26/09/2026
During Sukkot, Jews enter impermanent structures called sukkot that symbolize the fragile tents Israelites lived in during their 40-year journey through the desert. For seven days, Jews step outside the solid walls of the home and into a simple structure to remember this wandering in the wilderness and to celebrate the harvest. There is something deeply humbling about this tradition: it asks us to become more vulnerable to the elements and to the seasons, and to remember our place in the wider world. It reminds us that we shouldn’t take shelter and safety for granted.
Across this land, there are those who lack shelter and who don’t know when they will be able to have a safe home. Families in Gaza are living in tents because their structures and neighborhoods have been destroyed, with no certainty that they will have anywhere to return to. In the occupied West Bank, entire Palestinian communities face settler violence as well as demolitions and displacement from the homes and land that they call home.
May this Sukkot remind us that our safety cannot be separated from the safety of those around us, and that no true security can depend on someone else being homeless, displaced, or afraid. Jewish safety and Palestinian safety are not opposed – they are inextricably linked.
May everyone on this land be able to live without fear, beneath a roof that protects them, in a home they know will still be there tomorrow. And may this holiday deepen our commitment to the shared safety, dignity, freedom, and belonging of all who live on this land.
