Tens of thousands of Manhattan residents held their breath on a sunny spring morning in 1974. The scene that unfolded before their eyes were unbelievable. They were not only surprised but fearful and dumbfounded.

Everything began six years before. A Frenchman, Philippe Petit, sat in his dentist’s waiting room, leafing through a magazine, where he spotted a photo of the Twin Towers, then under construction in Manhattan. While examining the photo, he had an idea. Wouldn’t it be exciting to walk the space between the buildings on….a tightrope? Petit dedicated the next few years to prepare his extraordinary one-man show. He built a model of the twin towers in his cellar and studied every detail.

He infiltrated the building dressed alternatively as a journalist, handyman, and businessman. He visited all the floors and monitored the security arrangements. He observed the guards schedules and even rented a helicopter to photograph the upper part of the building. He measured the speed of the wind and the humidity in the air. And he assembled a special steel plate weighing 200 kilograms to perform his acrobatics ...

That morning, thousands of people in Manhattan looked up at Petit walking back and forth, hopping, dancing and even cycling at an altitude of 420 meters.  He waved at the crowds standing at the foot of the towers, lay down on the rope and had a conversation with a curious seagull, who checked this specimen, walking in places reserved exclusively for winged creatures ...

The police summoned to the scene were obviously powerless. No policeman would agree to walk on a wire stretched between the twin towers to stop this madman, dancing on one foot and throwing a basketball.

But the story of Philippe Petit is not as surprising as it seems. In fact, we are all walking on a tightrope. When we take a small misstep in the wrong direction, we attract misfortune. This is perhaps why men invest so much on insurance. They save money, invest in their health, and try to foresee unpredictable incidents. But there is a limit to how far a man can plan ahead. At some point, everyone reaches a limit and comes to the understanding that there are things he/she cannot control. We thus become stressed out.

The mitzvah of living in a Sukkah reminds us of the basic principles of life. “My dearest friends”, the Sukkah says “we are all temporary dwellers in this world. Regardless of the scope of your investments and efforts, your material existence isn’t more stable than the rickety walls of a Sukkah and the branches on its roof.

If you really want to make the most out of your life, stop wasting time. Spend a minimum on material goods and make sure to increase your investments in the spiritual realm: study Torah, observe Mitzvot and practice Chessed (acts of loving-kindness). These are areas that will outlive you and accompany you for eternity.

Are you curious to find out what happened to Philippe Petit? After police threatened to send a helicopter to fetch him, the French adventurer finally agreed to get off the tightrope, Petit may not have been impressed by this threat, but he decided the show was over. He bowed to the crowd and jumped on the roof.

One last detail: the photographer who was hired to film the performance was very tired and fell asleep thus leaving no evidence of the performance.  Isn’t that incredible? A man gets an opportunity to witness an incredible event but instead, he falls into a deep and imperturbable sleep. Just to remind us that if we do not wake up, no one can help us!