Having succumbed to idolatry so soon after the revelation at Sinai, the Jewish people have reached an all-time low. The tablets of the covenant lie decimated. Moses begs God for national forgiveness. While not dealing with it overtly, our reading is all about rehabilitation.

Moses is commanded to hew new tablets. They will be different. They will be human, unlike the first set that were written with “the finger of God”. Following this, the Jewish people are commanded to keep three pilgrim festivals — Pesach, Shavuot and Succot. It is as if they are the antidote to the crisis.

Pesach recalls the inception of our nation, with values of liberty and dignity at its core. Shavuot recalls the moment we became a covenantal nation at Sinai. Succot appears as a curve ball. How is sitting in a succah integral to collective Jewish identity?

A talmudic story presents the succah as the best vehicle for rehabilitation. In days to come people will approach God, asking for another chance at life. God responds by instructing them to build and dwell in succot. They immediately precede to build succot on the roofs of their houses. All is going well, until the hottest summer days. Unable to stand the heat, they leave the succot they have built, kicking them on the way.

What went wrong?

My grandfather Rabbi Maurice Lew wrote:” Their unworthiness consisted of the fact that they will build the succah on their roof tops away from the poor and the stranger, far removed from their neighbours. This kind of succah…constitutes a breach of every commandment of the Torah…Judaism puts the mark of emphasis on social responsibility, and the sharing of privileges with others.”

The philosophy accompanying constructing a temporary dwelling is the belief that all social privileges carry social responsibilities. Any nation looking to recalibrate their moral compass should use the symbolism of the succah as their starting-point.

As the Jewish people seek to pick up the pieces of their shattered tablets and lives, God gives them a new commandment: the festival of Succot. Pesach and Shavuot teach them about who they are, but Succot reminds them this alone is not enough. They need to look beyond themselves to create a society of giving.