A Rationalist Approach to Sukkot

A commemoration of legendary magical clouds or a functional building project à la Habitat for Humanity?

We at Irrationalist Modoxism have been so impressed by the “Why Judaism?” series (which has sorrowfully been cut short. Oh well.) that we have decided to follow in its footsteps. See our previous article about a Rationalist approach to Pesach Cleaning.

The Sukkot season is here, and with it comes its share of perplexing mitzvot. We don’t even need to discuss the Four Species, that ritual obviously feels uncomfortable and even pagan, as our great master and teacher has informed us. The real question is the Sukkah itself. What is the point of this structure? After all, as economically productive people (which is the primary mitzvah of the Torah) we dwell in comfortable homes, so why would we consider settling in a tiny dilapidated shack?

We all know about the mystical chareidi interpretation that the Sukkah is to commemorate the legendary Clouds of Glory in the desert (or is it the dessert? There’s so much eating on Sukkot, I can’t keep it straight). However, most chareidim are unaware that this is a minority, non-normative, non-halachic opinion in the Talmud, and in any case, such miraculous origins are extremely problematic and cannot be taken seriously by any educated person.

After some contemplation, however, it is quite straightforward to come up with rational explanations for the Sukkah:

Physical activity-

If you are like me and build your own sukkah, the way it’s meant to be, you know how taxing it is on the body. Your heart rate increases, you start sweating, and your cholesterol count slides. Modern medicine has demonstrated the manifold benefits of exercise. As the CDC notes:

Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Being physically active can improve your brain health, help manage weight, reduce the risk of disease, strengthen bones and muscles, and improve your ability to do everyday activities.

Adults who sit less and do any amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity gain some health benefits. Only a few lifestyle choices have as large an impact on your health as physical activity.

Everyone can experience the health benefits of physical activity – age, abilities, ethnicity, shape, or size do not matter.

Teaching valuable home repair skills-

As we all know, the most important value of the Torah is economic productivity, something that chareidim have unfortunately ignored and marginalized. With the founding of the State of Israel, modern rationalist have revived this great mitzvah, and one of the best ways of learning is by doing! Getting your hands dirty with a hammer and nails, while it does not substitute procuring a PhD in Academic Jewish studies (the most economically productive of occupations) is a great way to become handy and save money by performing your own home repairs, while also learning how to assist underserved socioeconomically disadvantaged populations by building temporary shelters for them.

The great outdoors-

This should be fairly obvious. A Sukkah is just another way to get out of your little cubicle and embrace nature. A few quotes to that effect

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." - Frank Lloyd Wright

"Let us permit nature to have her way. She understands her business better than we do." - Michel de Montaigne

"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment." - Jane Austen

Environmental sustainability-

Modern civilization, despite all its benefits, has extracted a steep price from Mother Earth. To quote Christopher Ryan (Civilized to Death, The Price of Progress):

Dystopian scenarios loom ever larger as fisheries collapse, CO2 levels rise, and clouds of radioactive steam billow from “fail-safe” nuclear plants.

….

Flocks of birds are falling dead from the sky, the buzzing of bees is fading, butterfly migrations have stopped, and vital ocean currents are slowing. Species are going extinct at a rate not seen since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago. Texas-sized masses of swirling plastic soup suffocate acidifying oceans while freshwater aquifers are pumped dry as a bone. Ice caps melt down as clouds of methane bubble up from the depths, accelerating the cycle of global destruction.

Against such a mortally threatening background, we can easily appreciate the urgent imperative to return to a more sustainable mode of living.

A polemic against pyramids-

As many of our great rationalist professors are fond of suggesting, much of the Torah is a “polemic”. Thus, the Genesis narrative never occurred but is a polemic against paganism. The fictional Splitting of the Red Sea is a polemic against the mighty Egyptian state, an expression of speaking truth to power. The Levitical prohibition on homosexuality can be understood as a polemic against unequal power differentials in a marriage, a fact that modern-day fundamentalist chareidim conveniently overlook. Natan Slifkin has demonstrated how the prohibition of Hametz on Passover is a polemic against the sedentary Egyptian lifestyle which allowed the cultivation of sourdough, and serves an encouragement for the Hebrews to return to their nomadic roots.

It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to understand Sukkah in much the same way, as a polemic against the mighty stone pyramids that the Egyptians built for themselves. The sukkah is to remind the Hebrews that they are no longer Egyptian subjects who shelter in suffocating, stultifying, pyramids, but a free and sovereign people.

Ḥag Samey-aḥ to all who observe!