How We Increase our Joy: From Scarcity to Abundance

By Cantor Melanie Cooperman

This Shabbat we begin to celebrate Sukkot — our harvest festival, a season the Torah commands us to mark with joy. V'samachta b'chagecha — "you shall rejoice in your festival" — we build our sukkot, gather the lulav and etrog, and give thanks for abundance. 

But, how do we rejoice fully when we know that right here in Westchester, so many of our neighbors go without enough to eat? Right here in Westchester, 39% of households are struggling to put food on their tables—the rising cost of living, food prices, and enormous cuts to federal safety net programs are impacting Westchester residents. And, it’s difficult for us to reconcile a sukkot — a harvest festival of plenty — with the reality of the need in our backyards.

But, Sukkot as a holiday really asks that we look deeply at our own vulnerability. The sukkah itself is a fragile structure, open to the sky, reminding us of the thin line between abundance and scarcity. Sitting inside it, we're meant to feel that fragility, we’re meant to experience the wind, rain or whatever else the season brings.

We're also told to invite guests into our sukkot — not just family and good friends, but also ushpizin (guests). I think about what that means in a place like Westchester, where so much abundance sits so close to so much need. If our abundance overflows, it must reach further than our own table.



And, that's exactly how our community responded — with overflowing abundance. Over the High Holidays, CSR ran a food drive for Feeding Westchester, and 2,398 pounds of food were collected for those in need — enough to help create roughly 1,998 meals for our neighbors facing hunger. And the work continues: on Mitzvah Mondays, our CSR teens will pack donated food items for distribution to children in need, in partnership with Lifting Up Westchester. Extending beyond Westchester but still addressing food insecurity, Women of CSR have decided that tzedakah from Sushi Under the Stars will go to World Central Kitchen.

This is what it looks like to increase our joy by sharing our abundance. By sharing what we have with loved ones, with community, with those in need, we increase our own joy — which is what this holiday commands of us.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,

Cantor Melanie Cooperman