{"id":107402,"date":"2024-10-16T17:05:48","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T15:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=107402"},"modified":"2024-10-16T14:09:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T12:09:21","slug":"06-05-95","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=107402","title":{"rendered":"Sukkot FAQ"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Sukkot FAQ<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n


\nTHE EDITORS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Everything you ever wanted to know about the Feast of Tabernacles<\/strong><\/span>.
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WHAT IS SUKKOT?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The year\u2019s first harvest holiday, Sukkot celebrates the pilgrimage Jews made to the Temple in Jerusalem, bearing fruits and sacrifices. Traditionally, people build temporary dwellings\u2014sukkahs\u2014eating and sleeping in them during the holiday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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WHAT\u2019S IT ALL ABOUT?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sukkot is without doubt the most action-packed of all Jewish holidays. We\u2019re commanded to build a temporary dwelling, take our meals\u00a0al fresco<\/em>, shake special tree branches, and so on. This, in part, has to do with the fact that Sukkot (together with Shavuot and Passover) is one of\u00a0shloshet ha\u2019regalim<\/em>, or the three festivals of pilgrimage, occasions on which the ancient Israelites traveled to Jerusalem and worshipped at the Temple. This means it\u2019s both a religious\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0an agricultural celebration, calling for all manner of ritual.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The holiday, the Bible instructs us, is to be celebrated \u201cat the end of the year when you gather in your labors out of the field,\u201d after you\u2019ve gathered your harvest \u201cin from your threshing-floor and from your winepress.\u201d Sukkot, then, is the time to survey\u2014and give thanks for\u2014the land\u2019s bounty, a classic agricultural feast for a classic agricultural society.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A remnant of the ancient traditions is still visible in\u00a0simchat beit ha\u2019shoeva<\/em>, or rejoicing at the place of drawing water, a celebration immediately following Sukkot. As Sukkot is also believed to be the time of year when God determines the world\u2019s rainfall for the coming year, a special ceremony was held in the ancient Temple called\u00a0nisuch ha\u2019mayim<\/em>, or the water libation ceremony, in which the priests would draw water from a Jerusalem pool and pray for rain. Following the ceremony, the worshippers would make their way to the Temple\u2019s outer courtyard, where they would sing, dance, and give praise to God. While there\u2019s no more Temple, and no more water-drawing ceremony, it\u2019s still customary for Jews to get together in song and dance.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But, Jews being Jews, the here-and-now of nature itself is nothing without history, and Leviticus makes it clear that the festival is also a time to commemorate the Israelites\u2019 triumphant past: \u201cYou shall live in booths seven days,\u201d it reads. \u201cAll citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.\u201d To hark back to our times of wandering, Jews are commanded to take all their meals in the sukkah, Hebrew for booth or hut.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This temporary reminder of our temporary dwelling in the desert, however, needn\u2019t be just a solemn occasion to contemplate our historical hardships. Another key Sukkot tradition is welcoming\u00a0ushpizin<\/em>, or guests, into our sukkah. This custom, too, is not without its bit of religious significance: As the holiday lasts for seven days, we welcome in seven symbolic guests: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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While the first two days of Sukkot are considered the holiday proper, the following five are referred to as\u00a0Hol Hamoed<\/em>, or the weekdays of the festival. During these days, none of the holiday\u2019s religious restrictions apply, but Jews are forbidden from strenuous work and are commanded to use that time for enjoyment.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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WHAT DO WE EAT?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Unlike other holidays, there are no specific foods uniquely associated with the holiday. That said, because Sukkot celebrates the harvest, some people like to prepare seasonal vegetables and very often they decorate their sukkahs\u2014in which it is a mitzvah to take meals\u2014with gourds, strung popcorn, and other food stuffs.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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ANY DOS AND DON\u2019TS?