The Roof That Hides the Stars: Why We Need the Sukkah

[music] In 1994, the earth shook in Los Angeles and the entire city plunged into darkness. And that same night, people called the emergency hotline to report something strange. A huge and frightening light stretched across the sky. They didn't know what it was. It was the Milky Way. They simply had never seen it. Because according to a world atlas of light pollution, 83% of the world's population lives under skies covered by artificial light. A third of humanity can't see the Milky Way. [music] And in Israel, 98% of residents can't see it from home. The stars haven't gone out. They are there just as they were. We covered them up. And notice what covered them. Not darkness. Light. The light we built [music] to make life comfortable and safe is exactly what hides what is above us. And in one country, [music] the sky is so bright that the eye isn't even able to adapt to the night. The roof [music] built to protect is the roof that hid. Friends, our lives are also illuminated all the time. Screens, notifications, a glow that never goes out. We built this for good [music] reasons. And somewhere along the way, the sky disappeared and we didn't notice cuz nothing looked dark. And it [music] is precisely about this that mymonities and the chanaroo ruled a surprising judgment regarding the suka. The way of the covering is to be light so that the large stars can be seen through it. And the Mishna adds, "A suka that is covered like a house and the stars [music] are not visible from within it is valid." Valid, but that is not the way. And the Jerusalem Talmud specifically deduced this from the words even though. From here it follows that the stars must be visible from within it. Seven days a year we are commanded to live under a roof that was [music] intentionally built incomplete. Not because we don't have the means to build a complete roof. On the contrary, because a complete roof is [music] exactly what we live under all year round. That is exactly the secret of the scotch. The suka's covering is not a weak house. It is a [music] house designed with an opening in the right place. The gaps between the branches are not a flaw. They're the [music] goal. For 7 days, we lift our heads through an incomplete [music] roof and see what covers the rest of the year. Faith is not about living without a roof. Faith is about leaving [music] an opening in it, knowing that the comfort we've built can be perfectly kosher and still hide the sky. And that once a year, we need a roof that forces us to look up. So, when we sit in the suka and lift our heads and look for a star between the branches, let's pause. Let's not rush back to the light. Let's leave the roof incomplete for a moment and discover that the sky was there all year long, waiting for us to turn down the lights enough to see it. >> [music]