Tribal Rituals

I have a deep connection to my Jewish roots. It's not just one tie, but appears in many levels. Although I am thoroughly American, I feel close to the Jewish Eastern European world of my grandparents. I look at the old photos and can place myself there--I see my face in theirs. As a student of Torah, I read the stories of the beginnings of my people, hear the teachings of our sages, and feel the link to them as I take their stories and interpretations as a base to find my own.

During this holiday season, the connection reaches further back into very ancient times, before Abraham and Sarah--before even Abram and Sarai--back to the first tribal wonderings of my people. For while there are many rituals that I believe have their roots in that time, none are more obvious that the rituals surrounding the holiday of Sukkot.

Each morning I take my lulav made up of a palm branch, 2 willow branches, and 3 myrtle branches; and my etrog, a citron, and join with others in the morning minyan shaking them in six directions - east, south, west, north, up, down. (For a good nuts and bolts explanation of the ritual, click here.) Before the end of the service, we all join in a processional, marching around the room chanting "Hoshana - Save Us" while the ark is opened and a Torah is taken out and held at the front.

The shaking of the lulav and etrog while reaching out to a direction and then bringing in towards my body evokes the same sort of viseral reaction I have when I wear my tefillin, but stronger. I literally feel the connection with my ancient ancestors--it vibrates within me. And marching with others reminds me of the need for community and the support that community brings. Our ancestors used these rituals to bind the community--a community they quite literally needed for survival. And for all our modernity--we need our community for survival as well.