Sukkot Symbolizes Our Transition

All the Jewish holidays have a deeper meaning that highlight the development we need to go through both individually, and as a society. Sukkot?(the Tabernacle Feast) is about coming out of our familiar egoistic “homes” and building a new structure where the most important part, the roof, is built with properties of caring and positive connection. This big thatch-covering symbolizes the new world we can create if we come together.

Our Social Development and Sustainability

This holiday represents a crucial shift of values for all of us. By shifting our values from individualistic and egoistic to focusing more on the collective, we'll be able to create a safe, thriving, and happy world. This transformation requires us thinking about what’s most important in life, and what will actually make us happy: benefiting ourselves or others? Up until now we focused on door #1. Maybe now we have an opportunity to try a new way.

The construction of the?Sukkah explains how we can increase the importance of the very small desire we have to benefit others, until it’s greater in importance than all of our self-aimed desires.

Building A Sukkah Properly Requires Caring

Building this temporary hut symbolizes raising the importance of “waste” (something we view as insignificant), our desire to benefit others—above our typical desires for personal benefit. Attributes such as giving, caring, empathy, solidarity, mutual responsibility and other values that are the foundation for a healthy social environment, usually come last in our list of priorities, after we've satisfied our personal ambitions. But when it comes to creating a solid and sustainable society, they're the most important.

Attributes such as giving, caring, empathy, solidarity, mutual responsibility and other values that are the foundation for a healthy social environment, usually come last in our list of priorities, after we've satisfied our personal ambitions. But when it comes to creating a solid and sustainable society, they're the most important.

So this?is a very important holiday where we celebrate the fact that focusing on our positive human connection helps us override our egoistic tendencies. We see people everywhere having a good time together under this special roof. For example here in Israel, both the secular and religious parts of society take part in these traditions.

The Path To Social Cohesion

The day will come when all of humanity will enter one great big?Sukkah. This is really about a major shift in our values where positive connection will prevail over selfishness, exploitation and detachment. When that happens we'll experience what it feels like to be in balance with nature, instead of clashing with it. But it's impossible to do this alone. We can only make this transition with the proper social support. We need an environment that promotes the importance of positive human connection, and provides constant inspiration and encouragement toward achieving that goal. Without a powerful environment the ego will succeed at pulling us in different directions, and we'll lose our intention to benefit others. We can only shift away from our self-focused tendencies if we're around people who also aspire for these new values.

This is really about a major shift in our values where positive connection will prevail over selfishness, exploitation and detachment.

So by learning how to connect in a positive manner, and by participating in activities and events that nurture positive human connection, we can generate a positive reaction from nature. The more we’ll experience this enhanced connection fueled by overriding our individual egos, the more we’ll want to share the experience with others. By "passing it forward" we create the conditions for ourselves and humanity to gain all the benefits of positive human connection.

We can pool our good intentions by building a roof made up of our raising the importance of positive connection. We do this by putting our egoism and differences aside, and actually putting them in its shade. At first we form these circles of social support in small groups. But the more we experience and share the positive force of connection, the more these positive vibes radiate outward to circles around us. And gradually, a great new wave of positivity and connection washes over more and more people, until all of humanity enters into this better way of life together.

To make a long story short, the more we invest in positive connection throughout society, the faster and more intensively we generate the good vibes that come into our lives, and spare us from experiencing negative situations and feelings.