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The Cantor's Voice
October 2005

I was sitting at a pizza joint sipping a soda when the power went out. "Uh, oh," I thought to myself. I looked around Ventura Blvd and could see that all the businesses had lost lights. Traffic was oh so slowly progressing through the intersection at Ventura and Van Nuys, horns were blaring, and clearly nerves were being rattled and patience tested. We were all on our own.

Sukkot takes us back to a place before electrical power, a simple place, where it's just us and nature. Our homes are temporary, our food isn't quite as hot as it might be since we need to bring it outside to consume. As the weather cools throughout the evening, we actually notice that it is getting cold, something that might not be apparent if we're inside our comfortable homes.

After the magnificent Yamim Noraim, where we stand before God in a beautiful venue and pray that we be inscribed for another year of life, we are forced to confront life's uncertainties at Sukkot. This is a good thing. For if we're always eating hot pizza and drinking icy-cold sodas, we can easily lose touch with the realities of the universe. Life poses challenges, some overwhelming (think Katrina) and some not as challenging (an hour and a half of zero electrical power.)

Please join us as we celebrate Sukkot at Kehillat Ma'arav this year -- a holiday for all the senses -- touch (lulav), taste (etrog marmalade), smell (myrtle leaves), sight (Hoshanot) and sound (festival songs and prayers>. I look forward to greeting you and your family.

Hag Sameach

Keith Miller
Hazzan
Director of Education