What’s in Your Suitcase?

At the airport, Yankel asked the woman at the check-in counter if he could have one bag delivered to Los Angeles, the second suitcase to London, and the third to Tev Aviv.

No way, she said. That’s against policy.

Please, I need this to happen, Yankel says.

“Not, this is a ridiculous request! How do you even entertain such an absurd idea?”

“Well,” Yankel says, “last time you did it without me asking…”
Should we dance on this Simchat Torah, one year since the horrific massacre of complete Jewish communities, one that plunged a country and a nation into a year of untold grief, sorrow, and pain?

It is a powerful question. But we ought to remember this: Hamas attacked the Jewish people on Simchat Torah to obliterate our joy and dancing. 

The enemy wanted to sow panic into our hearts. It wanted Jews to be paralyzed by fear and depression. So our first responsibility is to lift our morale as Jews, to lift the morale of our sisters and brothers in the Holy Land and the entire world. They aimed to destroy our Simchat Torah—our joy of life and Judaism, our joy of Torah, our connection to Eretz Yisroel, and our history. So now we need to create Simchat Torah every day—to celebrate as Jews with our Torah, our land, and our people, every day, every hour, every minute. Certainly, on Simchat Torah, we ought to dance like never before!

Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Vitzen eulogized his son who was murdered on that Shabbat, Simchat Torah 5784, Oct. 7, 2023:

"We do not crave wars. But if a war was imposed on us—it would give new birth to our people. We will turn into a nation, a new people. We will teach the world our unique message. We begin a new journey, with our right foot. I see everyone around me waking up!"
If you’ve ever departed from Ben Gurion airport, you’ve been asked: “Did you pack everything in your suitcase”? “Did anyone give you anything to pack”? “Have you been with your luggage since the packing?” In other words, do you know every item in your luggage?

This is much more than an Israeli security question to keep our airplanes safe. It is the quintessential question Judaism asks of us, as we prepare to depart from the High Holiday season, the voyage of life that lies in the year ahead. Seasoned travelers know that by packing smartly you will enjoy the trip. And when it takes you through different climates and terrains, you are especially judicious in determining the essential things you'll need.

That is how the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, and his son-in-law, the Rebbe, would frame the High Holiday season: the time we pack our bags for the year’s journey, each holiday providing us with an essential item for our annual journey through life. 

So just in case security stops you on your way out of this month and asks you what you have in your suitcases, here’s a reminder of what we've been packing up this past month. We packed up four suitcases. Don’t forget to take them with you, for the year ahead.

1) On Rosh Hashana, we packed our first suitcase with the essential item: “Commitment.” We coronated G-d and accepted His sovereignty. Rosh Hashanah is the day of commitment— to my soul, my G-d-given purpose, my family, my community, my people, my G-d, and my truest and deepest identity.

2) On Yom Kippur, we packed up the next suitcase entitled “Forgiveness” I must know that although I am committed, I am imperfect, and I will falter or stumble in my commitments. G-d forgives me and asks me to forgive myself, because part of life is making mistakes, sometimes serious ones. On Yom Kippur, we also learn to forgive others.

3) On Sukkot we pack up the third suitcase titled “Love.” In the Sukkah, we dwell in the Divine embrace of unconditional love. Being loved is the key nutrient to feeling secure, wanted, valued, and appreciated. No matter where my journeys take me, I need to know that G-d loves me, everywhere and every time. I have innate, intrinsic, and absolute value.

4. On Shmini Atzeret / Simchat Torah, we pack up the last suitcase, filled with an indispensable item called “Joy,” the empowerment to live with “joie de vivre.” Joy spells the difference between existing and living. Existing is heavy, burdensome, and depressing. Living is buoyant, uplifting, elated, exuberant, delightful, happy, and ecstatic. Every moment has meaning, every challenge is an opportunity, and every experience is an invitation for growth. Let go and let G-d.

After Sukkot, the Rebbe would say it was time to unpack the suitcases and the bags. Throughout the year, when you are feeling detached, it’s time to unpack the suitcase “commitment.” When you get down due to failure or disappointment, it’s time to unpack the suitcase of “forgiveness.” When you feel lonely and alone, it’s time to unpack the suitcase of “love”. And when you are feeling numb, take out a dose of joy from your trusty fourth suitcase.

Travel well my dear friends and enjoy all of life’s scenery along the way.

