Succot is coming. Once again I attempt to put together some sort of Succah for the occasion. Jews the world over do the same. Succah can mean so much to us if we let it.

The basis of the Succah is to be open to the stars. The Israelites, founders of our peoplehood, had to have enormous trust in God, although of course they failed at times, even when they had a direct experience of God's wonders. Yet we all experience the wonders of creation every day, in every hour even - if we just allow ourselves to see it.

Open-ness is trusting. At Succot time we put our trust in the Almighty. Even in our flimsy, ramshackle dwelling we know God will look after us. The canopy of stars is our source of inspiration. It is the unfathomable, and surely every poet and artist must have gazed in wonder at the stars. The night sky is so vast, each star a brilliant sun, often many times the size of our own, average-sized sun.

We cover the roof in greenery, and hang fruit from the succah. The vegetation is life. Green is the color of life, or one of them. Fruit is another wonderful gift, self-sustaining, nourishing the body, and offering that sweetness we all need to make life that little bit more - well, sweet. Perhaps we should make a special effort to hang grapes, since wine is made from grapes, and wine, apparently is the only food that actually improves with age.

The whole act - play-acting if you like, the whole drama of Succot takes us away from our comfortable lives, usually suburban. Suddenly we have to 'make do'. Maybe the table is a little wonky, and in England your Succah meals are bound to be a bit of a chilly experience.

Succot is fun. We all have a chance to be children again, camping in the garden, with our very own children, or parents, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents. And of course, it's slightly barmy. Building this strange edifice then living in it in full sight of the neighbors can give one a bit of a name for bizarreness.

Yet environmentally, there is sadness. We hardly see the night sky at all, obscured as it is by the millions of city lights, whose influence can spread for well over a hundred miles. As Jews we must accept a vastly reduced vision of the night sky. Our God-given connection with the heavens is taken from us. We lose something, as we always do whenever we fail to put God's Earth first. Perhaps one day all these lights will be turned off, just for Succot, and again we will be able to see the canopy of the night sky. Who knows? Anything can happen!

And the noise of traffic, the smell of traffic, and stories in the meida, all remind us how much the Earth needs our help. It is sad to look around and know the rivers are being poisoned, the air being polluted and many common animals that were plentiful in our childhood will no longer exist for our children and grandchildren. Even animals like the elephant and the tiger. Something must be done about it. We all must do our bit, then change can happen.

Building a Succah puts me in touch with my limitations, in a very real way! Building does not come naturally to me, but I try. I am not the Creator, but maybe something fairly stable can come through my hands.

Whatever its limitations, my Succah is always made of wood. To me, anything else would not be appropriate. Wood is trees, and trees are such a divine gift to us. Trees filter our air for us. They protect us from sound, and they add their own wonderful, life-sustaining sounds - the wind whistling through the rustling leaves, the birdsong. Trees give us materials we can use, because if properly managed, they will constantly renew themselves. It is a win-win situation. Trees like the eucalyptus even help us get over the colds we might catch out there in our Succah.

The humbling view of the night sky, the wonder of trees, the sweetness of fruit - all these things are given to us by the Almighty, and Succot is a most appropriate time to meditate on this. The Earth we have been given is beautiful, bounteous and nourishing to the soul. It was perfectly clean when we got it, and we have a duty to return it to our children in this way. I pray that this Succot we each become that little bit more in touch with nature and the environment, take a little more care of it, perhaps use just a little less of everything.