Yesterday, we held a special luncheon with most of the living past presidents of the Jewish Federation (the furthest back in attendance served in 1978). We discussed current activities at the Jewish Federation and challenges for our community going forward. There was a tremendous amount of wisdom in the room and these get togethers are something we need to do more often.

Tonight begins my favorite Jewish holiday, Sukkot. “Sukkot” is a Hebrew word meaning “booths” or “huts,” and refers to the Jewish festival of giving thanks for the fall harvest. The holiday also commemorates the wandering of the Jewish people through the desert for 40 years after receiving the Torah atop Mt. Sinai. You can learn more about the holiday with this short, cute video.

My sukkah is built and I am ready (sadly, it already got a bit wet from the rain, but on dry nights I plan to sleep in it). If you do not use a "sukkah kit," it is likely your sukkah is built almost entirely out of what a tree gives away -- wood, branches, and more. The sukkah itself reminds me how fragile life is because something grew and gave of itself for others to use.

Which is why it feels like more than coincidence that today in 1930, author and illustrator Shel Silverstein, who wrote the bestselling children’s books The Giving Tree and The Missing Piece, was born.

In our family library, we have copies of both books. Yet, the one I read most often to my children (perhaps due to my professional work) was The Giving Tree.

You may recall the story goes like this… A tree loves a boy. As he grows, he comes back to her again and again, and each time he needs something -- apples to sell, branches to build a house, a trunk to carve into a boat. The tree gives what she has, until she is nothing but a stump. And still, when the boy, now an old man, returns with nothing left to ask for but a quiet place to sit. The stump says, “Well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, boy, sit down. Sit down and rest.” And the boy sits down. And the tree is happy.

People have argued about this book for years. Some read it as a story about a one-sided relationship -- a tree who gives until she disappears while the boy takes and takes and never once asks how she is doing. Others read it as unconditional parental love. I am sure there are many other interpretations.

In the story, the tree does not give because she is asked nicely. The boy has not done anything to deserve it. Nor has he provided anything in return. The tree gives because giving is simply what she does. It is, in Silverstein’s telling, her nature and her joy -- “And the tree was happy.” Not pressured. Not resigned. Not thinking “here we go again.” Just happy. That is the same spirit Sukkot asks of us -- give from the harvest not because you are owed thanks, but because the giving itself, and the opportunities it creates for someone else.

I believe this is the same sentiment for the Jewish Federation's annual campaign.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland has launched its 2027 Annual Campaign for Community Needs. We are grateful to our Campaign Co-Chairs, Rich Meyer and Simon Gottheiner, for taking on this important leadership role and all the campaign volunteers working alongside them.

Every year, the needs in front of us are real -- a family that requires assistance putting food on the table (earlier this week, the Jewish Federation provided Jewish Family and Child Service funding to purchase $5,000 more in food cards), a senior who needs a safe place to age, a child who desires a Jewish education or summer camp experience, or even a newly arrived family seeking other Jews to build community. Every year, we are grateful that so many people show up – with apples, branches, a trunk -- and give what they can. These actions prove Silverstein’s tree wrong -- giving does not have to end in a stump.

When an entire community gives together, the tree does not disappear. It grows!

As we mark Shel Silverstein’s birthday today, I ask you to think about our “giving forest.” Together, we will respond to the growing needs and rising costs with increased giving to our Jewish community.

Like that stump at the end of the story, there is something genuinely happy in knowing you made a difference in someone else’s life. Please consider making your increased gift here to the 2027 Annual Campaign and help provide a branch, apples, shade, and more for someone else.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Chag Sukkot sameach and Shabbat shalom.