Sukkot

The seven-day “Feast of Tabernacles,” Sukkot is one of Judaism’s three pilgrimage festivals and is known as “the Season of Our Joy.” Combining agricultural thanksgiving with historical remembrance, Jews build temporary booths (sukkot) and celebrate God’s protection during the wilderness wandering and His provision of harvest bounty.

Biblical Foundation

Torah Commands

Leviticus 23:39-43: “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days… Live in temporary shelters for seven days… so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt.”

Two Purposes:

1. Agricultural: Fall harvest thanksgiving
2. Historical: Remembering wilderness journey

Deuteronomy 16:13-15: “Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your festival… For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.”

Three Pilgrimage Festivals

Shalosh Regalim:

1. Pesach (Passover) - Spring, barley harvest
2. Shavuot (Weeks/Pentecost) - Early summer, wheat harvest
3. Sukkot (Tabernacles) - Fall, final harvest

Temple Period: Jews traveled to Jerusalem for these festivals

The Sukkah

Building the Booth

Requirements:

• Temporary structure: Not permanent dwelling
• Three walls minimum (four preferred)
• Schach (roof): Natural materials (branches, bamboo, etc.)
• See stars through roof: Roof must provide shade but allow view of sky
• Decoration: Beautiful, festive decorations

Symbolism:

• Fragility of life
• Dependence on God
• Equality (rich and poor in similar structures)
• Trust in divine protection
• Temporary nature of earthly dwelling

Dwelling in the Sukkah

Mitzvah: “You shall dwell in booths seven days”

Practice:

• Eat meals in sukkah
• Some sleep in sukkah (weather/locale permitting)
• Treat as temporary home
• “As if it were your home”

Blessing: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to dwell in the sukkah.”

Ushpizin:

• Inviting spiritual “guests” each night
• Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, David
• Symbolically welcoming patriarchs and leaders

The Four Species

Lulav and Etrog

Four Plants Taken Together:

1. Lulav (לולב): Palm branch
2. Etrog (אתרוג): Citron fruit
3. Hadassim (הדסים): Three myrtle branches
4. Aravot (ערבות): Two willow branches

Based on Leviticus 23:40: “Take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and willows of the brook, and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.”

Symbolic Meanings

Four Types of Jews (Midrash):

• Etrog (taste and smell): Torah knowledge and good deeds
• Lulav (taste, no smell): Torah knowledge without deeds
• Myrtle (smell, no taste): Good deeds without knowledge
• Willow (neither): No knowledge or deeds
• Together: Unity of all Jews, supporting each other

Four Parts of Body:

• Lulav: Spine
• Myrtle: Eyes
• Willow: Lips
• Etrog: Heart
• Together: Whole person serving God

Waving the Four Species

Practice:

• Bound together (lulav bundle)
• Etrog held separately in left hand
• Waved in six directions during Hallel prayer
• East, south, west, north, up, down

Meaning:

• God’s presence everywhere
• Bringing blessings from all directions
• Uniting dispersed Israel
• Gratitude for creation

Liturgy and Customs

Hallel and Hoshanot

Hallel:

• Psalms 113-118 recited joyfully
• Praising God for deliverance and blessings
• Four Species waved during recitation

Hoshanot:

• “Save us” prayers
• Circuits around synagogue with lulav and etrog
• One circuit daily for first six days
• Seven circuits on seventh day (Hoshana Rabbah)
• Torah scroll carried during processions

Hoshana Rabbah

Seventh Day of Sukkot:

• “Great Hosanna”
• Seven circuits around synagogue
• Beating willow branches (symbolic of casting away sins)
• Final sealing of Yom Kippur judgment (tradition)
• All-night Torah study in some communities

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah

Eighth Day (Tishrei 22):

• Shemini Atzeret: “Eighth Day of Assembly”
• Separate festival, conclusion of Sukkot
• Prayer for rain (Geshem)
• Yizkor memorial service

Ninth Day (Diaspora only):

• Simchat Torah: “Rejoicing in Torah”
• Completing annual Torah reading cycle
• Beginning again with Genesis
• Torah scrolls paraded joyfully
• Dancing and celebration
• Children participate actively

Historical Significance

Temple Period

Pilgrimage to Jerusalem:

• Massive gatherings
• Sacrifices offered (Num. 29:12-38)
• Water libation ceremony
• Illumination of Temple courts
• Joyous celebration

Nehemiah 8:

• Sukkot revival after Babylonian exile
• First time celebrated “since days of Joshua”
• Public Torah reading
• Ezra and Nehemiah lead
• Great joy

Water-Drawing Ceremony

Simchat Beit HaShoevah:

• Temple ceremony drawing water from Pool of Siloam
• Poured on altar
• Prayer for rain (agricultural society)
• “Whoever has not seen the rejoicing at the water-drawing ceremony has never seen rejoicing in his life” (Talmud)

