All About Sukkot

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Have you ever taken a class on how to celebrate Easter or Christmas? Of course not!

People grow up with these holidays and celebrating them becomes second nature and as natural as breathing. These holidays are based on the modern culture. The Biblical Holy Days are based from a Biblical culture and worldview. To keep the Biblical Holy Days one must first learn all about the festival and then celebrate, and doing this is not so easy. So, here is a topical and concise overview of the Feast of Sukkot, more commonly known as the Feast of Tabernacles. Hopefully with this review of the festival, celebrating the Holy Day of Sukkot will be as easy as A,B,C...

A - All about the festival, a simple overview

B - Biblical references concerning the holy day

C - Celebration information on how to make the day special

A All about the festival

Welcome to the great outdoors – the festival when believers leave the confines of their home and get in touch with their ancestors by building a “sukkah” or temporary dwelling place

Sukkah is the Hebrew word for: hut, temporary dwelling, tent, booth

This festival is a seven day long celebration beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh Biblical month

Sukkot is followed directly by Shemini Atzeret and then the Jewish holy day of Simchat Torah.
Sukkot is exactly six months from Pesach or Passover.

It is believed that the Puritan colonists, who were great students of the Hebrew Scriptures and Hebrew culture, based the first Thanksgiving on Sukkot. Some historians teach that the original Thanksgiving was really a Sukkot celebration. Celebrating Thanksgiving on the third Thursday of November was set up by the American government and probably does not coincide when the original pilgrims held the first meal.
The Rabbis consider Sukkot to be the “Jewish Thanksgiving”

Sukkot occurs during the time in Israel before the later rains and during the second harvest
Sukkot marks the same time period when building of the mishkan, or tabernacle, started
Sukkot has been called “Ha-Chag” or “the Festival”

Sukkot is called by many names: “Zeman Simkhateinu” or “Season of our rejoicing” and the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles. It is also called “Chag Ha-Asif” or “Festival of Ingathering”
The Torah says no work is permitted on the first day and the eighth days of Sukkot – these are Shabbatons and should be honored by Yisra’el.

Sukkah occurs five days after the holy day of Yom Kippur – the time of teshuvah and sadness is traded for a time and season of joy – the scriptures say “weeping may last for the night but joy comes in the morning”

This is one of the three “pilgrimage festivals,” which means every Hebrew male is required to come to Jerusalem during this seven day period King Solomon (Shlomo) dedicated the temple during this festival (see 1 Kings 8)

Sukkah includes an item known as the “lulav.” The lulav is a combination of the “4 species” or four items mentioned in the scriptures with the subject of Sukkot. Traditional Judaism teaches these four items are the: citron or etrog, myrtle, palm, and willow branches.

The lulav is a collection of freshly-cut branches-a palm frond, two willow branches, and three secured branches-that are all bound together.

The Torah does NOT identify the Jewish lulav exactly. It does identify in Leviticus 23 and Nehemiah 8: any leafy tree, any palm tree, any branch of a fruit tree or any fruit, and any type of willow branch that grows near water. (Yahweh allows a wide variety) These biblical four species are used in building the sukkah. They are also used traditionally as a wave offering to Yahweh.

The Torah commands that believes are to build a sukkah, yet it does not describe how many walls the sukkah should have or exactly how the sukkah should look

The Jews have literally thousands of commands concerning the sukkah and Sukkot, yet the Torah speaks very little about the subject, giving the believer freedom to worship in various ways.

This festival is about both a historical and agricultural event – the harvest time and the time Israel spent the 40 years in the wilderness

Sukkot reminds believers about the clouds of glory that surrounded Israel during the wilderness time

Is a festive holy day with the colors and objects of harvest time – similar to Thanksgiving

The sukkah is usually highly decorated with colorful plants and greenery and even stringed lights.

The scriptures teach that believers are to “dwell” in the sukkah for seven days literally meaning to spend time in the sukkah, various translations for this word as: dwell, stay, live. Some people spend the entire week living in their sukkah while others enter the sukkah for meals, family time, worship, relax, or study.

