Our Sukkah, Our Community, Our Earth

The sukkah reminds us that we are not separate from the environment, but part of it. Its open walls invite us to appreciate the earth, the fragile roof teaches us about humility, and its temporary shelter challenges us to consider how we protect the world we share. In the spirit of Shomrei Ha’aretz, the sukkah calls us to turn gratitude for nature into a responsibility to care for our planet and future generations. 

Sukkot gives us the opportunity to talk about housing issues, homelessness, farmers to provide healthy food, and while we sleep and eat in the sukkah, it connects us to the wind, air, sun, moon and stars. The Jewish holiday of Sukkot and the construction of the sukkah teaches us to prohibit wasteful consumption, and inherently promote recycling, composting, and the use of sustainable products. 

Sukkot is a natural connection to the environment because it is a holiday centered on nature, harvest, shelter, and our responsibility to care for the earth. The lulav and etrog come from different parts of the natural world. 

When we compost, the idea is simple: what came from the earth, can return to the earth.

Symbols of the Lulav and Etrog:

Etrog: taste and fragrance, lowlands and agricultural land. It reminds us of the richness of the natural world and protects the biodiversity that sustains it.

Lulav: taste and no fragrance, represents the desert, The palm branch symbolizes resilience, growth, and the importance of sustaining, trees and plants

Hadassim: fragrance and no taste, represents the mountains. It invites us to value the sensory gifts of nature of plants that enrich our surroundings.

Aravot: neither taste or fragrance represents rivers and streams. The willow grows in association with water, reminding us of clean water, healthy ecosystems and environmental stewardship.

Lesson learned: Every person has value, and a community is incomplete without its individual members.

Composting and T’Shuvah:

Composting is a return of carbon molecules from an unpleasant decaying state into one that brings life and vitality. Through decomposition, bacteria, fungi, oxygen, moisture, and heat break down food scraps into simple substances. Carbon becomes carbon dioxide, nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium remain in the compost and can be taken up by plants. The nutrients return to the soil, where plant roots absorb them to make new leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. Composting is the environmental lesson where nature turns what seems finished into the beginning of something new. 

How can we honor these sacred symbols of nature rather than simply throw them away? Composting offers a meaningful answer. By returning the etrog and other plant material to the earth, we transform what has served us in celebration into nourishment for new growth, reminding us of our Jewish responsibility to care for the environment and protect the earth for future generations. The principle of bal tashchit, rooted in the Torah’s teaching, not to destroy fruit trees unnecessarily and the natural destruction of natural resources. It reminds us that we must not treat the world’s resources carelessly. We turn food scraps into renewed life, transforming waste into nourishment for the Earth and hope for future generations.

FJMC International Men’s Club Sukkot Composting Project:

The Men’s club could purchase or obtain donated, clearly labeled bins:

COMPOST: Food scraps, fruits and vegetables

RECYCLING: Bottles, cans

TRASH: Materials that can’t be reused, recycled or composted 

The bins can carry an FJMC Men’s Club Logo, and make it visible throughout the synagogue. Make it a multigeneration project by having grandparents, parents and children design the labels. Shomrei Ha’aretz, Guardians of the Earth, teaches us that new growth can come from what we leave behind. 

Clubs can adopt their own titles:

Compost with Grandkids
Green Sukkah Composting Project 
Shomrei Ha’aretz Challenge 
Sukkah to Soil: Renewing the Earth 

Announcement from the Clergy, Lay Leaders, and FJMC Club Leadership – (you may also want to ask the other groups in the synagogue, including the Sisterhood to join):

Today we are beginning a new FJMC Shomrei Ha’aretz tradition. These bins are not just trash cans – they are a reminder that caring for the earth is something that we can practice every time we sit down together. 

Sukkot reminds us where we belong: Simchat Torah, when we begin the Torah itself – teaching us that endings become beginnings. This reminds us that every ending can become a new beginning: composting shows us how to make that renewal happen on the Earth itself. 

As FJMC Shomrei Ha’aretz, we turn what is left behind to new growth, honoring our Jewish responsibility to care for the Earth and generations yet to come.