The High Holiday season has begun for the Jewish people. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, was observed and celebrated on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 29 and 30. Yom Kippur, the holiday of Atonement, was observed on Saturday, Oct. 8. However, a lesser-known, yet equally important holiday will begin on Thursday, Oct. 13: Sukkot, the holiday of booths.

For eight days, Jews throughout the world will “dwell” in booths: eating, drinking, schmoozing as well as sleeping in the Sukkot, thereby fulfilling the biblical commandment: “In Sukkot you shall dwell for seven days so that future generations shall know that I had the Israelites dwell in Sukkot when I brought them out of Egypt” (Leviticus 23:42, 43).

Our tradition records two opinions as to what these “Sukkot” were. One is that they dwelled in thatched huts or booths during the 40-year sojourn in the wilderness. The second is that Sukkot denotes the clouds of glory that surrounded them and miraculously protected them from the elements.

We fulfill this Mitzvah (commandment) by erecting temporary booths, outside of our homes, with sometimes flimsy walls and an even flimsier roof to remind us how G-d protected our ancestors some 3,000 years ago.

In Hebrew, the Bible is called the Torah. The word Torah means a lesson, a directive that everyone can implement in his or her daily lives. We are divinely blessed to live in a country of peace, stability, prosperity and equal opportunity. Our material success, however, is fraught with spiritual challenges. The Torah warns us not to declare, “It was my own strength and personal power that brought me all this prosperity. You must remember that it is G-d your L-rd who gives you the power to become prosperous.” (Deuteronomy 8:17, 18).

When we sit in the Sukkah, with the wind gently shaking its walls, and the all-too-often Seattle showers indicating their approach though its roof, we are reminded of how dependent we are on G-d. Moses, the ultimate Jewish leader, is praised as being “…very humble, more so than any other man on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). Despite his brilliance, his piety and all of his other stellar attributes, the Torah praises Moses’s humility. Moses was aware of his accomplishments, but it did not cause him to become haughty — because he attributed all of his attainments to G-d, he was blessed with the abilities and opportunities for success.

The holiday of Sukkot reminds us of the fragility of our existence, and the purpose of our lives. Material things are here today and gone tomorrow, and we cannot take them with us to the grave. An ethical and moral life, imbued with the awareness of G-d, and the precious world he gave us, is an eternal legacy we leave to our future generations.

Sukkot is also called the “Season of Joy” and the booths are called “Sukkot of Peace.” When we learn the lesson of the Sukkah, de-emphasizing our physical pursuits, and enhancing aour spiritual involvements, we bring peace for our families, our communities and ourselves. When we are at peace, we have joy. What a wonderful world it will be, when there is peace and joy for all of G-d’s people!

Rabbi Yechezkel Kornfeld is the rabbi of Congregation Shevet Achim on Mercer Island.