unnecessary. Furthermore, they separate us from our true selves, from other people and from God. …
Being in the sukkah is a time of intimacy. The sukkah extends an invitation to be real, totally and authentically oneself, and to welcome others to be fully themselves as well. This intimacy with self and others brings happiness and awakens the child within each of us. Sitting in the sukkah is fun, yet also profound and mystical. The sukkah imparts a deep teaching more powerful than words alone could ever convey: in truth, all human beings are children of the One God, and the world is God’s home.
Jessica Dore, Tarot for Change (2021): The Fool
In the study of how people behave, rule-governed behavior is a term for action that’s taken not because it is the best or right thing to do in a given situation but because a person has begun to do it automatically based on things like social reinforcement, avoidance of discomfort, or a need to feel good all the time.
Rules help us create structure in our lives. But sometimes rules, when followed without question, become like ice houses that trap and freeze us. Inside for too long, we get numb to the naturally occurring contingencies of life that demand flexibility. We’re in the ice house any time we say, “This is how it’s done, this is how it’s always been done, and never mind the fact that it’s hurtful, life limiting and oppressive, or simply doesn’t work anymore.”
Studies have shown that rigid psychological rules contribute to mental health issues. … As David Steindl-Rast wrote: “Though life (over and over again) creates structures, structures do not create life.”