CHAPTER 7.
The Feast of Temporary Dwellings
The feast of Sukkoth ("sue-COAT") lasts seven days--from the 15th until the 21st days of the seventh Hebrew month. Sukkoth is plural for sukkah ("SUE-ka"), which is often translated "booth", "hut", or "tabernacle" in the sense of a tent; i.e., it can refer to any kind of temporary structure--one that does not completely keep the weather out. It is even paralleled with a "hiding place" in Psalm 18:11; 31:20, and Job 38:40.
But YHWH knew the participants would not want to stop after seven days, so there is another day tacked on, the 22nd of the month. It is the "eighth" day of the seven-day feast, and is called Shmini Atzereth ("SHMEE-nee ah-TSAIR-et"). Shmini means "eighth". (It is actually also the eighth festival of the year as well.) Atzereth covers the range of meaning from "conclusion", "encore", "affectionate farewell", "enclosure" to "detaining" or "extension". So it is not officially part of Sukkoth, but functions as a continuation of it. It is described by some as an expression of the fact that YHWH, our host, has enjoyed His guests so much that He wants them to stay another day. It is a picture of the way the world will be after the Kingdom has made everything complete, when YHWH can finally be fully at home on the earth.
This last day is the day on which Yahshua called out loudly in the temple that if anyone was thirsty for living water (a symbol of the Torah as interpreted and applied through the spirit, not just the letter), they should come to him and drink. (Yochanan/John 7).
There are more commands in regard to Sukkoth than for most festivals:
"On the first day there shall be a holy gathering: you shall do no servile labor. Seven days you shall bring an offering made by fire to YHWH; on the eighth day, you shall have a holy rehearsal, and you shall burn the fire offering unto YHWH… Take for yourselves on the first day, the fruit of majestic [or ornamental] trees, [date] palm branches (lulavim), and boughs of trees with interwoven foliage, and willows of the brook, and shall rejoice before YHWH your Elohim for seven days… You shall live in temporary dwellings for seven days; all who are home-born in Israel." (Lev. 23:34-43)
Seventy bulls are to be offered at the Temple throughout the seven days: thirteen the first day, twelve the second, and so on down to seven on the seventh day. (Num. 29:12-38)
This feast comes "…after you have gathered in your grain and your wine, and you must rejoice…because YHWH will bless you in all your produce and in all the undertakings of your hands." (Deut. 16:13-15) Everyone in the household, including the servants, is to participate and have the time off from work. The ceasing of work is mandatory on the first day and the eighth. The intermediate days, as at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, are called "ordinary days of the festival" when essential work may be done as needed.
The release of slaves at the end of six years takes place during this festival (Deut. 31:10) as the sabbatical (shmittah) year begins, and the sabbatical year ends at Sukkoth the following year. The second tithe is used to provide for this festival so that everyone can live lavishly during this time, no matter how poor they are the rest of the year. And YHWH even says this is one occasion when we can drink all the strong drink we want. (Deut. 14:26)
Some other names for Sukkoth are Hag haAsif ("the Festival of Ingathering", i.e., harvest), Z'man Simkhateynu ("Season of our Rejoicing"), and Hag haMayim ("Festival of Water"), both because of a special ceremony that will be discussed below and since rainy season is expected to begin soon after it is over. Some time during the festival is devoted to praying for the much-needed rain, as it is said that YHWH decides at this time what the allotment of rain will be for each land in the coming year. Also, if there is ever a mention in Scripture of "the feast" without identifying which one it is, it refers to Sukkoth.
Themes:
Reminder of our ancestors' time in the wilderness (Lev. 23:43). It reminds us not to depend on our secure houses for protection, since YHWH is our real protector.
Foretaste of the Kingdom ("Messianic End of Days"): Sukkoth is one rehearsal for the day when the real pilgrimages will again be possible.
Firstfruits of all crops except barley and wheat are brought to the Temple at this time. (Lev. 23:39)
All nations: During the Kingdom, when every nation on earth will be required to send a delegation up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Sukkoth. Those who don't come won't get rain. (Zechariah 14:16-19) 70 bulls are offered, representing the fact that all nations (70 are listed in Genesis 10) will be ruled by the Messiah.
Joy and rejoicing (Deut. 16:14; compare "Behold, I bring you news of great joy to all the peoples." Luke 2:10)
The actual time of Messiah's birth: in contrast to the false celebration in December, Sukkoth is just after the harvest, when shepherds still would have their sheep out in the fields. It is the last of the three pilgrimage festivals required of all able-bodied men, so Joseph would combine the trip to Bethlehem for the census with the also-mandatory journey to the Temple. Not everyone could lodge in Jerusalem at such a crowded time, so many would spill over into the surrounding towns. This explains why there was no room in the inn at Bethlehem, less than five miles away. (The census mentioned in the New Testament was not taken all at once.) Jacob built stables for his animals when he re-entered the promised land. (Genesis 33) The Hebrew word translated "stables" here is none other than sukkoth! In fact, where it says, "The Word was fleshed out and dwelt among us", the last phrase actually means he "lived in a temporary dwelling"--like a tent, or a sukkah! How fitting! And this festival has an eighth day, which would be when he was circumcised.
