The Charlotte Jewish News- September 2026- Page 25
From the Bimah
Sharing Sukkot: Celebrating a Year of Opening Our Doors
By Rabbi Lexi Erdheim
The sukkah is Judaism’ s great invitation. Unlike our homes, it has no real front door to close behind us. Its walls are open, its roof is porous, and it is designed to welcome people in to share a
Temple Beth El congregants celebrate Sukkot
meal, conversation, and the joy of the holiday. Within the three walls of a sukkah, we feel connected to one another over food, over meaningful conversation, and over time spent away from the rigid structures and routines of everyday life. The sukkah is a tool of connection, deepening long-standing relationships
by Rabbi Rachael Bregman
This will be my first High Holy Days in Charlotte. Last fall, I moved here to give my child new educational opportunities. During last year’ s High Holy Days, I found myself moving back and forth between the while creating opportunities to meet new people, hear unfamiliar perspectives, and see one another in a different light.
The sukkah feels like a home. At the same time, it reminds us the walls we build around ourselves throughout the rest of the year are ultimately fragile and can too easily become barriers to the relationships that sustain us. We are not meant to isolate ourselves from one another, but rather to sit down, face to face, and connect with our neighbors, our friends, and even with strangers.
community I was leaving and the one I was just beginning to call home. It was an emotional season.
Over the past year, I have come to terms with the many losses that accompanied leaving a beloved community behind. I
Sukkot perfectly captures the spirit of Temple Beth El’ s Share Shabbat initiative, an effort to extend the warmth and connection embodied in the practice of Shabbat into the wider Charlotte community. At a moment when
rising antisemitism and increasing polarization too often pull us toward isolated echo chambers, choosing disengagement over connection and judgment over curiosity, Share Shabbat has inspired our community to welcome more than 500 non-Jewish neighbors, colleagues, and friends into Jewish life through
still miss my friends and the people with whom I fought to make our little part of the planet a better place to live. What has been remarkable to me is that those relationships did not disappear. They evolved. The memories of who I have been and what we shared continue to sustain me as I begin building a new life far from the community I once called home.
This is the magic of the High Holy Days. We are invited to reflect on the year behind us and consider who we have become. As you take stock of the past year, know that the High Holiday liturgy will ask you, time and again, who you have been. But above all, it asks one enduring question: How did you use your words to create the world in which you live? Words make worlds. It is the fundamental premise of the story of creation. Genesis chapter one includes 10 references to the words“ God says” to bring existence into being. And we are created in that divine image. shared meals, meaningful conversations, and authentic relationships.
This Sukkot, we will celebrate the many ways our community has responded to this moment not by closing our doors, but by opening them. Through Shabbat tables, synagogue tours, shared worship, and honest conversation, we have chosen relationship over retreat.
To mark this milestone, we invite everyone to join us for a special Share Sukkot Shabbat lunch in Temple Beth El’ s sukkah on Saturday, Sept. 26, at noon If you’ ve participated in Share Shabbat by hosting a dinner, bringing a friend to services, or inviting a group to tour the synagogue, we hope you’ ll join us for this celebratory and reflective Sukkot gathering.
Share Sukkot marks the conclusion of our inaugural year, but it is also the beginning of the next chapter. Share Shabbat has never been about a single program or event. It is about cultivating a spirit of hospitality, opening the doors of our homes and our synagogue, sharing the richness of Jewish tradition, and learning about the values, customs, and beliefs of our friends and neighbors. The relationships formed around our Shabbat tables should continue to grow
The Words That Shape Our World
The Ruach Community band blends Jewish tradition with spirited music.
Our words matter. Think of the words that have wounded you, both personally and collectively. Now, recall a moment when someone simply said,“ I am here for you.” A few words, spoken with compassion, can change everything. As we prepare for the High Holy Days, how will you use your words? Where can you be kinder, gentler or more honest? Where might listening matter more than speaking? And where can you speak less, but say more?
Beautifully, our tradition calls us to grow year after year, both as individuals and as a community. The High Holiday liturgy reflects that balance, moving between prayers in the first-person singular and the first-person plural. We say,“ I have sinned. I want to do better,” alongside,“ We have erred. We want to transform.”
As you prepare for the High Holy Days, what story does the past year tell? What were its joys? Its disappointments? What remained constant within long after this celebration has ended.
The sukkah reminds us that while the walls we build may be temporary, the relationships we build within them can endure. As we gather together this Sukkot, may we continue the work of opening our tables, our hearts, and our community. In a world that too often encourages us to pull apart, may we keep choosing the simple, sacred act of sitting down together, one invitation, one conversation, and one shared meal at a time.
To learn more or register for Share Sukkot on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 12.00 p. m., please visit www. templebethel. org( Calendar)( Sept. 26) and click on the link for Share Shabbat Sukkot Celebration. If you haven’ t participated in Share Shabbat yet, this is your moment. Bring a non-Jewish friend, neighbor, or colleague and join us beneath the sukkah for lunch, conversation, and community.
you, and what changed around you? Who supported you when you needed strength? For whom were you a steady presence? Were you generous with your time, talents and resources? Did you spend more time with people or with screens? When you fell short, did you make amends with those you hurt? And did you make the changes necessary to avoid repeating those mistakes?
As we enter this season, I invite you to reflect on the year behind you. Celebrate its joys and hold its challenges with grace. Let love guide your journey. And remember that you are part of a community that stretches across generations, united in the sacred work of looking inward and striving to become the very best versions of ourselves.