Torrential rains have fallen across the New York City area in the leadup to Sukkot, the Jewish holiday that is observed outdoors. (Philissa Cramer)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Vogel, and many of the other millions of Jews in the tristate area, have been coping with the reality that Succot, the most outdoor holiday on the Jewish calendar, has coincided with heavy rains that have flooded highways, shut down subway lines and triggered a state of emergency in New York City. More than 8 inches of rain had fallen at John F. Kennedy airport by Friday afternoon, and more is expected into Saturday.<\/p>\n
New Yorkers should expect heavy rain and flooding to continue throughout the night tonight,\u201d Gov. Kathy Hochul posted on social media on Friday afternoon. \u201cTo our Jewish neighbors celebrating the beginning of Sukkot, please take steps to stay safe during this severe weather event.\u201d<\/p>\n
Succot begins Friday night, and on the weeklong holiday, Jews traditionally eat their meals and even sleep in the succah, an outdoor hut with a roof generally made from tree branches that recalls the Israelites\u2019 biblical sojourn in the desert and emphasizes the need for divine protection.<\/p>\n
But rain makes those observances close to impossible \u2014 leading most would-be succah-dwellers in New York to accept that they\u2019ll be eating indoors on the holiday\u2019s first night, and sparking a wide variety of theological and practical responses from rabbis and rank-and-file Jews alike. For others, it has complicated travel plans hours before the holiday\u2019s start, backing up traffic and making the subway especially hard to navigate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI once heard that if it rains on [the] first night of sukkoth, it\u2019s some sort of sign that God is displeased with us,\u201d Linda Gisselle Roth, who splits her time between New York City and Connecticut, wrote on Facebook on Friday. \u201cAnd it\u2019s been raining for days. And I\u2019ve never felt like this before.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added, \u201cI want to spend [the] first night of sukkoth, in my sukkah. So for right now, I\u2019m asking, please let the rain stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the rainy season in Israel traditionally begins right after Succot, rain is a common occurrence on the holiday in the United States and even inspired the title of a children\u2019s book from the 1990s, \u201cWhy Does It Always Rain on Sukkot?\u201d<\/p>\n
Observant Jews have varying customs when it comes to dealing with rain on the holiday. Many avoid their succah entirely, while others will quickly recite blessings over wine and challah in the succah and then eat the rest of the meal indoors. Adherents of Chabad, the Hasidic movement based in Crown Heights, try to eat in the succah under nearly all circumstances.<\/p>\n
One resident of Teaneck, New Jersey, a heavily Jewish suburb, posted a single-spaced, two-page guide from his local rabbi on what to do if it rains on the holiday. (The rabbi, who is not named in the document, recommends saying blessings over wine and challah in the sukkah and then continuing the meal inside.)<\/p>\n
Rabbis on social media, meanwhile, explored the theological dimensions of the weather. Some cited a passage from the Mishnah, the ancient code of rabbinic law, that compares rain on Succot, following the effort of building a succah, to a servant bringing his master a jug of wine, only for the master to throw water back in the servant\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
\u201cNasty weather on sukkot is a sign of God\u2019s displeasure with us,\u201d Rabbi Ysoscher Katz, who teaches at the liberal Orthodox Yeshivat Chovevei Torah seminary, wrote on Facebook. Then, referencing the recent High Holidays and addressing God, he wrote, \u201cIf all we did the last few weeks is not good enough for You, what\u2019s left for us to say?! We did the best we can. If You want more, You will have to let us know what that more is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabbi Ethan Tucker, the president of the Hadar Institute, an egalitarian center of Jewish study based in Manhattan, also cited the passage and encouraged people to focus on the experience of the servant in the parable. He added that because the first day of the holiday falls on Shabbat, the other central commandment associated with Succot, praying with four species of plants, is also deferred a day. (Sunday is expected to be sunny.)<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it *feel like* when you have prepared for something and then you cannot execute it as planned?\u201d he wrote on Facebook. \u201cIt feels like rejection, as in the parable. The weather may in fact just be the weather, but it doesn\u2019t necessarily make the feeling of loss less palpable. Is there a way to make this Sukkah rainout an opportunity to sit with rejection? To empathize with other such experiences, even if they are not our own?\u201d<\/p>\n
Some New Yorkers tried to stay positive. \u201cIt might be flooding and we might consume a lot of rain water with our food lol but Sukkot Dinner under the Stars is still on even if we might end up eating indoors under a roof instead!\u201d a Facebook user from Queens posted on Friday, advertising a meal that night.<\/p>\n
Nina Jochnowitz, a State Senate candidate in New Jersey, cited the rabbinic idea that Succot is considered a time of joy, and referenced a Hasidic saying that \u201c\u2018joy breaks all boundaries,\u2019 transforming even the most negative occurrences into blessings!\u201d<\/p>\n
And others reached for seasonal parallels: \u201cIf only sukkot came with rain dates like baseball,\u201d one person posted.<\/p>\n
For Vogel, the travel writer and Riverdale resident, the rain was especially unfortunate, as he has built a smaller succah in recent years to limit capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the first year he had gone back to building a larger one.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I was looking forward to eating in a large sukkah this year with friends and family,\u201d he told the New York Jewish Week. \u201cBut we can\u2019t control the weather, so we will make the best of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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