Sukkoth: Symbolic versus authentic homelessness

By Rabbi Arik W. Ascherman on October 5, 2006 - י"ג תשרי תשס"ז

I need your help to honor a pledge. However, before I tell you what it is, let me explain myself by offering some thoughts about Sukkot.

Sukkot is a wonderful holiday. Evening after evening we sit (perhaps even sleep) in the Sukkah, enjoying holiday meals with friends and family. Perhaps we go hiking or camping, reconnecting with our ancestors who traveled through the desert with only the most basic and portable shelter. Farmers were content, having brought in their harvest. (Of course, we know that the olive harvest has just begun.) If we have done the spiritual work we needed to do leading up to Yom Kippur, we are at relative peace with ourselves and can enjoy our spiritual harvest, savoring our accomplishments and spiritual growth.

Even in the “Season of Our Joy” our sages decreed that we should read Ecclesiastes, introducing a somber note to our holiday. The fragile Sukkah reminds us of the fragility of life, and perhaps sensitizes us to the plight of others who do not enjoy the bounty we enjoy, or even the security of a roof over their heads. We are so wrapped up in our troubles here, that we spend very little time speaking about the refugees starving to death and being slaughtered in Darfur and those suffering around the globe.

Closer to home, who knows how many thousands of Lebanese are still homeless, while every night on our television screens we learn of another Israeli family in the north who still have no home to return to. There are still families evacuated from Gush Katif who are waiting for adequate housing solutions. The missiles continue to fall on Sderot, some of them creating new homeless.

Our tradition teaches us that the 7th day of Sukkot, Hoshanah Rabah, is a Yom Kippur katan, a minor Yom Kippur. If, by Yom Kippur we didn’t manage to reconcile ourselves with everybody we have wronged, the gates of teshuvah are still open and the sealed Book of Life has not yet been put back on the shelf.

When I think of our outstanding debts as an organization from the past year, I sadly realize there are still many. While not forgetting them, I am nevertheless able to remember “You are not obligated to complete the task, but neither are you free to abandon it.” I can both see what remains to be done and derive some satisfaction from what we have accomplished in terms of changing the State Budget, helping those caught up in the Israeli Wisconsin Plan and building national awareness of the faults of the program. I feel real hope when I think about those we have educated and challenged regarding Judaism and human rights (sometimes also Islam and Christianity). I know that because of us many Palestinian families have been able to work their land for the first time in 2, 5 or even 15 years. Our High Court victory will hopefully lead to even further gains. I know that many Jews have been inspired by a Judaism so different from the one that is dominant here and that through the “dialogue in the olive groves” the stereotypes of many Palestinians regarding Israelis have been broken down. I take pride in the recognition of our work, most notably this year by being awarded the Niwano Peace Prize.

However, there is still a huge debt hanging over me. The debt that is agonizing me is the fact that come November 15th the Municipality of Jerusalem will have 30 days to demolish the home of Ahmed Musa and Hanni? Dari, Musa (24),Samir (22), Samira (13), and little Yousef (6). Sufian is married and living in the two rooms in his uncle’s house where the entire family had been living. He too will be affected if the home is demolished. There are other homes also slated for demolition, but the Municipality is fiercely determined to

demolish this one. Yes, thousands of people around the globe know about the Dari family. Yes, hundreds of mainstream North American Jews who would never have believed that such things were possible in the Jewish State have personally met the Daris and are horrified by their plight. Yes, hundreds of concerned individuals, tens of rabbis have emailed, faxed and called the Municipality. Some of our local rabbis even sat in at the Mayor’s office, demanding a meeting. Yes, if I wanted to be entirely cold and calculating about it, the best thing that could happen in terms of our struggle against the policy of home demolitions would be for the Municipality to succeed in demolishing the home. However, we are speaking about a family. I know what the demolition will do to Ahmed Musa, Hanan, Sufian, Musa, Samir, Samira and Yousef I can not say “It is not for you to complete the task” because I do not believe that we have done everything possible to save the Dari home. Taking my own advice over the Ten Days of Teshuvah between Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur in terms of trying to achieve clarity about how we do a better job of Tikkun Olam in the coming year, I keep coming back to this family. For all of the letters and calls that have been made, for all of the determination of the Municipality to demolish this home, I absolutely believe that if everybody who reads this Dvar Torah were to pick up the phone the day after Simkhat Torah and call the Municipality that it would not make a difference. Therefore, although I know that for some of you I sound like a broken record, I am asking you for the sake of my peace of mind, even if you don’t see what good it will do, to make that phone call or write that letter. The background information is again at the end of this email. If I have not succeeded in convincing you that this is a worthy issue or that there is a point in what I am asking you to do, give me a call or write me an email.

On Monday October 9, 2006 at 18:00 Mayor Lupolianski will hold his annual reception in the Sukkah at Kikar Safra. We will hold our annual vigil starting at 17:30. Please join us as we remind the Mayor and his guests that as of November 15th, the Mayor’s policies will put the Dari family the Hamad family and many others out of their homes.

As you sit in your sukkah this holiday, and as the wind causes your sukkah to sway, please remember that on Sukkot we dwell outside our homes for 7 days. The policy of home demolitions makes people homeless all year round. As Hoshanah Rabbah approaches, let us be able to say that we have or will do everything in our power to prevent the demolition of the Dari home. Knowing that you have taken a few minutes to do this will allow me to enjoy this holiday.

Khag Sameakh

Rabbis for Human Rights recommends that you read these articles in Housing Rights

Darkness has struck again - December 11th, 2006
Sukkoth: Symbolic versus authentic homelessness - October 5th, 2006
Succot has Universal Meaning - October 4th, 2006
Wanted: People to adopt people from disaster afflicted areas - August 11th, 2006
RHR rabbis and volunteers visit the bomb-shelters in Qiriat Bialik - August 3rd, 2006
Jerusalem Mayor announces intention to demolish home - July 28th, 2006
Rabbi convicted for blocking demolition - March 23rd, 2005
Preventing Home Demolitions - March 22nd, 2005
Protect Housing Rights: Act against discrimination in matters relating to land, development and housing construction. - April 16th, 2003
There Is A Kippah In The Rubble - April 15th, 2003

Rabbis for Human Rights recommends that you read these articles in Sukkoth

Sukkoth: Symbolic versus authentic homelessness - October 5th, 2006
Succot has Universal Meaning - October 4th, 2006
Sukkoth: Peace, justice, involvement and caring for all people - October 10th, 2005

Categories: Housing Rights, Sukkoth
Tags: Bo, court, ease, human rights, ISM, palestinians, peace, settlers