Sally Klein-Katz teaches Jewish Education at HUC-JIR and answered our question: If you could invite one person, living or dead, to be your Ushpiz (guest) in your sukkah, who would it be and why? Enjoy!

I would like to invite into my Sukka Miriam the Prophetess, the first woman in the Tanach to have this title.  With only 4 references in the Torah, Miriam still plays a significant role in the Exodus drama that forms the basis of the birth of Am Yisrael.  As a little girl, she demonstrated quick thinking, resourcefulness and responsibility; which lead to Moshe being raised for the first few years by his own mother! [Exodus 2:1–10]  Immediately following the crossing of the Sea of Reeds, Miriam leads the joyful celebration and prayers of thanksgiving. [Exodus 15:20–21]  As a woman/older sister, her human side taught us all the lesson of the disease of jealousy and Lashon HaRa [Numbers 12:1–6]; and following her punishment she is not heard from again until mention of her death. And then we also learn that at Miriam’s death, the waters in the desert dried up; linking these two major events. [(Numbers 20:1]

Miriam did not enter the Promised Land, and just like her two brothers, Moshe and Aharon, Miriam was buried in the wilderness. Miriam the Prophetess was the female leader of our people, leading us out of Egypt to a difficult and scary transformation. [“I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.” Micah 6:4]

Miriam the Prophetess demonstrated faith, courage, intuition, creativity, quick thinking, ability to act and a capacity for joy.  As with the other heroes of the Tanach, Miriam’s strengths and weaknesses were preserved for us to learn and be inspired

So I would like to (and did) invite Miriam the Prophetess into our Sukka, as I want to learn more from this amazing woman leader!  Just as I invite Miriam every year to our Seder table, and place a glass of water (the sustenance of life) on our Seder table in her name.

Dear devoted readers,

We hope you’ve been enjoying this special Sukkot project. It’s been great for us being able to talk to our faculty, staff, and Haim, and getting to hear their stories. We would now like to extend our invitation to you to step into our sukkah, and share your stories.

So now it’s your turn to answer the following question: If you could invite one person, living or dead, to be your Ushpiz (guest) in your sukkah, who would it be and why?

Answers can be in any form (video, text, audio, photo, etc.) and can be submitted at http://mollyandbessonmoshehess.com/submit.

We look forward to meeting your Ushpizin!

Molly and Bess on Moshe Hess

Guest blogger and professor, David Levine, shares his answer to our question: If you could invite one person, living or dead, to be your Ushpiz (guest) in your sukkah, who would it be and why?

“I’d have to split my answer into several parts:

1. A few guests from the 12th century Tosafist Academy of Rabbeinu Tam in the town of Ramerupt in Nothern France. The grandson of Rashi together with his student R. Isaac of Dampierre redefined halakhic thought. During these decades they developed a new approach to the talmudic text, expecting all talmudic sugyot (discussions) to be harmonious and conceptually consistent. In order to make this happen, new understandings and categories had to be discovered and invented. The theory and practice of Halakhah were transformed.

2. Reb Simcha Bunim and his circle from the Polish town of Przyzucha (pronounced Peshischa). This Hasidic rabbi had traveled some of Europe’s urban centers and supported himself and his family as a pharmacist. He developed an inner-hasidic critique of the prevalent routine and stock-pile expressions of Jewish religiosity. He combined psychological insight with intellectual rigor in a desire to encourage personal paths of spiritual expression for his students. Menahem Mendel of Kotsk was one of these students. This expression had a down-to-earth quality but was likewise engaged with the deepest recesses of spiritual yearning. Simcha Bunim’s ‘quest for authenticity’ was thought-provoking and mesmerizing.

3. Last but not least…Deep Purple, with an up-close look at Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar prowess (not the geriatric images of yesteryear Rock stars that are rampant these days).

Imagine a Sukkah with all this…”

The Project: Invite members of the HUC Community (faculty, staff, and Haim) into our virtual sukkah found at mollyandbessonmoshehess.tumblr.com as our Ushpizin (guests).  We asked each of our guests to answer one question - If you could invite one person, living or dead, to be your Ushpiz (guest) in your sukkah who would it be and why?

For the next 7 days we will be posting video and/or written answers to this question from our guests.

Learn more about the Festival of Sukkot and the tradition of Ushpizin here.