The Sages of Judaism teach that it is a great mitzvah and blessing to spend the night in the sukkah.
During Bible times water was a very important part of the Feast of Tabernacles. Before the holy days of Sukkot, the Rabbis would teach about the Biblical principles of water and rain. Golden pitchers of water were brought from the pool of Siloam to the temple. The priest would pour out the water over the altar to signify Israel’s gratitude for the raid that had produced the harvest and would pray for rain in the coming months. The priest would recite Isaiah 12:1-3.

To commemorate the drawing of water from the rock at Horeb, Exodus 17:1-7, on the morning of the first day of Sukkot and everyday after that a priest would take the jars of water, circle the altar once, and then pour it out. On the last and seventh day of Sukkot the priest would circle the altar seven times and then pour the water on the altar to wash away the blood of the mornings sacrifices. This ritual is known as “Simchat Bet Ha-sho-evah” or “the Rejoicing of the House of Drawing Water.” It was during this festival, during this time that Yahshua said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water,” Yochannan 7:37-38

Part of Sukkot is the water drawing ceremony. In Isaiah 12:3 it says: "Joyfully shall you draw water, from the fountains or the wells of salvation." Who is the source of this water? Messiah Yahshua! Water gives life, Yahshua gives life, the Torah gives life and when the water is poured out it is like the pouring out of the Ruach HaKodesh in Joel 2:28-29.

Sukkot is believed to be the time when Messiah was born and placed in “manger” or sukkah – see Luke 2:7

Matthew 2:1 teaches that the “wise men” or “rabbis” that came from the east to Yahshua and saw the star – oddly it is tradition that you should be able to see the stars through the roof of your sukkah. Also the shepherds were out at night and saw the star of Yahshua. They traditionally would have been out during this time of Sukkot and the weather in Israel is permitting for this type of activities. The Mishnah states that the shepherds in Bethlehem would normally bring in their flocks to a “protective corral” during the months of November through February. So the idea that shepherds were in the fields at night during this time is very possible. (They certainly were not in the fields at night in December!)

Most theologians believe that Yahshua’s ministry lasted 3 and one half years. Being that Yahshua died on Passover, if you backtrack the time you will see that He was born during Sukkot.

Remember that there was no room in the inn for Yoseph and Miriam to stay in Bethlehem. The book of Luke states a census was being taken of all Hebrews. Surely the Romans would count and tax the Hebrews in Israel when the largest number of them was in the land. During this festival all Hebrew males were commanded to come to Jerusalem. Bethlehem is only a few short miles away from Jerusalem, so evidently the inn was full with Sukkot travelers. Or perhaps the inn was a place to pay to put up your own sukkah and not a “hotel” as has always been thought. There was no room for the couple so Yahshua was born in a Sukkah – not a manger.

Sukkot is a foreshadow of the coming new heavens and new earth that will descend from Yahweh
The new heavens and the new earth are pictured in the scriptures as a cube shape – similar to a sukkah shape.

Sukkot is a picture of Yahweh dwelling with His people, yesterday, today, and forever

B Biblical references

“Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops you sow in your field,” Exodus 23:16.
“Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month Yahweh’s Feast of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present offerings made to Yahweh by fire, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made to Yahweh by fire. It is the closing assembly; do no regular work.”

“‘These are Yahweh’s appointed feasts, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing offerings made to Yahweh by fire—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. These offerings are in addition to those for Yahweh’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to Yahweh,” Deuteronomy 7:6-8

“‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to Yahweh for seven days; the first day is a day of rest, and the eighth day also is a day of rest. On the first day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before Yahweh your Elohim for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to Yahweh for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in booths for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am Yahweh your Elohim.’” So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed feasts of Yahweh,” Leviticus 23:35:-44

“Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your Feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. For seven days celebrate the Feast to Yahweh your Elohim at the place Yahweh will choose. For Yahweh you Elohim will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. Three times a year all your men must appear before Yahweh your Elohim at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before Yahweh empty-handed: Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way Yahweh your Elohim has blessed you,” Deuteronomy 16:13-16

“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you,” Exodus 25:8

“So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their Elohim. They will know that I am Yahweh Elohim, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am Yahweh their Elohim,” Exodus 29:44-45

The whole chapter of Nehemiah 8.

"Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, Yahweh Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. Yahweh will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles,” Zechariah 14:16-19

“Yahweh will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. Then Yahweh will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain,” Isaiah 4:4-6

“When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of Elohim. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to Yahweh, both the morning and evening sacrifices. Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day,” Ezra 3:-4

“In the last days the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the Elohim of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for Yahweh Almighty has spoken. All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of Yahweh our Elohim for ever and ever,” Micah 4:1-5

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,” John 1:14

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water,” Yochannan 7:37-38

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is Elohim,” Hebrews 11:8-9

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from Elohim, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of Elohim is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and Elohim himself will be with them and be their Elohim. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away,” Revelation 21:1-3

C Celebration information

John (Yochannan) chapter 7 teaches that Rabbi Yahshua kept the feast of Sukkot
There are three mitvot concerning Sukkot found in the Torah: living in the sukkah, gathering together the four species, and rejoicing during this day.

It is tradition to read the entire book of Ecclesiastes out loud during Sukkot

The sukkah is usually constructed between the days of Yom Kippur and Sukkot and is used for the first time on Erev Sukkot eve. This is a family-friendly event that involves the children and the entire family. A sukkah is usually decorated with greenery, fruit, ornaments, colored paper cut into shapes by children, and anything else that adds to the fun. You can also use strings of light to illuminate the sukkah. Some people do just the opposite though and leave their whole sukkah plain and unadorned.
Just building a sukkah is a family event!

“All the seven days one should make his sukkah his permanent abode, and his house his temporary abode. In what manner? If he has beautiful vessels, bring them into the sukkah…he should eat and drink and pass his leisure in the sukkah; he should also engage in rabbinic study in the sukkah,” says the Talmud.

Some things to do in a sukkah are: prayer, singing, inviting relatives to celebrate with you, wave the lulav, eat, drink, relax, nap, spend the night, read aloud the Psalms or other scripture passages, read about Yahshua’s birth in the book of Luke, and play games with children.

There is a general principle that you should rejoice in the sukkah, not suffer in it.

Many synagogues build a “community sukkah” which play a vital role for worshipers to experience this holy day. For those who could not build their own sukkah the community sukkah serves as a way to worship.

A sukkah is usually built in the back yard-though people in apartment buildings often build them on the roof or on a balcony

Jewish web sites and classified ads offer commercial Sukkah that can be bought and easily put together
According to the Rabbinical Rabbis a kosher sukkah is at least: needs four sides, though one or more can be a wall of a house; the roof must be made of plant material and can not be solid – you must be able to see the stars through the roof; can not be entirely covered by something else like a tree or carport.
“Whoever is exempt from eating in the sukkah and does not go out from the sukkah, does not receive a reward and is nothing but an ignoramus,” Shulhan Arukh.

The sukkah should be large enough to sit, eat, and sleep in for the entire week.

The lulav is waved in six directions – north, south, east, west, towards the heavens, and towards the earth.

The lulav is usually used for a special wave offering and dance. The customary dance is: Hold the lulav in your right hand and the etrog in your left hand. Holding your two hands together, first extend the lulav toward the east and then pull it back while shaking both the lulav and the etrog. Then, while still facing east, you point the lulav and etrog both north and repeat your actions. This is similar to drawing in a fish on a fishing line. Repeat the dance to the west, south, to the heavens, and down toward the earth.
It is a tradition to save the palm branch used in Sukkot for six months, to be used as a giant “feather” to hunt for leaven during Passover.