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Perhaps the best known Sukkot custom involves the Four Species, or\u00a0arba minim<\/em>, as they\u2019re known in Hebrew: a palm frond (lulav<\/em>), myrtle tree boughs (hadass<\/em>), willow tree branches (aravah<\/em>), and a citron (etrog<\/em>). Throughout the holiday, the four are held together daily and waved around daily along with an accompanying prayer, a commemoration of a similar ceremony practiced by the Temple\u2019s priests in the ancient days.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Four Species, tradition has it, symbolize both nature\u2019s offerings and humanity\u2019s taxonomy: the\u00a0lulav<\/em>\u00a0has taste but no smell, symbolizing those Jews who read the Torah but don\u2019t bother with good deeds; the\u00a0hadass<\/em>\u00a0is fragrant but tasteless, symbolizing those Jews who do good deeds but don\u2019t read the Torah; the\u00a0aravah<\/em>\u00a0has neither taste nor smell, just like those Jews who care for neither good deeds nor the good book; and the\u00a0etrog<\/em>\u00a0has both, symbolizing one perfect Jew.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And while it\u2019s important to fulfill every mitzvah to the letter, when the Four Species are involved, Jews are traditionally far more careful with\u00a0hiddur mitzvah<\/em>, literally meaning the beautification of the good deed: rather than just buy the four species and perform the waving ritual, Jews take great pains to find absolute perfect exemplars of each four items, often paying top dollar in the process. This is particularly true of the\u00a0etrog<\/em>, which, the Bible tells us, must be flawless to be considered kosher.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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ANYTHING GOOD TO READ?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sukkot being a major festival, the\u00a0Mussaf<\/em>, or additional fourth daily prayer customary on significant holidays, is read daily. Synagogue congregants also sing the\u00a0Hallel<\/em>, a prayer consisting of six psalms and designed as a joyous expression of thanksgiving to God. A final liturgical tradition is that of the\u00a0Hoshanot<\/em>, or supplications.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Throughout the holiday we commemorate the ancient ritual pilgrims to the Temple by circling the altar carrying willow branches and the four species and reciting the\u00a0Hoshanot<\/em>. The seventh day of Sukkot, therefore, is called\u00a0Hoshana Rabbah<\/em>, or the great supplication, and is marked by a special ceremony in which congregants circle the synagogue seven times carrying the\u00a0lulav<\/em>\u00a0and the\u00a0etrog<\/em>\u00a0and reciting\u00a0Hoshanot<\/em>. Many communities also blow the shofar after every circling. The ceremony, tradition has it, marks God\u2019s final judgment of the world. After deciding our fate on Yom Kippur, and mulling over the downfall of rain throughout Sukkot, the Almighty finally adjudges future precipitation, the final aspect of human life that must be determined.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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ANYTHING ELSE TO DO?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2022 Watch the\u00a0five best sukkah time-lapse videos<\/a>\u00a0on YouTube.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2022 Make Joan Nathan\u2019s\u00a0Ultimate Stuffed Cabbage<\/a>\u2014the perfect one-pot recipe for Sukkot.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2022 Use your etrog to make\u00a0preserves or\u00a0liqueur<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2022 Meet America\u2019s only\u00a0large-scale\u00a0etrog<\/em>\u00a0farmer, a Presbyterian named John Kirkpatrick.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2022\u00a0Print out some\u00a0Girls<\/em>-themed<\/a>\u00a0Ushpizin<\/em>\u00a0decorations for your sukkah.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2022\u00a0Read\u00a0Ecclesiastes<\/a>, the classic biblical\u00a0text\u00a0for Sukkot.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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From the editors of Tablet Magazine.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Sukkot FAQ THE EDITORS Everything you ever wanted to know about the Feast of Tabernacles. . WHAT IS SUKKOT? The year\u2019s first harvest holiday, Sukkot celebrates the pilgrimage Jews made to the Temple in Jerusalem, bearing fruits and sacrifices. Traditionally, people build temporary dwellings\u2014sukkahs\u2014eating and sleeping in them during the holiday. WHAT\u2019S IT ALL ABOUT? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107402"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107402"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116378,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107402\/revisions\/116378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=107402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=107402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}