|
The
feast of Tabernacles, the harvest festival, a time of joy - these
are the names of the feast of Sukkot which begins on the 15th of
the Jewish month of Tishri (usually falling in September of the
secular calendar).
This
festival follows the time of repentance (observed at Rosh Hashanah
- New Year - and culminating ten days later on Yom Kippur the Day
of Atonement).
Harvest
time...
At
the time of the Jerusalem temple, thousands of pilgrims travelled
to the temple to receive blessings for their crops and vineyards.
The people left their usual residences and lived in shelters known
as 'sukkot' (plural) and celebrated for seven days in the abundance
of the harvest.
 |
| Sukkah
at Birmingham Progessive Synagogue |
The
purpose of the temporary dwellings was to in some way experience
the fate of their ancestors who wandered through the wilderness
for 40 years before entering the Promised Land. The Torah (Five
books of Moses) commands: "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." (Leviticus 23:42-43).
Decorating
the synagogue...
In
modern times, the construction of the sukkah begins after Yom Kippur
and can be small shelters on a balcony or patio, decorated with
leaves and fruit. Each synagogue will construct its own sukkah.The
roof should have enough gaps in so that it's possible to see the
stars, but not let the rain in!
 |
| Lulav
and etrog |
There
is a commandment in the Bible to use specific fruits and greenery.
These are the etrog (a type of citrus fruit), a palm bough (lulav),
two willow branches (arava) and three myrtle twigs (Hadas). The
lulav, arava and hadas are joined together to symbolise the different
types of people in the world who are bound together by their common
humanity, relying on each other and working together regardless
of what qualities they have as individuals.
Helping
those in need...
The
sukkah symbolises our frailty and dependence on God. It is also
a time when we think of people who are homeless. Some communities
have sponsored sleep-ins in aid of charities for the homeless.
During
the Sukkot service the etrog is held aloft in the left hand and
the branches held together in the right hand and a special blessing
is said. The bunch is waved in different directions to symbolise
all the corners of the earth and God's rule over the entire earth.
|
Sukkot
or The Feast of Tabernacles, commemorates the years that the
Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land,
and celebrates the way in which God took special care of them
under impossible conditions.
