Sukkot
Sukkot, also known as the Feast of the Tabernacles or Booths, is a significant Jewish holiday that falls on the 15th day of Tishri, occurring in September or October. The festival lasts for eight days, with Orthodox and Conservative Jews observing the first two and last two days as full holidays, while Reform Jews celebrate just the first and last days. Sukkot commemorates both the agricultural harvest and the historical journey of the Israelites during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness. The holiday's name reflects its dual significance, originally a harvest festival that evolved to remind participants of their reliance on divine providence.
During Sukkot, it is customary to dwell in a sukkah, a temporary booth designed to symbolize the fragility of human life and the equality of all before God. The observance includes rituals that highlight thanksgiving and reflection, particularly on the seventh day, known as Hoshana Rabbah. As part of the celebration, Simhat Torah, which honors the Torah, is observed either separately or alongside the final day of Sukkot, depending on the Jewish denomination. Overall, Sukkot serves as a time of joy, remembrance, and community within the Jewish faith.
Sukkot
In the Jewish calendar, the first full day of Sukkot (the Feast of the Tabernacles or Booths) is the 15th day of the lunar month of Tishri (in the course of September or October). Sukkot, like all other Jewish holidays, begins at sundown on the preceding evening (in 1970 the 15th day of Tishri coincided with October 15).
The holiday lasts for eight days although only the first two days and last two days are considered full holidays by Orthodox and Conservative Jews, while Reform Jews celebrate the first and last days only as full holidays. The last day of Sukkot is called Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth Day of Solemn Assembly. During the Middle Ages a ninth day had the name Simhat Torah, the Rejoicing in the Law. Today Orthodox and Conservative Jews continue to celebrate Simhat Torah as a separate holiday. In Israel Simhat Torah is observed together with Shemini Atzeret on the eighth day of Sukkot. Reform Jews similarly observe Simhat Torah and Shemini Atzeret on the same day.
Although the precise origins are uncertain, it is generally believed that the observance of Sukkot began after the Jews ended their forty years of wandering in the wilderness and entered the promised land of Canaan. Sukkot is one of the three great pilgrimage festivals, the others being Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks), during which all male Jews were supposed to go to the Temple in Jerusalem. Since Sukkot occurs at the end of the fruit and wine harvest, it was one of the three important harvest festivals in ancient times. In the Bible it is referred to as Hehag, literally “The Festival.”
Sukkot is also referred to in the Bible as Hag HaAsif, the Feast of the Ingathering, and as Hag HaSukkot, the Feast of the Booths. These two names reflect the dual quality of the holiday. Although originally it was only a harvest festival, the zeman simhatenu or “time of our rejoicing,” later a historical significance was added to the holiday. The custom of dwelling in booths during Sukkot, although originally probably connected with the harvest, came to commemorate Israel's dwelling in tents during the forty-year wandering in the wilderness. The commandment is given in Leviticus 23:42-43: “Ye shall dwell in booths seven days.…That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.” With the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in CE 70, many of the ancient customs of Sukkot, especially those having to do with the Temple's sacrificial rituals, were abandoned.
According to Jewish tradition the sukkah or “booth” used during Sukkot must be specially built for the festival, and thatched so as to be a protection against the sun by day while allowing the stars to shine through at night so that one can see the heavens and direct one's heart to God. In ancient times the booth served as a dwelling place for the entire seven days, and all males were supposed to live in booths unless prevented by illness or another valid cause. For seven days the booth was his home, and the true house became only a temporary home. The booth's fragility symbolized the brevity and insecurity of all human life and especially the transitory character of Jewish life throughout most of history. The memory of the wandering in the wilderness reminded Jews at this time of thanksgiving of how dependent upon God they were. Even for those who had better harvests than their neighbors, which in modern times might translate as greater wealth, the command that during Sukkot all Jews should live in booths (which had to conform to certain dimensions) emphasized the equality of all people before God as in the days in the wilderness.
The seventh day of Sukkot is called Hoshana Rabbah, literally “the great hosanna.” Hoshana Rabbah became an important holiday in its own right during the Middle Ages, when it acquired the characteristics of a second Day of Atonement.
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Mehta, Samira. "On Sukkot, the Jewish ‘Festival of Booths,’ Each Sukkah Is as Unique as the Person Who Builds It." The Conversation, theconversation.com/on-sukkot-the-jewish-festival-of-booths-each-sukkah-is-as-unique-as-the-person-who-builds-it-213201. Accessed 1 May 2024.