Oct 2nd 2009, 00:00

Think about the lengths advertisers go to in order to grab our attention while we are in our cars. Towering signs, massive billboards, flashing lights, catchy phrases, and tunes that get stuck in our heads – all these and more are used by companies to rise above the fray, to clear through the static, to set themselves apart from the pack. In our cars, we have tunnel vision, especially if we are driving. For safety sake, we should be paying attention to the road, but as we all know, there are many distractions from food to music, cell phones to yelling children. In the cocoon we call our cars, we are isolated and insolated from the world around us. Contrast riding in the car to taking a walk. Using our own power for propulsion, we have lots and lots of time to take in our surroundings. We can stop and smell the flowers, we can meet and talk with the neighbors, we can see details that otherwise blur by when in a car. When taking a walk, time itself slows down, life slows down, and your relationship with your surroundings is much different. In ancient days, our people would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year to bring their offerings to God at the Holy Temple. In the fall, they would bring the bounty of their crops, the first and choicest of fruits, and dedicate them as a sign of their devotion and gratitude. Now wandering through the wilderness, there was probably not much to look at, but the fact that people traveled on foot forced them to take in nature and the natural world much more than we do today. The Pilgrimage Festival of Sukkot begins tonight. We remember and recreate the experience of the Israelites who wandered through the desert having fled from the slavery of Egypt on their way to Mt. Sinai and the Promised Land. For them, being exposed to nature was difficult and dangerous, and so they built huts to shelter them from the heat of the sun and the storms that came as well. I am sure they had a much deeper appreciation for nature than we do today. We see nature as something we can or should be able to control. When nature affects humanity in the form of earthquakes, hurricanes, or floods, we are shocked and surprised. Instead of having an appreciation for nature, we have disdain for it. Our Festival of Sukkot reminds us of the power of nature and the natural world. It forces us to have an appreciation for the world in which we live and is a stark reminder that we are a part of that world. We are not outside of it controlling it like a puppet. Sukkot reminds us of our vulnerabilities as human beings and is a great big billboard and flashing sign calling us to slow down and take in a little more of the details – meet the neighbors, smell the flowers, breathe in the air, use your own power to get from here to there. In short, go take a hike once in a while! Tonight at Temple is our Sukkot dairy potluck dinner at 6:30 PM followed by our Sukkot Family Service at 7:30 PM. As always, if you cannot be here in person, you can watch the service live on the Internet at www.templebethtikvah.com (click on Live Services). Tomorrow, Religious School, Torah Study, and the Shabbat Morning service tomorrow as usual at which time Jacob Golumbic will be called to the Torah as a bar mitzvah. Mazal tov to Jacob and his entire family.