ב׳׳ה

Erev Sukkot, 5780
October 13, 2019

In 1947, Naomi Shemer, an Israeli songwriter, published the song ” Shlomit Bonah Sukkah.” The song conveys a longing for peace. In the song, Shlomit builds a Sukkah in which people make peace with one another, respect one another, and in which, through thoughtfulness, they arrive at love and unity, peace and friendship.

In Jewish tradition, there are many different metaphors for peace, and one of the most striking ones is the Sukkah. In the evening prayer on Friday night, and in the prayer for the State of Israel, the Sukkah and the concept of peace are intertwined with one another – both require us to work and labour to establish them.

The physical act of fulfilling the Mitzvah of building a Sukkah reveals to us the importance of bringing peace amongst the people in a community. At AHS, we invest in many conversations about how we can turn the classroom and the school into an even better place, and how we can give every single person to enter our school the feeling that they have a place with us – how to ensure that everyone feels accepted.

At AHS, we greatly value the diversity of our community, a concept which is at the forefront on Sukkot, when we wave the Arba Minim, the Four Species of very different plants: the Lulav, the Etrog, the Hadas, and the Aravah. And yet, despite – or perhaps because of – the wide range of diversity at AHS, we also celebrate our unity as Jews. We respect each other’s differences, and we respect one another – and we are all united under one community banner, under one roof, under one Sukkah. In this way, the ” Sukkat Shalom” of Naomi Shemer’s song is not only representative of the holiday of Sukkot, but also ties in on an intrinsic level to our identity and goals as a school. The song describes the ” Sukkah of peace,” reminding us of the importance of realizing the vision and the ideal of peace, and of striving to achieve it through continuous human efforts. And when we invest the necessary effort and achieve this goal, the Succah merits great blessing from above.