What is Sukkot? On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival of Sukkot, seven days for the LORD. Leviticus 23:34 The Festival of Sukkot begins on Tishri 15, the fifth day after Yom Kippur. It is quite a drastic transition, from one of the most solemn holidays in our year to one of the most joyous. Sukkot is so unreservedly joyful that it is commonly referred to in Jewish prayer and literature as Z'man Simchateinu , the Season of our Rejoicing. Sukkot is the last of the Shalosh R'galim (three pilgrimage festivals). Like Passover and Shavuot, Sukkot has a dual significance: historical and agricultural. Historically, Sukkot commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival and is sometimes referred to as Chag Ha-Asif, the Festival of Ingathering. The word "Sukkot" means "booths," and refers to the temporary dwellings that we are commanded to live in during this holiday in memory of the period of wandering. The Hebrew pronunciation of Sukkot is "Sue COAT," but is often pronounced as in Yiddish, to rhyme with "BOOK us." You will dwell in booths for seven days; all natives of Israel shall dwell in booths. Leviticus 23:42 The temporary shelter is referred to as a sukkah (which is the singular form of the plural word "sukkot"). The sukkah is great fun for whole family. The commandment to "dwell" in a sukkah can be fulfilled by spending as much time in the sukkah as possible during the week, eating your meals there as well as sleeping in it. CBM HOUSTON Check out our Facebook page for pictures of some of the booths our members created in their backyards! Text excerpts taken from Judaism 101 at www.jewfaq.org SUGGESTIONS TO CELEBRATE SUKKOT • Join Beth Messiah at Pine Cove Retreat for a wonderful, peaceful time of worship, reflection, and community fun with family and friends! More information is available on our website. • Build a Sukkah as a family project. Since the sukkah is not to be an elaborate or permanent structure, the most inexpensive materials may be used. You will need four sturdy posts for the corners and four smaller poles for the roof OR you can use an existing building for one side of your sukkah. Drape bedsheets or other coverings around the three sides and place tree branches on top of the roof – not too thick – you want to see the stars! Add a table and chairs or rug and pillows. OR for a more contemporary sukka, put up a tent or gazebo up in your backyard. • Decorate a Sukkah. Decorate your “sukkah” or the congregational sukkah with pictures, hangings, and fruit that represent the land of Israel. Help decorate a community sukkah at Congregation Beth Messiah or the Jewish Community Center. • Eat, drink, relax, and nap in your sukkah. Try to have at least one main meal each night in your sukkah. Let the children camp overnight inside the sukkah under the stars. If you don’t have a sukkah of your own, come eat lunch under Beth Messiah’s community sukkah during office hours. • Tell Bible stories. Read how Abraham dwelt in tents and how the children of Israel wandered in the desert dwelling in booths. Read some of the many Bible prophecies that tell of Messiah’s reign over all nations (Psalm 2, 47, 93, 95-99. 110 and 126). • Make and wave a lulav. Collect and bind together (1) hardwood deciduous, (2) flowering or fruiting, (3) evergreen or palm (depending on your geography), and (4) leafy shrub or willow (as you have access). OR make a lulav out of construction paper for the children to wave. • Pour water on the ground and read Yeshua’s proclamation (John 7:37). • Read the Book of Ecclesiastes while sitting in your sukkah. • Pray, sing and worship in your sukkah. Read aloud the verses telling of the feast, of Yeshua’s participation in the feast, and of the future Sukkot that is coming. Pray the Amidah from the Siddur. • Make a miniature Sukkah craft with your children. Use popsicle sticks, leaves, get creative. YESHUA CELEBRATED SUKKOT According to John Chapter 7, Yeshua arrived in Judea during the celebration of Sukkot. “Although his disciples had not expected Yeshua to attend the feast, the vast majority of the pilgrims from afar who had heard of Him entertained the hope that they might see Him at Jerusalem. They were not disappointed, for on several occasions He taught in Solomon’s Porch and elsewhere in the temple courts” (Urantia Papers). On Hoshana Rabba, a day when the priests arrived through the Eastern gate waving twenty-five foot willow branches and water from the Pool of Siloam was