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Sukkot

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Sukkot

15 Tishri

This article was written by Stephen Butterfass for Religious Living on the Web.

"…On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Feast of Huts (Hag Sukkot), seven days for the Eternal. On the first day is a holy convocation, you shall not do menial labor. For seven days you shall bring a fire offering to the Eternal…the eighth day shall be a holy convocation…it is a day of solemn assembly…When you have gathered in the harvest of the land you shall keep the feast of the Eternal seven days; on the first day you shall take the fruit of goodly trees (p'ri etz hadar), branches of palm trees, boughs of thick trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Eternal your God for seven days…you shall dwell in huts for seven days…so that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in huts when I brought them out of Egypt."

(Lev. 23:33-44)

The full moon of Tishri brings Sukkot, called "Zeman Simchatenu," The Season of our Joy. We are commanded by the Torah (Deuteronomy 16:15) to be fully joyful on this day, because God will bless us in our increase and in the work of our hands. The essence of Sukkot is joy and thanksgiving. As we complete the period of reflection and teshuvah for the Days of Awe, we replace its solemnity with a mood of celebration. The mood is perhaps tempered during the week-long festival by the knowledge that it is now autumn, to be followed by winter; we say our Yizkor prayers for the dead and add prayers for rain. The rabbis decreed that the Book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) be read and we are reminded of the bitter-sweet truths that "there is a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted."

The biblical writings assign two origins to the festival: first, the journey of Israel through the wilderness after the Exodus, represented by the fragile hut or sukkah, and second, the celebration of the harvest that will keep Israel alive during the coming year. When the Second Temple stood, according to the Mishna, the pilgrimage festival of Sukkot was a time of ecstasy, when men danced and juggled torches, the Levites played continuously on flute, harps and other instruments, and a water-pouring ceremony was performed to remind God to send rain when it was needed.

"One should make the sukkah your principal abode and your house a temporary dwelling" Mishna Sukkah 2:9

Sukkot begins on the evening of the 15th of Tishri. Released from the introspection of the Days of Awe, we could use some of our energy to construct a sukkah, for the Mitzvah is to dwell in a hut, which can be minimally fulfilled by taking a meal there. Building a sukkah is not hard and is best done with friends and family. The materials include wood, canvas or your sheets for the sides, ropes, hammers, nails, and perhaps concrete blocks to stabilize the wood sides. There are plans available and the First Jewish Catalog has some suggestions and drawings. The sukkah should be sturdy enough to withstand winds and not collapse, yet convey that it is the fragile, temporary structure it is meant to commemorate. It should not be built directly under a tree, must be no more than 20 cubits (approximately 10 yards) nor less than 10 handbreadths (approximately 3 feet) high and must have at least three walls. The roofing of the sukkah, called s'cach, is traditionally leafy branches, green and not dried out, arranged so that one can view the sky and later stars through the roof. It is customary to decorate it with fruits of the season, with gourds, cornstalks, and perhaps other wild stalk plants, such as phragmites, that grow here.

The sukkah is meant to be enjoyed, to share meals in with friends, family and perhaps others who could use the companionship and the chance to participate in a mitzvah. There is also a tradition from the mystics of Safed, that on each of the seven nights of Sukkot, one of the biblical heroes (heroines now certainly) are symbolically invited to sit in the sukkah. Called ushpizin, these invisible guests provide a link with Jewish history. After entering the sukkah, it is customary to partake of food and wine, saying the blessing over the wine, a festival Kiddush, and including on the first night a Sheh-hechianu, praising God for giving us life and enabling us to reach this moment. The following blessing is also said:

Baruch atah Adonai, eloheynu melech ha-olam a-sher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzi-vanu leysheyv ba-sukkah.

Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Who makes us holy through Your commandments, and commands us to dwell in the sukkah.

It is a mitzvah during Sukkot to gather Arba-ah Minim, the four species mentioned in Leviticus, representing the ingathering of the harvest produce. The hadar or fruit of goodly trees is of course the etrog, a yellow citron fruit. The branches of palm trees is the lulav, the boughs of leafy trees is represented by myrtle branches, or hadas, and last are willows, called aravot. The lulav is now made up of three of the four species; the single palm branch, made up of many long spiny leaves, is bound or held together by bands and by a holder of woven palm. The palm branch rests in the center of the holder, which has two pockets, one on the right holding three myrtle branches and one on the left containing two willow branches.

The etrog and lulav can be purchased by mail from a Jewish book store but I have always preferred the trips to the Lower East Side after Yom Kippur. There, dozens of tables are set up in the street and manned by competing vendors, who seem to be either Israelis or Orthodox Jews. You can bargain, the best prices to be had the closer you get to Sukkot, and choose your ideal etrog and the components of the lulav. The concept of "hiddur mitzvah", beautifying, enhancing or adorning the commandment, applies here, and the idea is to acquire the most beautiful, the most nearly perfect that your eye and patience and money can find. Basically, the etrog must be of a good yellow color, have a pleasing, symmetrical shape, not have any discoloration or black spots, and, most importantly, its stem-like protuberance called the pitam must be intact. The lulav should be fresh, not dried up, at least 14 inches long, with its backbone intact and extending from tip to bottom. The leaves of the myrtle branches should grow in clusters of three and the willows in clusters of two, and the branches of all three should be checked to see that the leaves are not torn, broken, or missing.

The ritual of waving the lulav is called "bensching lulav" and is done during every morning service during Sukkot except Shabbat. While facing east, the lulav is held in the right hand and the etrog in the left, hands together, with the pitam downward. The following blessing is said, which on the first day is followed by the Sheh-hechianu prayer:

Baruch atah Adonai eloheynu melech ha-olam, ash-er kid'shanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzi-vanu al n'tilat lulav.

Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the Universe, who makes us holy through Your commandments and has commanded us concerning the waving of the lulav.

The etrog is then shifted so the pitam is now up. With the hands together, you stretch your arms out in front of you and with a shaking motion strong enough to rustle the lulav's leaves, reach out and draw in three times. Slowly and deliberately, the same motions are repeated - to your right, over your shoulder, to the left, up towards the sky, and down towards the earth, so that all six directions of the universe are taken in. Perhaps the waving symbolizes God's dominion over nature, the triumph over the pagan nature gods. Perhaps this is a remnant of sympathetic magic, meant to stimulate the earth's fertility.

A traditional midrash explains that the four species represent different types of Jews, with taste equated with learning and smell with good deeds. The etrog, which is both tasty and aromatic, represents those who study Torah and do good deeds; the palm, which has no smell but produces tasty fruit, those who study but do not act; the myrtle, which has smell but no taste, those who do good deeds but do not study; the willow, with neither taste nor smell, represents those who neither study nor act. According to the midrash, all four types are necessary to a community.

Chag Semayach!

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