This Torah thought is dedicated in memory of those killed by a Hezbollah UAV near Binyamina last night and for the speedy recovery of all those injured.
Many heard the news yesterday while they were building their sukkah. During Sukkot, when we recite the Grace After Meals, we add, "May God raise for us the fallen sukkah of David." We ask God to restore the nation of Israel, which has fallen, and lift it up. This blessing is based on a prophecy from the prophet Amos, where God declares: "On that day I will raise up the fallen sukkah of David." But why compare us to a sukkah? Why not a house or a palace, or something else?
Our commentators explain that when a house falls, it is destroyed. You can’t restore it; you need to build a new one, and that takes a long time. A sukkah, by contrast, is flexible. It shudders in the wind, and storms knock it down, but it can always be reassembled – and it is the same with us. The sukkah symbolizes Jerusalem, the Temple, and the Jewish nation.
Rashi explains that this phrase is essentially our story – after all the exile, suffering and troubles, redemption, comfort, salvation and revival will come. This morning, we plead: “May God raise for us the fallen sukkah of David.”