Hospitality: Guests are invited into one's sukkah to eat together. Seven very honored guests called ushpizin (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David) are symbolically invited into the sukkah. (Some include their wives as well.)
Jewish Traditions:
In the Diaspora (dispersion), a ninth day called Simkhat Torah ("Rejoicing in the Instruction") was added, while in the Land of Israel, it is celebrated concurrently with Shmini Atzereth on the eighth day. For those on a yearly or triennial Torah-reading cycle, the last, then first portions of the Torah are read on this day.
Each evening there was a ceremony called Simkhat Beyt haSho'evah ("Rejoicing in the place of the water-drawing") in which water was drawn from the Pool of Shiloakh (Siloam). Even the melody of the lively song U-sha'avtem Mayim (taken from Isaiah 12:3) is thought to date all the way back to this time. After sunset there was great celebration in the Court of Women including special dances by the sages; some even juggled lighted torches! The four great lights that stood in that courtyard lit up the whole city of Jerusalem except the Qidron Valley, and for that reason it was called "the Valley of the Shadow of Death". The huge oil lamps used the worn-out undergarments and belts belonging to the priests as wicks. Young priests-in-training were the ones who carried the oil up the poles to the lamps. The next day there was another ceremony called Nisukh haMayim ("water-pouring") in which that water as well as wine were poured into two different holes in the altar and flowed through special conduits back down into the Qidron Valley.
For the last day of the Feast while the Temple stood, willow branches were cut from Motzah, just west of Jerusalem, and brought to the Temple, where the people circled the altar carrying the willow branches, which made a swishing sound like the wind, and then with them built a sukkah right over top of the altar!
The traditional form of the "taking" of the arba minim (four species mentioned in Lev. 23) is to bind the three green parts (willow branches, palm frond, and myrtle branches) together with a specially-designed wicker holder, and hold the yellow etrog fruit up against it, shaking them together in the four cardinal directions as well as toward the heavens and toward the earth, and saying the blessing, "For the sake of the unification of the Name, Yod-heh with vav-heh…" This is, in part, to acknowledge YHWH's presence everywhere and to draw Him to ourselves as we gather in the resources needed for winter.
A sukkah may be of any size, but traditionally must have at least three sides. Some obtain a prefabricated sukkah, while others build them from scratch. But the roof in particular needs to be made of natural plant material--often more palm branches. By tradition, one must be able to see three stars through openings in the roof (though the whole roof may be waterproofed such as with a tarpaulin if it should rain early). This bears some correlation to the "star" that announced Yahshua's birth at this time.
The sukkah is often decorated with real or artificial fruits and vegetables to represent the plentiful harvest YHWH has brought. The "tackier" the sukkah's decorations, the better, they say.
German Jews had a tradition of holding a bonfire to burn the materials the sukkah was made of after the holiday is over.
Additional traditions we have at Beth Lechem:
We spend the entire feast together rather than going back and forth to our homes, in order to recall the fact that pilgrims would stay in Jerusalem for the whole time when the Temple stood.
We go camping and have a community meal area and a community sukkah in addition to our tents. The sukkah is modular enough to be expanded from year to year as needed. We only have two full meals per day, plus a snack between them, because we found we were eating or preparing food nearly all the time otherwise!
We set up the communal areas first, then personal tents, but we all pitch in and help others set up their tents as well. Everyone has a job assigned well before the feast, and we all take turns cooking and cleaning up after meals.
Throughout the week there are numerous Scriptural teachings, especially about what went on in the Temple during Sukkoth in ancient times and its significance.
We start each day with a shakharit (dawn prayer) liturgy except on the Sabbath and high days.
We go on at least one outing during the week (usually an educational day trip to a museum, historical site, or park or special interest) on one of the intermediate days, and have fun activities like talent shows, contests, or movies, often with a Sukkoth theme.
Campfire when it is cold enough, with kosher marshmallows!
The children decorate the sukkah with items they have made and with pictures that remind us of what went on in Jerusalem at Sukkoth when the Temple stood.
Sleep in the sukkah some nights. At other times we encircle the sukkah seven times, singing "Hoshianah" to recall the encircling of the altar in Temple times.
Each year we have certain words or phrases that can only be said in Hebrew throughout the whole week.
We paint a mural depicting special events of that year to add to our "archive".
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11. The Added Fasts
An Introduction to the Hebrew Calendar
