As we approach the end of #Sukkot and head into #SheminiAtzeret and #SimchatTorah, here is a short thread (taken from the introduction to my @korenpublishers #Sukkot mahzor) about the duality in #Judaism of universality and particularity. I wish you all a #ChagSameach (again!).
@korenpublishers #Sukkot represents more clearly than any other festival the dualities in Judaism. The four kinds - the #lulav and #etrog - are a symbol of the land of #Israel, while the #sukkah reminds us of exile.
@korenpublishers The four kinds are a ritual of rain, while eating in the sukkah depends on the absence of rain. Above all, though, there is a tension between the universality of nature and the particularity of history.
@korenpublishers There is an aspect of Sukkot - rainfall, harvest, climate - to which everyone can relate, but there is another - the long journey through the wilderness - that speaks to the unique experience of the Jewish people.
@korenpublishers The practical outcome of this dual theology - the universality of #God and the particularity of #Torah - is that we are commanded to be true to our #faith and a blessing to others, regardless of their faith.
@korenpublishers So, when all the universality of Judaism has been expressed, there remains something that cannot be universalized: that sense of intimacy with and closeness to God that we feel on #SheminiAtzeret and #SimchatTorah, when all the other guests have left.
@korenpublishers Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are chamber music, not a symphony. They are quiet time with God. We are reluctant to leave, and we dare think that He is reluctant to see us go. #Justice is universal, #love is particular.
@korenpublishers There are some things we share because we are #human. But there are other things, constitutive of our identity, that are uniquely ours - most importantly our relationships to those who form our family.
@korenpublishers On #Sukkot we are among strangers and friends. On #SheminiAtzeret and #SimchatTorah we are with family. #ChagSameach!
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