Daily Lesson for February 20, 2020

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Leviticus chapter 23 verses 39 through 43:

39 Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the Lord, lasting seven days; a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day. 40 On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You shall keep it as a festival to the Lord seven days in the year; you shall keep it in the seventh month as a statute forever throughout your generations. 42 You shall live in booths for seven days; all that are citizens in Israel shall live in booths, 43 so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Last April our family moved into a new house beside a lovely Jewish named the Isgurs.

Late last year the Isgurs invited us and several other friends and neighbors to join them for Sukkot, the annual celebration of the Festival of Booths, when Jews commemorate the Israelites’ 40-year journey to Promised Land through the wilderness in tents or “booths”.  Though the Biblical injunction is to actually stay in the Booths for a whole week, most modern Jews like the Isgurs instead hold outside parties and invite friend, though I do have a Jewish friend who sleeps outside with his children in the tree house he made them.

The Isgur Sukkot party is a fun-loving time. Jews and Gentiles join together in laughter and story telling, and a little wine drinking. There is a small fire, though none of the neighbors seemed to stay past dark because while 50 is the new 40, nine is also the new midnight.

And I suppose that is the whole point of the Festival. It is a reminder to the Jewish people that life is fragile, that they came from nothing and nowhere, and are still tenting on this earth towards a Promised Land where they’ve never before been and don’t know how long it will take, and so need to look after one another — even look after the Gentiles — on the way.

And as for us Gentiles, I think we could learn something from our Jewish neighbors. Our ancestors too tabernacled in the wilderness. They came here — wherever here is — on horses, and in buggies, and on the backs or in the arms of big sisters. They too wandered, veered, feared, got lost, and found help. Somehow the manna fell, enough — barely.

We all came from survivors. And we’re survivors too. And we may yet have more to survive. And we will will with a cloud by day, and fire by night — and maybe a little wine and story telling to boot.

NOTE: Tomorrow’s Lesson will be from Leviticus chapters 24 and 25.