Hello Coffee Room,
I read a story of a very inspiring Sukkah yesterday that I thought I would share with you!
It would seem that in the Berkshires, there is this 100+ year old farm, the Gould farm (?), that has been used as a place where people with mental health concerns may go for a few months to live, work, and develop life skills to help them in their rehabilitation. Some people there built a very earthy Sukkah, composed of such things as animal corn, as a communal effort. I read the story in The Jewish Week and thought it was inspiring that people in the midst of such adversity could build this beautiful shelter! Maybe the story will warm your hearts as well.
The story made me think about the different wonderful harvests we have as human beings…of course, we have our seasonal harvest with it’s glorious pumpkins, apples, corn, and all kinds of crops. It is magnificent to celebrate these gifts of G-d at this time of year. It is also so profound and moving to me to think about spiritual harvests of the heart and soul, like the one that generated this Sukkah in the Bershires…these fruits have a way of letting us wrap each other in the shelter of love and companionship when we may feel most alone, like these people trying to rebuild their lives on Gould’s farm.
I hope that your Sukkos is a joyous celebration!