Shabbat Chol Moed Sukkot
Neal Katz has written (Voices of Torah 10/16/16) about the text of a prayer we say each evening at the Ma’ariv service, Haskiveinu. In it, we praise God for watching over us as we lie down for the evening by spreading over us a sukkah, or shelter, of peace. The prayer ends with the words, “whose shelter of peace is spread over us.”
Along with Katz, I’ve always found that image quite beautiful. (It’s a reason why one of our treasured sukkah decorations is a wooden bird with broad wings.) It is, of course, something of a strange metaphor, since a sukkah is a flimsy, temporary structure, and we should hope (or pray) for a more permanent kind of peace
As we know too well, peace is often temporary and flimsy, and vulnerable to sudden loss. Katz suggests that the peace we pray for daily acknowledges that peace is indeed fragile. If we seek a more permanent peace, we cannot simply rely upon God to provide it; we need to work for it ourselves.
Therefore, when we pray for God’s protection, we do so with the understanding that we need to be God’s partners in seeking peace within our families, our communities, our People Israel, in our nation, and in the world.
