I so hear you on that. #ParshaChat

!!! That is an *intriguing* interpretation.

For me, a core theme of Yom Kippur is celebrating the fact that teshuva is possible and that sin never has to be the end of the story. And "answer" fits that a lot better than "afflict".

#ParshaChat

That’s another part of my guilt — that I can’t invite folks into my home. I may need to come up with a virtual sukkah of some sort. #ParshaChat

it's *really easy* for sukkah construction to become competitive--just as with other public holiday decorations, like for Halloween or Christmas.
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I really like when there's a sukkah hop. #ParshaChat

This is making me wonder if it could be worthwhile for professional and/or synagogue associations to develop some guidance and resources on this. Because it's a technical problem that presumably has a technical solution, and I think a *lot* of synagogues are in this position. #ParshaChat

I could do that! One year, pre pandemic, we had an LGBTQ day in the sukkah, welcoming in Jewish LGBTQ elders and ancestors, then colored pages from the SinsInvalid coloring book #ParshaChat

We were carrying a travel sukkah in its case through the airport, and someone was curious so I explained that it's for a fun Jewish holiday where we build a cool fort in the backyard and hang out in it for a few days. And that really is a lot of what Sukkot means to me. #ParshaChat

A2 Maybe encourage the practice of visiting different sukkahs the whole week of Sukkot? #ParshaChat

I didn't feel like you were judging - and I hope I didn't come off that way either. #ParshaChat

Another component that is important to me is that Sukkot is a time when we do things that are somewhat ad hoc and ridiculous and this is treated as something to celebrate rather than as a distraction.

And of thinking of Sukkot as a time to invite people in.
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That's a good point. I do think there are big individual *and* collective components, and part of the individual work of Yom Kippur is thinking about ourselves in relation to our part in communal responsibility. #ParshaChat

I imagine Sukkot as a tradition parallel to the Greek Eleusinian Mysteries of the Great Goddess, a tool for remembering how we lived before, and appreciating what we have now that our ancestors didn’t, and what they had that we don’t. #ParshaChat

And that should be the work we all engage in: making Judaism more inclusive and more available to more people. I'm the advocate for an adult with autism & developmental delays. He doesn't understand theology, but he knows he is a Jew. So, I try to find rituals he can participate in. #ParshaChat

not all are guilty, but all are responsible
#ParshaChat

except ISTM that a big point of YK is that we atone *collectively*, both Ashamnu and Al Cheyt are in the first person *plural*. it's what WE have done, not just what I have done
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This is making me think that, whether or not logistics make it possible for me to have a sukkah, I really would like to create more opportunities to make sukkah decorations.

I *really* like making those.
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I think it’s partly imagining WHY the sukkah is important, and then to imagine how else to represent in our experience that why and that memory or learning. #ParshaChat

I hope I didn't sound like I was judging. My mother (of blessed memory) couldn't fast. My husband can't either. But as I said, there are many ways to observe and to create rituals that are meaningful (and healthy) for you. #ParshaChat

Yes, and: I think patur *is* a concept we need, and that it doesn't always have to be a bad thing.

But in practice, it often lands as "it's ok, you don't really count, and it's ok that you don't really count because you don't have to count".

I don't want it to be like that!
#ParshaChat