In the Jewish year, Sukkot, the holiday we are now in the midst of celebrating, is traditionally a time when families visit friends and families in their respective Sukkot.
Traditionally during this time we explore outdoors, in national parks, lakes, forests and the like. Yet, this Sukkot in Israel in lockdown all this outdoor fun in nature beyond one kilometer of our homes is prohibited.
Sukkot is not usually a time, for an Israeli to clean up, and order up.
This otherworldly Sukkot though, with the coronavirus still alive and kicking, I have found myself eager to tidy up, and put things in order. I give away what is unneeded and discard accumulated stuff, old notebooks, broken things, clothes unfit for wearing and so on.
I sense that my need to dispose of the old and broken from my life, of things that do not add to my well-being, is not just personal but also political.
Deep down I sense that our house is on fire.
My house, your house, the world as we knew it is on fire. Its institutions falling apart. Its forests literally burning. I gather we are experiencing a paradigm shift; the old collapsing before our very eyes. At the same time, the new has yet to be born and take root. The process has commenced unfolding rapidly.
In the midst of this chaotic and stressful situation, I find that tidying up, ordering up, and shaping up grounds me and soothes me. As I open our home’s drawers, closets and cupboards and look at what is inside, I do the work of discerning. As I hold another item with my hand I ask whether it stays or goes.
Many of us, are compelled to tidy up and order up our lives; reconsider finances, restructure loans, reevaluate relationships, reorganize homes, revamp backyards and re-energize our bodies.
My youngest daughter and I spent two hours yesterday revamping the building’s backyard and re-energizing our bodies in the process. We cut the overgrown plants that were blocking our passage and opened up paths. We trimmed the greenery overflowing on the street. Amassed the slashed greenery and put half by the compost bin, to reuse as dry material.
Thinking about the cycles in nature I had a flash to the words of French architect Nicola Delon who in the framework of the ECOWEEK online conference presented two buildings he created in Paris.
One of Delon’s design principles is to use materials that are within reach and can be reused instead of wasted. NGO ECOWEEK, an initiative led by my partner architect Elias Messinas gives the stage to architects with a pioneering spirit in search of sustainable architectural design. Delon was one of the experts from twenty countries that participated in the online conference that ended yesterday. Delon’s inspiring buildings were made of reclaimed old wooden doors and of windows that otherwise would end up in a landfill. Very similar to the trimmings that will become organic compost and I will later use in our food garden.
Past the two hours of trimming, amassing, and piling of the cut greenery, the backyard was breathing again, lighter, its energy elevated and uplifted as in a much-needed cleanup.
I sense that tidying up the mess on the home and backyard fronts is what the world is asking us to do right now. Clean up our mess, the mess that is within our reach.
As I clean and tidy up our house and backyard, I feel grounded and connected despite the turmoil I witness all around me. As I clean up, I feel this is what the world is asking of me and you to do right now. Take the time to clean it up, shape it up, and remodel it for the good of all.
From Jerusalem with love,
Yvette Nahmia-Messinas