But it is perhaps on Succot more than on any other Jewish holiday that we rejoice even as we acknowledge the frailty of life. We move into makeshift huts as the weather turns cold, and we face uncertainty about whether the coming winter will be rainy enough to sustain us. Again and again, we call out to God: “Hosanna! Save us!” We read the Book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), all about the futility of human life and activity. Yet, remarkably, in our liturgy it is called z’man simchateinu – “the season of our joy,” and is considered the most joyous of Jewish holidays.5f:{"position":3,"content":"$60"} 61:{"position":4,"content":"Tomorrow, on Simchat Torah, this paradox will be heightened. We will celebrate having completed the Torah during the course of the year, yet we immediately undermine any sense of accomplishment by starting all over again. The party will be kicked into a higher gear as we dance with the Torah and celebrate the special relationship between God and the Jewish people, yet amid the revelry we will say Yizkor in memory of our departed loved ones. Later, the singing and dancing will be replaced by the solemn tones of Tefilat Geshem, the prayer for rain, as we begin petitioning God for a bountiful rainy season."} 62:{"position":5,"content":"A possible solution to this paradox can be found in a pastime that many Israelis engage in around this time of year. If the various kite festivals taking place around Israel this week are any evidence, Succot is also kite-flying season, and the kite offers an apt metaphor for the aspect of Succot that we are trying to understand."} 63:{"position":6,"content":"A kite is but a few pennies’ worth of paper and string. It spends its short life being beate

Celebrate Gilad’s return like there’s no tomorrow

No time of the year symbolizes the paradoxes of life better than Succot and Simchat Torah.