Yom Kippur is over; Sukkot is almost here!
September 15, 2013
Prayer Before Building the Sukkah
for the sturdiness of my house
and for the willingness to leave it
for this chance to build
a temporary home, to remember
nomad desert wandering
and harvest houses: thank You.
Connect me, God, with all who labor
here and everywhere.
Increase my compassion
for anyone who has no home.
There is no Temple, and I do not farm:
all I can offer You
is the work of my hands
my heart, open as these walls.
The festival of Sukkot begins four days after Yom Kippur. Many of us will be building our sukkot, our little temporary houses, today in preparation for the coming festival. Here's a prayer intended for recitation before that work begins; if it's helpful to you, please feel free to use it and/or share it! This will appear in my forthcoming volume of Jewish liturgical poetry, hooray.