Sukkot reminds us we can be vulnerable without falling

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(RNS) — During the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, often referred to as Tabernacles, Jews the world over will be sitting and supping, as their recent forebears and distant ancestors did during the holiday, in makeshift huts defined by their roofs of thatch, bamboo or unfinished wooden slats.

And in many of those huts, called sukkot in the plural, hence the name of the holiday, a poem composed by Yiddish writer Avraham Reisen at the turn of the 20th century will be sung. No one knows who composed the plaintive, moving music to which the poem is set, but the combination of the melody and lyrics has brought tears to many Jewish eyes. And these days, the poem’s message is particularly poignant.

The poem was titled by its author “In Sukkah,” but the song that adopted it is commonly known as “A Sukkeleh,” which translates as “a modest sukkah.”

Years ago, I attempted an English translation of the poem. My rendering is not perfectly literal. But it’s close, and it is faithful to the rhyme scheme and meter of the original:

A sukkaleh, quite small,

Wooden planks for each wall;

Lovingly I stood…