This month and Sukkot we got an extra dosage of empowerment for our journey.

This October shattered the record for the hottest October by such a wide margin that climate scientists say it was almost beyond belief.

The warmth continued into the holiday of Sukkot to the end of October. Despite being almost three full weeks into fall, Sukkot was warm and delightful. In NY, families use their outdoor swimming pools, something unheard of in Sukkot outside of Florida.

I am no expert on global warming and the debates around it. But the Torah teaches that everything is a lesson, such a uniquely warm Sukkot.  

The Talmud shares a fascinating prediction:

In the future, there will be no need for purgatory. G‑d will remove the sun from its sheath. The righteous will be healed by it, and the wicked will be punished by it.

What does this mean?

The “sheath of the sun” could be the atmosphere, the photosphere, the ozone layer, or all of the above, the Talmud here is talking primarily about a change in the spiritual climate.

In Torah teachings, the sun represents G‑d’s light. In our current world, this light is hidden. Just as the sun has a sheath that covers it and filters its light, so too the laws of nature, and the seemingly random and painful events in our world, Oct. 7, 23 cover G‐d’s light and presence. The Divine hand is hard to detect, and life can sometimes seem meaningless, stressful, vexing, and harrowing. The world at times seems like a very dark and lonely place.

But one day soon, it will all make sense. When G‑d reveals Himself, His light will shine unblocked, the veil will be lifted, and we will see that it was His hand guiding our individual lives and the world all along. Nothing was random, nothing was a mistake, and everything was part of His ultimate vision. We will discover how G-d was present even in the darkest moments of our lives, and will be able to declare, “Hello Darkness My Old Friend.”

This awareness will be healing for all good and righteous people. They always knew that G‑d was there, and it pained them that He could not be seen. They will take pleasure in feeling G‑d’s closeness and seeing goodness prevail, which is what they dedicated their lives to achieve.

However, for the wicked, it will be a punishment. When the truth is revealed, when their game is up, they will feel the pain of having wasted their lives on emptiness and triviality. The greatest punishment is to discover that you got it wrong, you built your life on false ground and missed out on doing so much good.

This is how the Alter Rebbe explains our daily prayer before reciting Shema, “We shall not be ashamed and humiliated by eternity.

Imagine a person who is walking around naked, and then suddenly discovers that everyone saw him. Similarly, and much more than this, is the shame when one realizes the presence of the Divine.

This is the ultimate purgatory in Judaism, feeling the shame of being so out of touch with reality. When I realize how I lived a life based on fear and trauma, based on selfishness and egotism, trust me, it hurts. How could I miss out on living a true and rewarding life? When the sun comes out of its sheath, for the good person it is paradise, for the bad person it is hell.  

The sun is slowly coming out. The question is, are you blocking the light or helping unveil the light? Is yours a life of enduring worth, or are you preoccupied with pettiness that will one day melt away? The future is bright. 

This Sukkot, saturated with the sun’s light and warmth, empowers us to pack suitcases filled with deeper commitment, forgiveness, love, and joy—to light up our lives the entire year.

Here is an incredible story that captures this type of awakening and remorse.

A few days before Yom Kippur, I met an older Jewish fellow Daniel Kravitz, who owns a furniture store. He shared the following story.

“I received a phone call answering a classified advertisement I placed to sell a black bedroom set for $250. During the conversation, the young man on the other end of the line says he has only $700  and do I have enough furniture in my store to furnish his whole apartment?

"I ask how big his apartment is. Turns out that in addition to the bedroom set, he needs a dinette, a sofa, tables, and a lamp. I say, if you’re not picky, I can furnish the apartment for $700.

"He showed up the next day. A man walks in, shocking in appearance. He’s a skinhead. Tall. 6’2”. Trim. In his early 20s. Sleeveless T-shirt. Dark pants. Doc/Martin boots (made in England, very popular with the subculture, punk rockers, skinheads, etc.) On his arm are tattoos. I cannot help but notice what they say: ‘Kill N***ers and Jews.’ I realize right away who this individual is.”

Are you Dan? We spoke on the phone yesterday. Do you still have the black bedroom set?

“I say: ‘You’re the young man who says you have $700 to furnish your apartment.' I bite my lips, I hold back my disgust, I treat him with courtesy and kindness, as though I saw nothing on his skin. I showed him the bedroom set. We walked around the store. I can give you this sofa, and these tables . . . in 20 to 30 minutes we will figure out what he wants. I threw in some dishes.

