Mr. Jones takes Mr. Goldberg to court because the former wants the latter to remove his sukkah, which Mr. Jones considers to be both an eyesore, and in violation of the zoning laws of the neighborhood. After careful deliberation, the judge rules as follows: “Mr. Goldberg, I am afraid I must agree with Mr. Jones. Your sukkah is in direct violation of the zoning laws of your neighborhood. I order you to remove it . . . and I’m giving you ten days to carry out my order.”

I hope you find the story funny, but I also hope you get the message that in order for there to be stories like this one, we need to be a community of Jews who build sukkot. As I spoke about on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot is one of the most overlooked, yet also one of the most meaningful of the holidays. I assume that many of you are just not ready for another holiday, just four days after the conclusion of Yom Kippur. But your extra effort at this time of the year will be certainly worthwhile.

Many have good intention in seeing The High Holidays as a time to “recharge our spiritual batteries” for the entire upcoming year. Good intention, yes, but unfortunately missing the point. Rabbi Reuven Hammer, in Entering the High Holy Days, explains that the purpose of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is not to prepare us for the year, but rather to prepare us for Sukkot. And if we fail to observe Sukkot, we have wasted all the hard work of the prior two weeks.

The most significant observances of Sukkot are: waving the four species (lulav, willow, myrtle and etrog) and eating/dwelling in the Sukkah. There are at least two important lessons involved in the lulav and etrog. A famous rabbinic explanation of the four species is that they represent the entire Jewish people, including those who embody wisdom and/or kindness, and those who don’t. In holding and waving the lulav and etrog, we acknowledge our love and connection to the entire Jewish people. Moreover, the mitzvah of lulav and etrog fulfills the commandment, ul’kachtem lachem—”you shall take for yourselves,” teaching us that Judaism is not a religion that someone practices on our behalf, rather it is upon us to do the act for ourselves. Therefore, acquire for yourself a lulav and etrog set. It’s not too late.

There are also multiple lessons to be learned from dwelling in the sukkah for seven days. According to the Torah, the Sukkah is a means of experiencing the history of our ancestors, similar to the message of the Seder, when we are to “see ourselves having personally been freed from Egypt.” In addition to its historical significance, the Sukkah is a place in which we learn humility, a much needed quality in our lives. For a week we rid ourselves of luxury, we feel an extra chill in our bones, and yet we can truly experience God’s blessing—not for physical health or material wealth, but for the contentment of our spirits. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, of 19th century Germany, also teaches that the Sukkah is a symbol of universal peace.

What more could we ask for?