The primary motto of The Little Sisters of Joy is, as I have mentioned before,
'In the JOY of the Lord is your stronghold.'
Taken from the Book of Nehemiah, (Chapter 8, verse 10), in the Hebrew Bible, the context is a celebration of the newly constituted Jewish community, after they return from the Bablyonian exile. Ezra the scribe and Nehemiah have been instrumental in this: Nehemiah was granted permission by the Persian king, Ataterxes (Xerxes) whose cup-bearer he was, to return to Palestine after the destruction of the First Temple to 'rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.' How appropriate that is for the present day!
Nehemiah describes how the people start weeping with emotion when the Torah is read all day. What I did not realise until this week is that this all took place during the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the 3 'Foot' Festivals along with Passover and Pentecost. Foot Festivals becasue the people were making 'aliyah,' going up, that is a pilgrimage.
And the Feast of Tabernacles is still being celebrated today. The main focus is to remember how the Israelites were sojourners in the desert, leading to a more permanent place and the promised land. But if we read the book of Exodus carefully, we see that the promise of the Land contains a gentle warning: 'that you are sojourners in this land.' That is, temporary residents.
As we all are. As the New Testament states in the Book of Hebrews: 'there is no abiding city in this life.' The only real home is in the Divine, as I must remind myself, when Toronto starts feeling like the eternal city!
A makeshift shelter of beauty, that is what a Succoh, a booth on the Feast of Tabernacles is. But in our temporariness, our reliance on our love of God and each other, is a great JOY.
Love and Shalom and Chag Sameach, Happy Feast!
Sister Gila
1 comment:
I so agree, the Lord is the only one who is there for you always. Life is so transient. My son is mising off the coast of Cyprus, I need all the help I can get!
God bless, Barbara.
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