“Thus the mitzvah to expecially rejoice on Sukkot gives rise to an unusual attitudes in the rabbis. Whereas they will often make exemptions to various other laws but encourage people to go beyond the letter of the law and perform the mitzvah anyway, their attitude is the opposite in regard to the sukkah. The rabbis are saying that you MUST leave the sukkah if it is raining. In this way, they try to ensure that the sukkah will be seen as a symbol of joy, and not a burden,” says the book The Jewish Holidays.
If you are trimming your trees or bushes during this time of the year, you can use your branches to decorate your sukkah.

A simple sukkah can be built using a bunch of two-by-fours, some rope and some cement cinder blocks.
There is a custom of inviting ushpizin – symbolic guests - each day to join us in the sukkah. These honorary guests are Avraham, Yitz’chak, Ya’acov, Yoseph, Moshe, Aharon, and Dawid. One is invited each day. Sephardic Jews set aside a special ornate chair for the honored guest and it is interesting to note that all of the ushpizin were wanderers or exiles.

During the traditionally synagogue services there are many processionals in which congregants march around the sukkah waving the branches and shout “Ana Yahweh Hoshiana” which means “Yahweh save us.”

During the processionals it is also tradition to recite the Psalms from chapters 113-118

Psalm 27 is also used during Sukkot

Sukkot should be considered a week of opportunities for inviting and being invited. It is a time to be hospitable to all.

The last day of Sukkot is called “Hosha’na Rabba” meaning the day of “Day of Great Hosannas.” As the celebration continues the priests blow the shofars and trumpets and the people sing the Hallel – Psalms 113-118.

Some blessings that can be said while using the Sukkah are as follows:

This first blessing should be recited at any time you are fulfilling the mitzvah of dwelling in the sukkah, for example, before you eat a meal in the sukkah.

Barukh atah Yahweh, Elohaynu, melekh ha-olam asher keed'shanu b'meetzvotav v'tzeevanu leisheiv ba-sukkah (Amein)

Blessed are you, Yahweh, our Elohim, king of the universe who has sanctified us

with His commandments and commanded us to dwell in the sukkah (Amen)

Barukh atah Yahweh, Elohaynu, melekh ha-olam she-hecheeyanu v'keey'manu v'heegeeyanu la-z'man ha-zeh (Amein)

Blessed are you, Yahweh, our Elohim, king of the universe who has kept us alive,

sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season. (Amen)

Barukh atah Yahweh, Elohaynu, melekh ha-olam asher bachar banu mee-kol am, v'rom'manu mee-kol lashon v'kee'd'shanu b'meetzvotav, va-teeten lanu, Yahweh Elohaynu, b'ahavah shabatot lee-m'nuchah u' mo'adeem l'seemchah, chageem u-z'maneem l'sason, et yom ha-shabbat hazeh v'et yom chag ha-Sukkot hazeh, z'man seemchateinu b'ahava meekra kodesh, zeicher leetzeeyat meetz'rayeem Kiy vanu vacharta v’otanu qidashta mikol ha’amiym v’shabat u-mo'aday qadsh’kha b’ahavah u’v’ratzon b'simchah u-v'sason hin’chal’tanu. Barukh atah Yahweh, m’qadesh ha-shabbat v' Yisra'el v'ha-z'manim. (Amein)

Blessed are you, Yahweh, our Elohim, king of the universe who has chosen us from among all people, and exalted us above every tongue and sanctified us with His commandments, and you gave us, Yahweh our Elohim, with love Sabbaths for rest, and appointed festivals for gladness, festivals and times for joy, this day of Sabbath and this day of the festival of Sukkot, the time of our gladness with love a holy convocation, a memorial of the exodus from Egypt Indeed, You have chosen us and made us holy among all peoples and the Sabbath and your holy festivals in love and favor in gladness and in joy you have given us for an inheritance. Blessed are You, who sanctifies the Shabbat and Israel and the seasons. (Amen)

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