“We get back to my counter and desk. I wrote a receipt, including the inventory and the regular prices. The total comes to about $1,000, which I discount to $700. I handed him the receipt to sign on the bottom. He looks over the receipt and says, ‘Boy, you gave me a big discount.’

“I say: ‘That’s the deal. I promised you and I will deliver.”

You won’t get in trouble for discounting this much?

“No, it's my own business.”

“I appreciate it,” the man says.

“I say: 'I’m a man of my word,' and he pays in cash. I helped him load the furniture onto a pickup truck. We work up a sweat. I asked him whether he would like a cold drink when we were done. I have no other customers and have time to sit with him. So, I gave him a can of soda and took one myself.

“Now, this whole time, I kept observing him to see whether he was carrying a gun or a knife. His shirt lifted when we loaded his furniture, and I saw he had no weapon in his pocket. I felt comfortable that he didn’t have a weapon.

“So, I say: ‘I couldn’t help but notice your tattoos. Do you believe that?’”

“Hell yes,” I do.

I decided to take off my cap, I showed him my Kippa, and I shared with him that I'm Jewish!

He says, “Well you're not a real Jew!”

I say, yes, I'm a real Jew, I live as a Jew.

He said: “But you were so nice to me, you gave me an amazing discount!”

I said: “Yes, the Torah teaches us to treat people with dignity and kindness; every human being is carved in the image of G-d and has infinite value, and each of us is called upon to be a beacon of kindness.”

He tells me: You do not look like a Jew!

“What does a Jew look like?”

Not like you, he says.

“I point to my front door and show him my mezuzah and tell him that Jews put it on their doorposts. And I have a siddur, so I open it up and say: ‘See, this is Hebrew.’ I show him my store hours and say: ‘Notice, I’m closed on the Sabbath. I live as a Jew.”

I asked him if he had spoken to his parents.

No, I don’t, he says.

I say: “It wasn’t that many years ago that your mother held you in her arms, and she loves you. I’m a parent. I know that your parents are hurt and miss you.”

I tell him: I think you’re a nice guy. I know from some of the things you’ve said to me how appreciative you are that I gave you a good deal. I know that your mother and father raised you with good values. Why you are a part of the neo-Nazis, I have no understanding. One of two things is going to happen to you. You’ll end up dead, or you’ll end up in prison. The people you hang around with don’t care if you’re in jail or dead. But your mother and father do care.

“Then another customer walks in. 'Listen, I can’t talk more now, but if you want to talk to me more, I’ll gladly talk to you. I want you to think about what I’ve said to you because everything I’ve said is true.

The man left without saying a word. I was sure I would never see him again.

Around a year later, he came back to Kravitz’s store.

“He says to me: ‘Do you remember me?’

“I say: ‘Of course.’"

At this point in the retelling, Kravitz tears up.

“He was dressed completely differently. His hair was grown out – no more shaved head – normal hair. He didn’t look like a skinhead. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, jeans, and sneakers. He looked like a different person.

“I ask: ‘Did you reconnect with your parents?’

“‘Yes, I have.’

“He says: ‘I need to apologize. I realize now how offensive my tattoos were to you and how hurtful they are. I can’t afford it now – but I’m going to have those tattoos removed.'

“He gave me a hug and thanked me for changing his life and helping him see the truth of reality.”

Daniel looks at me and with tears, says: Sometime later I learned this man began a deep spiritual search about everything he was taught to hate. The result? He converted Halachically to Judaism. A little while ago, Danny Kravitz told me, he passed away.

Imagine! A deep spiritual soul who was so deeply connected to Judaism. Yet his connection existed only in hate and negativity. And due to a Jew, who was a real mensch—his entire life turned around to the opposite extreme. He realized the lies and darkness he was living and preaching. He understood how ashamed he would be when the sun came out. 

So, my dear friends, on this holiday make sure you take home all your four suitcases—and unpack them on the shelves of your home and your heart, to create the brightest year ever.

If you are in Great Neck for this holiday, I am looking forward to dancing with you and the Torah on behalf of all people who cannot dance this year because they are not with us after October 7, we will dance for them too on this Simchat Torah!

Chag Sameach,

Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky