If you’ve ever been a kid, you know that if you are looking for a nice peaceful, pleasant existence, you probably won’t find it in a career in substitute teaching. There are some great subs out there, but it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. So when I was asked to fill in and teach a middle school class right before the holiday of Sukkos, I was determined to make it a hands-on experience that would hopefully (with Divine Intervention factored in!) make it an exciting morning. And that’s how we ended up in the woods.

During the holiday of Sukkos we eat, drink, sleep and socialize in the Sukkah; reminding ourselves of our incredible faith in Hashem so many years ago, when we followed Him through the “midbar,” often translated as “desert,” trusting in His ability to protect us from all harm. The “midbar” is also translated to mean wilderness- a place where safety is certainly no guarantee; but we relied on Hashem and He brought us through.

The girls followed me into the woods surrounding the shingle creek trail- and we steadily left the trail, making our way deeper into the woods to an isolated clearing. Once we were deep in, with no trail markers to guide us, we stood around trying to imagine what faith it would take to feel safe enough to just settle down and sleep there. This was a few moments of imagining and trying to connect to the simple faith a Jew has; that Hashem was is and always will be there for us every step of the way

On Sukkos we take that power of imagination about 100 steps further. We disregard our illusion of control; the alarm systems, triple locks on the front door, the indoor a/c, and say “Hashem, its just You and me. And I trust you to keep me safe, even in a flimsy-ish hut, with no roof, no locks, no nothing.” We do this for 8 days straight- rekindling the intimate relationship we share, and reminding ourselves of our ability to tune into that simple faith in an incredible outdoor date with our Creator.

Wishing you a happy, special Sukkos and many moments where you get to tune in to the message of the sukkah, as we get reminded of Who our greatest security system is, indoors and outdoors alike,

Leora Estersohn