This statement, "and rejoice in your holiday" - - - should be the blessing that one blesses another, at the onset of the holiday of Sukkot. But I think that in our kibbutz, not only do you not feel the holiday, you do not feel its joy of it either.

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I remember from my childhood, how we built a sukkah in the kibbutz, and as children we would come to decorate it and adorn it with our arts and crafts. We did this with great joy and love.

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And in the kibbutz, it was impossible to say that there was no feeling of the holiday, because at least there was a sukkah.

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Today the situation is different. Every year the size of the sukkah is reduced, until this year it was impossible to sit in it and to enjoy being together in nature - - -

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Our "luck" this year was that the holiday fell on Friday, and so, throughout the week, I had totally forgotten that there was a holiday. Here and there I heard singing coming from one of the children's homes where the holiday was celebrated in family settings, but for more than that I did not have the merit to take part in - - -

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If we do not assume responsibility for transmitting the content of our holiday, at least for the sake of our children, we will never be able to turn the clock back, and the slogan "You shall rejoice on your holiday" will no longer fill our hearts, and the holidays will become merely another date on the yearly calendar for us -  and no more.