Does God Want Our Heart or Our Hands?
A few years ago I read a book called After The Ecstasy, The Laundry. The author is Buddhist but the title aply captures the emotions of the last two Jewish holidays.
Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, is one of spiritual intensity. Fasting, praying, and confessing bring us to an emotional highpoint, culminating in the mighty sound of the shofar (ram's horn) at the conclusion of the day. Yom Kippur is a day centered on the soul more than the body, the heart over the hands.
A few days following Yom Kippur, we start the holiday of Sukkot. We dwell for eight days inside an outdoor hut (called a sukkah), constructed from a variety of natural materials.
Building the Hut
The Jewish sages say we should leave the synagogue on Yom Kippur, pick up a hammer, and start building the sukkah. We move seamlessly from intense spirituality to mundane physical labor.
But are they really that different? On the surface, yes. One is introspective the other is physical. One takes place in the synagogue, and the other in a backyard. One starts with prayer and song, the other from a hammer and nails.
But they spring from the same body. They come from the same Torah. They serve the same God.
Body and Soul
Spirit and body spring from the same source of energy and creation we call God. Seeing this truth can provide a useful corrective in our divisive world. Instead of focusing on what divides us, we can turn our attention to what unites us.
Of course, this is easier said than done. If you see a whiteboard with one blue dot, your attention will go to the blue dot. Our eyes look for divergence and contrast.
But faith urges us to look beneath the surface. It teaches us to listen for an underlying melody rather than discordant notes.
The sukkah itself symbolizes this dream of unity. It envelopes us. It remains open to others: family, friends, guests. And we call it a sukkat shalom, a sukkah of peace.
Peace is not simply the absence of conflict. It is a right relationship with others, with ourselves, with God. That takes our full self, body and soul.