Swords of Iron Day 1085: Sukkot Tears and Powerful Joy
I am home at the Sea of Galilee for the holiday, watching the brown of the dry season wait for the rain that turns everything green. Happy Sukkot. The eve of Tabernacles is here, and Sukkot in Israel this year carries both tears and joy in the same sukkah.
Four Species of Sukkot in Israel That Look Nothing Alike
I love the four traditional species of Sukkot. The willow, the myrtle, the lulav, which is the heart of the palm tree, and the etrog citron.
They look nothing like one another. We bind them together anyway and shake them toward heaven and earth, north, south, east and west.
After nearly three years of war, Israel has been shaken in exactly that way. Some of us are home for the holiday. Some are still in uniform tonight. We remain one bundle.
That is the whole point of holding four species that have nothing in common. You do not get to discard the one you like least.
Different Branches, One Nation
That is Israel. Jewish people arriving from dozens of countries, speaking dozens of first languages, holding wildly different politics, bound together anyway.
Sukkot in Israel is built for that. In the sukkah we welcome the stranger and the guest and anyone who walks past. It reminds me how God sustained Israel through the wilderness and how He sustains us now.
A sukkah has a roof you can see the stars through. That is not a design flaw. It is the reminder that our security was never really in the walls.
Netanyahu at the UN
I watched Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations.
He defended Israel, confronted what he called false genocide allegations, challenged Qatar’s manipulation and called for national unity.
Elections are approaching. I do not know whether people will recognize what is true or simply dismiss everything he says because of who said it. These are times of shaking, and Sukkot in Israel is exactly when we have to stand firm inside them.
Sukkot in Israel and the Long Walk Home
Sukkot also reminds me of aliyah, the journey out of Egypt and through the wilderness, and how God supernaturally provided for millions of people with no supply chain at all.
He sustained us then. He is sustaining us now. Celebrating Sukkot in Israel makes that feel less like history and more like a family story.
A Small Note About Support
This year I am beginning to place a link below these videos to support my work.
For three years I never did that. I think it is time. If you are able and willing, thank you. If not, keep watching and keep sharing, because that matters just as much.
And Yet We Mourn During Sukkot
Sukkot in Israel this year is not only joy. Even inside our sukkot, we grieve.
Two IDF reservists, Sergeant Major Nadav Khali from Har Halutz and Sergeant Major Ofek Moalem from Jerusalem, both serving in the 707th Battalion, paid the ultimate price in Gaza after an IDF drone detonated at their position.
I have risked my life for almost three years. When soldiers fall, and especially when they fall this way, it lands somewhere deep. We mourn with their families tonight.
Two families set a table this week with an empty chair at it, during the festival that is literally called the season of our joy. Hold them in your prayers by name.
Sukkot in Israel Means One Family in the Sukkah
So tonight, inside the sukkah, we gather as one family. We remember the people we have lost. We cry, we pray, and then we keep going, because that is what this nation does.
I am also thankful for people around the world celebrating with us, including those marking the Chinese Mid Autumn Festival alongside Sukkot. Thank you for watching, sharing, supporting and being part of this family.
From the Ends of the Earth
Jeremiah says it this way. O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth.
That is happening in front of me every year now.
Thank you for coming to Israel. Thank you for celebrating Sukkot in Israel with us. Chag Sukkot Sameach from the Galilee.
Watch the full update here: Swords of Iron Day 1085, Tears Of Sorrow And Joy In Tabernacles
