The Torah portion being read today, Emor, is a very important section that could also be thought of as the first Jewish calendar. It’s the first time in the Torah where all of the holidays and their dates are discussed together.  Emor starts off with god telling the Israelites that each week they should work for six days and observe Shabbat on the seventh. God then says to the Israelites that the fifteenth day of the first month they should celebrate Passover by not eating leavened bread for 7 days. Shavuot happens after Passover, and commemorates god giving the ten commandments to the Jewish people. The next holiday we hear about is Rosh Hashanah, which is observed with complete rest and seven loud blasts of the shofar. After Rosh Hashanah is Yom Kippur during which you should reflect on your choices and atone. Five days after Yom Kippur comes the week-long feast of booths, or sukkot.  Sukkot is the holiday that we’re currently celebrating. This is the only holiday where we‘re commanded to rejoice, and it’s usually celebrated in a Sukkah as a reminder of our Jewish ancestor’s journeys. God gives us the fixed and appointed times for all of these holidays, but, God leaves it up to us to make them holy by observing and celebrating them. Take note here. It’s not God that makes our holidays sacred… we do!

Let me ask you a question. One we’ve probably all heard! If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody hears it, does it even make a sound? Let me ask you this: If  God has a date for a holiday, but we don’t celebrate it or make it holy, does this holiday ever really happen? I think this is why it’s key that we work to make important moments special… Otherwise, what’s the point in experiencing them? Let’s take the current holiday, or Sukkot as an example. In my family, it’s a  tradition that we always put up a sukkah in our backyard, and at least in pre-pandemic times, we would always invite family and friends to spend time with us in it. This is what makes the holiday special for our family… It’s hard to imagine sukkot coming around without us observing the holiday like this— it's one of our fixed and most cherished traditions. And to put it back in Torah’s terms, by observing this holiday, we’re making it holy!

This idea of us being the ones responsible for making experiences special can really be applied to anything and everything in our lives. Consider our current pandemic situation...Many of us have had a hard time distinguishing the days from each other as we’re spending all of them at home, yet we’ve learned that the time doesn’t pass unless we do something to make each day different or special.  From waking up early to see the sunrise to going on long bike rides or having socially distanced visits with friends and family, I’ve prioritized making every day a little different. While we’re stuck in these uncertain times, we all have the ability to make these days count; let’s use it!!

So what about that tree. If I were to ask you this question right now, you’d probably say, logically that yes, that tree did make a sound--even if nobody heard it. But, the Torah answers this question a little bit differently. If there’s a set date for a holiday, yet nobody celebrates or makes it sacred, this holiday does not technically happen. 

What, then, can we take from this? Yes, of course to celebrate our jewish holidays, but we don’t need to only apply it to Judaism!! We can really apply it to any and every important event that we experience. So, next time you encounter a moment, think about what you’ll do to make it special.

About the Author: Talia is a currently an 8th grader who had her Bat Mitzvah this year. Her favorite food during Chanukah are latkes! Talia and her family belong to North Shore Congretion Israel in Glencoe.