Celebration Under Fire - Sukkot 5785
(Reminder to make an Eruv Tavshilin on Wednesday in order to be permitted to cook on Friday for Shabbat. See the details here .) The “Time of Our Joy” is upon us. Sukkot follows the solemn High Holidays, when we accomplished great spiritual things and brought new Divine light to the world, and now on Sukkot we celebrate that with great joy. It is the celebration that brings the potential blessings of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur to fruition. Well, how easy is it to celebrate when Israel is facing an existential war for its very existence? As we sit in our Sukkah and as we wave our lulav, etrog, willows and myrtle to the Hallel songs, our brothers and sisters are sacrificing their lives at war with enemies on all sides. It seems difficult to celebrate with abandon and to express open joy, let alone to dance. In 1973, right after the beginning of the Yom Kippur war, when our enemies sought to wipe us off the face of the earth, the Rebbe addressed the same question. This was three da