Revisiting “Sukkat Shalom”

Sukkot on One Soil Farm!

Sukkot is almost here! While I won’t have my own sukkah this year, I’m looking forward to spending time with friends outdoors in their sukkot. I also love that there is a sukkah in the siddur that I can visit any night I’d like.

In the first blessing after the sh’ma in the evening (ma’ariv) service, we find:

u’fros aleinu sukkat sh’lomecha- spread over us a sukkah of your peace.

This image appears three times in the whole paragraph, often titled by its opening word, hashkiveinu. Why this image here? And why is the hashkiveinu, with its themes of safety and security, here?

I’ll share what I learned from Rabbi Reuven Kimelman, one of the foremost liturgists of our time (and a guest on the Light Lab Podcast!. He was also my liturgy professor, and it was learning in his class that inspired this song, which I wrote at least 12 years ago. Put in my own words, it was something like this:

Imagine that you are a shepherd in the shepherding days of old. As the sun goes down, and the sky starts to darken, you might start to fear. There are so many unknowns that could happen in the night. Someone might steal your sheep, or your money, or hurt you. You might lose your sheep, or fall ill in your sleep. As your mind starts to whir with anxiety, you open the evening service. “There is order in the world,” say the blessings around the sh’ma. “The sun rises and the sun sets. The stars have their order in the sky. There is order in the world, and even so- let’s hope for protection together.”

You go to sleep and wake up refreshed, but now there is another challenge. For it is another day herding sheep, same as every day before and every day to come. There are too many knowns, and the world can seem boring and dull, all outcomes predetermined. As you start to yawn and curse your lot, you open up the morning service. “Look to the light!” say the blessings around the sh’ma. “Look at the beauty and diversity around you, which includes you! Creation is renewed each day, and even so- let’s notice and invite in awe for this glorious, unique moment.”

Prayers were written by people. A person said it once, people chose to keep saying it, and chose to put it in the prayerbook, and chose where to put it. Our spiritual ancestors have so much wisdom for us. We might not be shepherds, but there is still what to fear. We are not alone is asking for protection.

And let’s notice what we’re asking for. Not a fortress of solitude of peace, not a castle with a moat of peace, but a sukkah of peace. A sukkah, which is open, and fragile, and real. Cutting ourselves off from the world might keep us safe, but at what cost? Security from a place of care, of honesty, of vulnerability, of tenderness, is possible.

This sukkot, may we be that shelter for ourselves and others- open, brave, connected, and seeking peace.

Baruch atah adonai, ma’ariv aravim.

We experience your blessing, holy one, when we notice the evening becoming evening.