poured over the alter and the people sang the Hallel Psalms and prayed for the latter rains and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Yeshua stood and cried out: “If anyone is thirsty, let him keep coming to me and drinking! Whoever puts his trust in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his inmost being!” John 7:1-38; also see John 4:14 “Let us know, let us strive to know Adonai. That he will come is as certain as morning; he will come to us like the rain, as the latter and former rain that waters the earth.” Hosea 6:3 During Sukkot, the light from the Golden candlesticks (50 cubits high) illuminated the whole city. Scholars suggest that Yeshua referred to this custom when He spoke those well-known words on the day after Hoshana Rabba, “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” John 8:12; see also John 1:1-9 and 9:5 ALL NATIONS WILL RECOGNIZE SUKKOT “Finally, everyone remaining from all the nations that came to attack Yerushalayim will go up every year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the festival of Sukkot. If any of the families of the earth does not go up to Yerushalayim to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, no rain will fall on them….moreover, there will be the plague with which Adonai will strike the nations that don’t go up to keep the festival of Sukkot…” Zechariah 14:16-19 THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES In synagogues, it is customary to read the entire Book of Ecclesiastes during the Festival of Sukkot. The book teaches that “all” is pointless and utterly meaningless apart from the purposes of God. To totally rely on Adonai was the lesson being taught to the Israelites while they wandered in the wilderness and dwelt in booths. It is the same lesson for us today. TEFILLAT GESHEM: THE PRAYER FOR RAIN Water was also an important part of Sukkot. In Old Testament times, gold pitchers of water were brought from the pool of Siloam to the Temple. The Priest would pour out the water over the altar to signify Israel’s gratitude for the rain that had produced the harvest. He would pray a special pray for rain called Tefillat Geshem and recite: On that day you will say: “I thank you, ADONAI because, although you were angry at me, your anger is now turned away; and you are comforting me. See! God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid for the LORD God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation!” Then you will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation. Isaiah 12:1-3 This special libation was performed only during the seven days of Sukkot. This was done not only to ask God for abundant rain during the winter season, but also to remind the people of the coming Messiah who had promised to pour out His Holy Spirit on the people. Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the LORD your God! For the rain He sends demonstrates His faithfulness. Joel 2:23 Hoshana Rabba is the name of the last day of Sukkot week, meaning the Day of the Great Hosanna, taking its name from the word hoshana (“O Save!”). As the celebration continued, the priests blew the trumpets, waved the branches, and conducted the “water-drawing celebration”, while the people sang the Great Hallel (Psalms 113 through 118). Shemini Azeret literally means “the assembly of the eighth day” from the scriptural command: “On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no manner of servile work” Numbers 29:35. The rabbis have understood this verse as a commandment to celebrate the eighth day of Sukkot as a separate festival. Rabbinic literature explains this day this way: Adonai is like a host, who invites us as visitors for a limited time, but when the time comes for us to leave, He has enjoyed Himself so much that He asks us to stay another day! On this day, the memorial service for the departed (Yizkor) and a special prayer for rain are recited as part of the prayer service in the synagogue. Scriptures that reference Sukkot: Genesis 33:17 Leviticus 23:34-43 Numbers 29:12-40 Deuteronomy 16:13-17 Ezra 3:4 Nehemiah 8:14-18 Zechariah 14:16-21 John 7:1-44 Text excerpts from “A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays” by Robin Sampson and Linda Pierce, 2001 Tefillat Geshem (six stanzas with chorus) O God and God of our fathers, Remember Abraham Who yearned for Your presence Who was blessed by You As a tree planted by streams of water, Who was shielded by You When in his faith He braved fire and water.