This blog may turn
a well schooled Jew inside out. I
apologize for any offense and yet it was the spirit in which the offering was
gathered and presented that I felt was important.
So many things I
didn’t really understand and many things I didn’t really know about as I ventured into this week long celebration. I didn’t know about the symbolism –though I
had read of the wave offering- of the lulav and etrog many times through my studies. I was going to try to
find a citron fruit while we were in Fort Smith, but I didn’t get to the store
for it. I had a lime with me and
substituted that for my heart. I believe
it was as I said in my last blog the effort becoming the essence for this year.
I did have a small plain plastic box to hold it, but it had no embellishment at
all. I’ll have to look into that.
I flat out forgot
to take the palm branch. We have some that would have done nicely, but we got away Wednesday night without it. Louis was the
one who spied the oak branch with leaves that looked like ‘hands’. We had a myrtle branch for the eyes but no
willow to represent the offering of our lips.
We looked about for something representational. We found a species that somewhat resembled
the mouth and put it in with our others.
As I was cleaning
up that night before going to bed, I was talking casually with God. I told him I wanted the willow branch because
I felt like if there was one of the four things that I most needed to offer it
was my mouth. I have such a problem
controlling what I will allow out of my lips.
I finished my tasks and went to bed.
The next morning I
took Willow
So we went to the
second pier which was a great place to photograph the sunrise and the mist that was hovering over the lake. And at the end of the pier I found a willow
tree. How good is God!
That morning when
the shofar sounded, I offered my hands, my eyes, my lips and my heart with
great joy. God cares and he lets us know
he cares about this day, this offering, this need.
Reminds me of a dear friend, originally from the part of Northern New Mexico where many of the descendents of the Conquistadores whose ancestors were Sephardim fleeing the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492.
ReplyDeleteHe was reading about the Passover and how modern day Jews observe it. Not having much in the way of Judaica in that part of the country, a flour tortilla served for the matzoh, horse radish for the bitter herbs, and broccoli for the carpas.
I wondered that if in the eyes of haShem his observance was more pure than all the observant Ashkenazim in Brooklyn with all the traditional ingredients were sold on most every street corner ...
You have no idea of the huge rabbinic battles fought over the humble etrog. Jews in the diaspora grafted etrog branches into the lemon tree to make it easier to cultivate in drier climates, and in time, the graft disappeared making the identification impossible until genetic identification recently became available, and the 'etrog wars' flamed again!
In all that, the meaning of Sukkot vanishes, and all that is left is ritual. It is far far better to remember the reason than it is to worry whether you have a lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit or an etrog.
Mazel tov!
My lime was somewhat yellowish and a bit misshapen. It served nicely for a first Sukkot.
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