Sukkot Dinners

AT GESHER - 10701 SW 25th Ave., Portland

Please note: All Sukkot Dinners at Gesher are Very Festive Potluck Vegetarian

Friday, September 29

5 PM  -  Sukkot Dinner with Wood Fired Pizza, come one, call all,

Especially “Newish to Jewish” Jews

Saturday, September 30

5 pm Sukkot Dinner with Wood fired Pizza, come one, Call

Especially “Newish to Jewish” Jews

Sunday, October 1

5 pm Sukkot Dinner with Wood Fired Pizza

Especially “Newish to Jewish” Jews

Rabbi Gary’s Musings on the Spiritual Underpinnings of Sukkot:

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur left me a little “Templed” out.

(That’s a technical term used by some Jews who spent the long days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in a synagogue.) The weight and depth of the internal spiritual demand found me emerging into the forest the day after Yom Kippur for the first real mushroom hunt of the season.  Just being in beauty, wandering, feeling vulnerable to the rains, and finding the golden chanterelles was restorative, replenishing, dipped in green.  My soul sang for the movement, the change, the physical challenge.  Joy.

Yet among the greatest challenges to us, after Yom Kippur, is returning to the physicality of living:  building the Sukkah, negotiating the need for bracing as the Sukkah leans in one direction or another, and in making the invitations to “newish to Jewish” Jews.  This year there is another addition: the pizza oven that I built last Fall and Winter.  I smile every time that I contemplate this moment.  We have finally arrived!  Pizza in the Sukkah, wood fired, filled with a mixture of cheeses and onions, freshly hunted mushrooms, a pesto base…I love it!  Yes, it’s vulnerable to the elements, but the weather is turning in our favor.  Sunlight appears through the evergreens and and the sparkling delight and joy of welcoming guests into our Sukkah.

My pizza oven, itself is, for me, a spiritual accomplishment.  You may recall our travail a few years ago from the City of Portland coming in and “taking” a lot of the longterm value of our property, by placing 90% of our land in an environmental conservation zone.   It’s easy to begrudge, but therein the spiritual accomplishment.  Instead of begrudging, I re-covenanted with living in the home of our dreams.Building the pizza oven, delivering nourishment and joy, my main mission in life was a perfect symbol of my resilience.

Sukkot is called the “season of our joy.”  This year, Laurie and I feel an even  deeper joy, filled with  many, many blessings!  Adira Margalit, our baby granddaughter, chief among them.

An update: First attempt at the Sukkah crashed in on itself.  Not enough braces before the weight of the roof was added.  Oh, well.  Here’s a guarantee: with the brightening weather, we will have a warm Sukkah and wood fired pizza.

An update on the update. My friend Bob McCoy came over as I was “reconstructing the Sukkah. He only had half an hour (or so, as it turned out…), but he asked would I like his help. And help he did (as always…). Our Sukkah is now standing. Ready for earthquakes, floods,

The season’s test is in these words of Kohellet (Ecclesiastes).  “There is nothing new under the sun” and “all of life is vapor.” Is the pondering of an old king, who has tasted  power and knows better: there’s more to life than control.  Vulnerability leads to openness and connection.  Awareness of death leads to passion and understanding that life is precious.  The decision to lead a holy life, which involves sharing one’s gifts, leads to a life that is purposeful and has meaning.  This is the underlying message of Sukkot.  Be joyful; let’s celebrate!

Please let us know if you’re coming.