Modern Revival:

• Celebrations during Sukkot with music and dancing
• Remembering Temple practice

Theological Themes

Gratitude and Providence

Thanksgiving:

• Harvest safely gathered
• God’s provision acknowledged
• Bounty not taken for granted
• Material and spiritual blessings

Divine Protection:

• God sheltered Israel in wilderness
• Clouds of Glory covered them (tradition)
• Vulnerable yet protected
• Trust in God’s care

Temporariness and Perspective

Fragile Dwellings:

• Life’s impermanence recognized
• Material security is illusion
• Trust God, not structures
• Eternity vs. temporality

Humility:

• All equal in simple booths
• Wealth doesn’t provide security
• God is true shelter
• Dependence on divine grace

Joy and Celebration

“Season of Our Joy”:

• Most joyful of festivals
• Commanded to rejoice
• Gratitude expressed through celebration
• Community and family bonding

Unity

Four Species:

• Different types united
• Diversity in unity
• Supporting one another
• Community stronger together

Sukkot in Christian Tradition

New Testament Connection

Jesus at Sukkot (John 7):

• Jesus teaches at Temple during Sukkot
• “Streams of living water” imagery (relating to water-drawing ceremony)
• Claims to fulfill festival symbolism

Feast of Tabernacles:

• Mentioned in Gospels
• Some Christians observe (particularly Messianic Jews)
• Typology: Jesus as true shelter/tabernacle

Eschatological Significance

Zechariah 14:16-19:

• Nations will come to Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkot
• Messianic age prophecy
• Universal worship of God
• Some Christians see millennial fulfillment

Revelation Imagery:

• God dwelling (tabernacling) with humanity
• New Jerusalem
• Eternal harvest celebration

Modern Christian Observance

Limited Mainstream Observance:

• Most Christians don’t celebrate
• Messianic Jews observe fully
• Some evangelical groups interested
• Educational/experiential participation

Sukkot Around the World

Israel

National Character:

• Sukkot everywhere—homes, streets, public buildings
• Markets sell sukkah materials and Four Species
• Agricultural connection still felt
• National holiday

Ushpizin and Hospitality:

• Inviting guests to sukkah
• Sharing meals
• Community bonding

Diaspora Communities

Diverse Traditions:

• Building sukkot on balconies, yards
• Communal sukkot at synagogues
• Creative decorations
• Maintaining connection to Israel

Ashkenazi vs. Sephardi:

• Different melodies and customs
• Food traditions vary
• Decorating styles differ
• Common core observance

Modern Innovations

Urban Challenges:

• Rooftop sukkot
• Portable/pop-up sukkot
• Balcony construction
• Communal spaces

Environmental Connection:

• Eco-friendly building materials
• Sustainability emphasis
• Harvest festivals
• Reconnecting to nature

Contemporary Relevance

Environmentalism

Creation Care:

• Agricultural festival
• Natural materials
• Appreciating creation
• Stewardship themes

Social Justice

Welcoming Strangers:

• Hospitality commanded
• Including marginalized
• Ushpizin tradition extended to poor
• Sharing abundance

Perspective on Materialism

Temporary Dwellings:

• Challenging material attachment
• Recognizing impermanence
• Gratitude for what we have
• Dependence on God, not wealth

The Message of Sukkot

Sukkot asks: Where is your real security? Not in sturdy houses, bank accounts, or material possessions—these are all temporary. True security is in God alone.

The sukkah is deliberately fragile—a booth that won’t withstand storms, that lets in rain, through which stars are visible. It’s vulnerable. Yet Jewish law requires dwelling there joyfully. This is faith: joy despite vulnerability, trust despite fragility.

The Four Species bundled together teach that we need each other. The etrog with knowledge and deeds, the willow with neither—all bound together, all necessary. No Jew is dispensable. No person is worthless. All contribute to the community.

And Sukkot is called the “Season of Our Joy” because gratitude births joy. When we recognize God’s provision—the harvest gathered, the wilderness journey survived, the protection given—joy overflows.

The sukkah’s temporary roof, open to heaven, reminds us: our true home is not here. We are pilgrims, temporary dwellers, journeying toward a permanent home with God. Like Israel in the wilderness, we are between Egypt and the Promised Land, sustained by divine provision, sheltered by divine presence.

And that open roof, revealing stars—it speaks of hope. The sukkah isn’t a prison but a lookout. We see beyond present circumstances to divine promises. We trust the One who brought Israel through the wilderness to bring us home as well.

“For He will conceal me in His shelter in the day of adversity; He will hide me in the secrecy of His tent.” — Psalm 27:5

Sukkot says: Be joyfully vulnerable. Trust courageously. Give thanks abundantly. Dwell together in unity. And look up—your redemption draws near.