The phrase “after the holidays” is well-known to all Israelis, whether religiously observant or not. It refers to the end of the three-week period between the onset of Rosh Hashanah and the conclusion of Simchat Torah. Outside of Israel, the phrase is only relevant for observant Jews, since this is not a holiday period in the general culture. A much larger percentage of American Jews do gear up for a holiday period in the Fall, but it is restricted to the High Holidays. Sukkot is simply not on the radar for most American Jews.
What I have said in the past about Shavuot is just as relevant concerning Sukkot, Judaism’s other week-long holiday (after Passover): There is not a single person living in the State of Israel who does not know when the holiday of Sukkot is celebrated, since the first day of the holiday (this year, October 7) is a national holiday (Simchat Torah, “The Eighth Day of Assembly,” is also a national holiday—this year October 14). Viewed from a certain perspective, one could say that the State of Israel facilitates Reform religious practice. Unlike Orthodoxy and Conservatism, which view practice as legal obligation, Reform does not.
Reform emphasizes the autonomy of the individual: one chooses what to do religiously based on personal commitment. Because Israel has a majority Jewish culture, Jewish tradition is readily accessible and even socially supported (as long as it does not involve synagogue attendance, which non-observant Israelis find intolerable). And so, it can happen that an Israeli may elect to skip Yom Kippur observance this year in favor of a long weekend in Florence, but next Yom Kippur that same person, finding themselves in Israel for Yom Kippur, might observe the day-long fast. Consider the situation, too, of a young Israeli couple who may spend one Friday night with family at a traditional Shabbat meal, and the next Friday night eating at a non-kosher Tel Aviv restaurant; or, similarly, they might spend this Sukkot eating in their parents’ succah, but last Sukkot (and this happened to me concerning my son and his family) they were wandering the hills of Napoli. To an Orthodox person, who views ritual observance through the lens of Jewish law, such practice is unfathomable: how can you do the right thing one week and sin the next? For Reform Judaism, it makes perfect sense: sometimes you feel like practicing and choose to practice, sometimes you do not.
Outside of Israel, since the majority culture is not Jewish, it’s more difficult to drop in and out of tradition. To access religious practice in the diaspora presupposes a certain amount of religious knowledge and commitment—which many non-observant Jews do not have. Take the holiday of Sukkot. You and your family are not observant, but you have received an invitation to eat with your cousin’s family in their succah at 7:00 p.m. on Monday night October 6. The cousin lives about an hour away from you. This first night of Sukkot is a school night for your small children, and the next day is a regular work-day for you. This is what I mean about Israel facilitating Reform practice. As opposed to the difficult decision facing you in the scenario I just described, in Israel, since the first night of Sukkot is a national-holiday night, it would be much easier for you to choose to accept that invitation. Good luck with your choices and have a Happy Sukkot Holiday!
TEDDY WEINBERGER is a contributing writer to Jlife magazine. He made aliyah with his family in 1997 from Miami, where he was an assistant professor of religious studies. Teddy and his wife, Sarah Jane Ross, have five children.
