Day 106 of the Journey - Garner, NC

Being the first day of Sukkot, we went to services at Chabad of Raleigh.  For my readers who are unfamiliar, this is a holiday where we are commanded to live in huts (sukkahs) for 8 days.  These are temporary dwellings, constructed of walls (usually made of tarps) with roofs made of bamboo or other natural materials that provide shade but let the light and elements in.  There are many reasons for this: 1) to remember this is how our ancestors lived for 40 years in the desert; 2) to remind us that our lives are transient and nothing is really permanent; and 3) that although we are completely exposed while living in our sukkahs, God protects us constantly.  It is a very spiritual holiday which tests our faith. 

When we lived in NJ, we built our own sukkah.  This is the first time we have not done so, and this is the first time so far that we are truly feeling sad and missing something from our previous lifestyle.  But fortunately, we are in an area where there are 2 synagogues with sukkahs, so at least we can visit there, even if we can't dwell in it every day.  And we learned today that there are pop-up sukkahs, so there may even be an option for us to explore next year.

It was a delightful synagogue holiday service and we also discovered that they have a space adjacent to their parking lot where we can park our RV over Shabbat (and in fact were invited to do so).  Personally, we like the Cary congregation a little better, but we shall see how events unfold.  Currently, we are 20 miles away from Cary.