Sukkot - Feast of Tabernacles

"...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 Z'mn Simchateinu (in Hebrew), the Season of our Rejoicing.

Sukkot is the last of the Shalosh R'galim (three pilgrimage festivals). Like Passover and Shavu'ot, 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 Chag Ha-Asif (in Hebrew), 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 name of the holiday is frequently translated "Feast of Tabernacles," which, like many translations of Jewish terms, isn't very useful. This translation is particularly misleading, because the word "tabernacle" in the Bible refers to the portable Sanctuary in the desert, a precursor to the Temple, called in Hebrew "mishkan." The Hebrew word "sukkah" (plural: "sukkot") refers to the temporary booths that people lived in, not to the Tabernacle.

Sukkot lasts for seven days. The two days following the festival, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, are separate holidays but are related to Sukkot and are commonly thought of as part of Sukkot.

Sukkot commemorates God’s faithfulness to the Children of Israel while they lived in temporary shelters, or booths, in the wilderness for 40 years on their way to the promise land.

It is also a Jewish tradition to "welcome" the seven shepherds of Israel (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moshe, Aaron, Joseph and David) as guests (ushpizin) into one's Sukkah throughout the festival. Each day has a designated honored guest.

• Abraham represents love and kindness - Thursday
• Isaac represents restraint and personal strength - Friday
• Jacob represents beauty and truth - Saturday
• Moses represents eternality and dominance through Torah - Sunday
• Aaron represents empathy and receptivity to divine splendor - Monday
• Joseph represents holiness and the spiritual foundation - Tuesday
• David represents the establishment of the kingdom of heaven on earth - Wednesday

The Feast of Tabernacles begins on the 13th, Thursday evening.  As part of the Celebration of the Feast, we will be building the sukkas in the prayer garden. Everyone is invited to schedule a family sukka meal in one of the sukkas during the week of the Feast from Thursday the 13th thru Thursday the 20th. Please provide your own meal. The meal can be breakfast, lunch or dinner. Sukkas will be available by reservation only.  Please stop by the foyer and pay for your reservations beginning on Friday the 7th.

You can call us at 210-675-4023 to place your reservation today!