Dismantling the Succah

My feeling about having to take apart the Succah today are echoed in eloquent writing by the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Berel Wein (not this one). In his latest column, printed in today's Jerusalem Post, Rabbi Wein writes:

Now that the glorious holiday of Succot has ended, I, like many of you am
faced with the daunting task of dismantling my succah. Whereas I always have
a feeling of pride, anticipation and happiness in erecting my succah I am
filled with sad nostalgia (especially this year) at the thought of taking it
down. Nothing lasts forever, not even Succot and all things come to an end.
Yet, I am truly saddened to let the holidays go. They were a source of
shelter and comfort to me, a taste of the soul and spirit of Judaism and the
eternity of Torah and its values and commandments. Days of awe and
happiness, of nostalgia and tears, of children and grandchildren and
laughter and wonder, these are the days of the month of Tishrei.

Dismantling the succah brings home the reality that the month is almost over
and that it will be a half year before the great holiday of Pesach comes to
renew our spirit and hope. But Jews are not allowed to be despondent or
overly sad. Thank God for life and health and the opportunity to accomplish
noble things with them. The succah is meant to inspire us and give us
spiritual strength and to nurture our hopes over the next half year. Even
dismantling the succah is part of that process. All of the wonderful succah
decorations are lovingly placed back into the storage boxes having served
their holy purpose and hopefully they will all be restored in the succah
again next year in health and happiness.

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