Hoshana Flight to Nowhere

Singapore Airlines is said to be considering a new route next month. CNBC reportsthat with people feeling so cooped up and still unable to travel, the airline is beginning a new flight patter- what has been dubbed “a flight to nowhere”- taking off and landing in the exact same location.  People miss the experience of flying, so they are booking tickets to go nowhere.  

The next week of our services places a lot of emphasis on circling.  We began this morning the Hoshanot, circling around the room with our lulav and etrog, a custom we will continue each day of Sukkot.  Next week we dance around in circles holding the Sefer Torah.  

I would bet most if not all of us wouldn’t waste our time and money on a flight to nowhere, but here we are attending synagogue and literally going in circles.  What are we doing?  What are we accomplishing?  We take off from our seats, walk around the room, and end up right where we left off!  What do we accomplish in the Hoshana flight to nowhere?

Throughout the High Holidays our focus was “Teshuva” which we colloquially translate as “repentance”.  But the literal translation of “teshuva” comes from the root “shuv “ which means to return.  Teshuva means to return to G-d.  To return to ourselves.  The Talmud tells us that just as we enter the world free of sin, we are challenged by the Almighty to attempt to leave this world without sin.  When we leave Yom Kippur, we are beginning a fresh new year by returning to ourselves and who we would like to be.  Each year we have new opportunities for a fresh start. 
 
Perhaps the purpose of the Hoshana ceremony is to remind us that in Judaism, returning to where we started is valuable.  Completing the circle that is the Jewish year is a valuable accomplishment.  Completing the entire Torah next week, and rolling it back to start from the beginning, is a cause for celebration.  

As we begin Sukkot, we remind ourselves of this fresh start.  We are beginning a new cycle, a new cycle of the Jewish calendar, beginning the same process we begin year after year.  How should we begin that process?  By picking up a Lulav.  By understanding that as we embark on a new cycle, as we begin the next circle, let’s hold onto another mitzva, let’s find something to bring meaning to this circle. 

There are different ways to bring meaning into the circles that make up our life.  Taking a lulav is one of them.  But even without a lulav, simply entering and exiting the synagogue grounds our life spiritually and adds an element of sanctity to our day.  One member of our synagogue shared with me that he began attending services, he did so simply as a way of seeing some friends and adding some stability to his schedule.  What began as a social outing developed into a religious commitment, and he now feels a spiritual void in his day when he misses a service.   

When we pray the same services day after day, week after week, year after year, it may appear on the video surveillance camera that we are walking in and out of the synagogue again and again and again. The Talmud teaches us that not only does G-d appreciate our prayers, but he appreciates each step that we take on the way to synagogue.  These steps into and out of the synagogue are the religious circles that add meaning to our lives.

The English phrase “Going in circles” represents a lack of progress.  On Sukkot we remind ourselves that in Judaism, going in circles can and should be valuable.  It’s not true that going in a circle does not accomplish anything.   On Sukkot, we literally walk in circles, reminding ourselves that in the Heavenly Realm, we are not just walking in circles or on a flight to nowhere, but we are embarking and taking steps along a spiritual journey.