THE WEDDING CANOPY ON SUKKOT

In checking out the tabernacles week and weddings, I came across the following, from a Jewish viewpoint.....in this festival, the tears of Rosh Hashanah and of Yom Kippur are turned into JOY by our Lord,,,,,and our Lord said that "on that day, no man can take your joy from you"....YSIC    Arlene

from:  http://www.aish.com/sukkotthemes/sukkotthemesdefault/Sukkot_Harvesting_Joy.asp

THE WEDDING CANOPYBut why do we celebrate Sukkot now, after the High Holidays?An understanding of the timing of this particular spiritual joy can be gained from the realization that in Kabbalistic sources, the Sukkah symbolizes the wedding canopy -- the "chuppah" that hovers over the bride and groom as they enter into a covenant of mutual commitment and exclusivity. It is the time the Song of Songs refers to when it says:

"The King has brought me into His chambers, we will be joyful and happy together." (Song of Songs)

After Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, when we resolved theoretically to commit to God and enter into His covenant, with all its entailing responsibilities, now comes action -- the joyous celebration of intimacy and communion -- the wedding.Joy in a relationship can also be a barometer by which we gauge how much love and care two people truly have for each other.The Slonimer Rebbe, in his work "Netivot Shalom," tells of an errant prince who left the king's palace and distanced himself for a while, and then decided to return. The king, of course, was delighted, but always entertained the nagging thought that perhaps his son returned out of fear of punishment and not out of true love -- in which case, he may leave again at any time. His worries continued until the day he noticed his son whistling and humming happily to himself as he went about his daily chores. Now he knew the son was happy to be home and had returned out of love.We too, have spent more than a month in a spirit of repentance, returning to God, changing our faulty traits and correcting our past mistakes. But were we perhaps motivated by the fear of being sealed in the "Book of Death" or of being given a less than sweet year? When we engage in the mitzvot of Sukkot, busily decorating and shopping, happily searching for the finest "Four Species," we show God and ourselves that we have returned to Him out of love, that we truly desire a relationship with Him and we won't leave again.Sukkot is a time when we solidify through action all the theoretical commitments and resolutions we took upon ourselves during the "days of awe."