The festival of Sukkot, which lasts seven days and begins five days after Yom Kippur, is known by several names, but its description in the prayer book is Zman Simchatenu – “Time of our rejoicing”. The Torah commands us to always serve G‑d with joy, particularly on festive occasions such as Shabbat and holy days. But it also requires us to be especially joyful during the festival of Sukkot.
In the fifth book of the Torah, Deuteronomy, the following is written about this festival: “And you will rejoice in your festival – you, your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, the Levite, the sojourner, the orphan and the widow, that are in your cities. Seven days you will celebrate the feast of the Eternal, your G-d, in the place that the Eternal chooses; for the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, and you will certainly be glad” (Deuteronomy 16: 14-15).
It is interesting that the Book of Deuteronomy does not mention jubilation when describing the feast of Passover, and only mention it once in relation to the Shavuot. However, in the context of Sukkot, mentions it twice. Perhaps this is what led our Sages to attribute to this festival the epithet “Season of our rejoicing”. And why the double joy? Why is the concept of joy more emphasized during Sukkot than at other parties?
The two unique commandments of Sukkot
There are two Torah commandments exclusive to the feast of Sukkot. One is to gather and have in your hands the Arbaat ha-Minim, the “Four Species”. The other is to live in a Sukkah.
The commandment to gather the Four Species is mentioned in the third book of the Torah, Leviticus. For it is written: “However, on the 15th day of the seventh month, when you gather in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days; in the first it will be a day of solemn rest, and in the eighth it will be a day of solemn rest. And you shall take for yourselves, on the first day, the fruit of the Beautiful Tree (Etrog), palm trees, branches of myrtle and river willow, and you will rejoice before the Lord your G-d for seven days” (Leviticus 23:39-40).
There is the reference to Arbaat ha-Minim – the Four Species. The chosen fruit is Etrog, the green branch is the Lulav, the leafy branches are the Hadassim, and the willow of the river are the Aravot:. Is mitzvah – a Divine commandment – gather these Four Species and shake them into Sukkot.
A second commandment of the Torah, which is also exclusive to the festival of Sukkot, is the mitzvah of living in a Sukkah during the seven days of the festival. In His Torah, G-d commands the Jewish People to “live in Sukkot (huts) for seven days: “You will live in the huts for seven days; Every native of Israel will live in the huts. So that your generations may know that I made the Children of Israel live in the huts when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I am the Lord, your G-d!” (Leviticus 23:42-43).
This commandment is so fundamental in the feast of Sukkot which even lends its name to it. This festival is the annual time to remember the Sukkot – plural of Sukkah – the temporary, portable dwellings in which the Jews lived during their 40-year journey through the desert on their way to the Land of Israel.
It is interesting to note that the two exclusive commandments of the festival – taking the Four Species in your hands and dwelling in a Sukkah – are very different in nature. In fact, these two commandments are apparently contrary to each other. The commandment of the Four Species and the rituals associated with it are imbued with deep meaning and mysticism, but they also serve a practical purpose: they constitute a supplication for abundant rains. By fulfilling this Divine Commandment, we hope that Gd will bless the new year with rain, essential for life and sustenance. Furthermore, as Maimonides teaches us, the Four Species were the most available products in the Land of Israel – true signs of the land's fertility.
In turn, the commandment to live seven days in a Sukkah presupposes a lack of rain. In fact, it rained during the Sukkot it is considered a bad omen, as it prevents us from fulfilling the commandment to dwell in a hut. Jewish law dictates that, as Sukkah is a temporary home, its covering cannot be waterproof: if rain cannot penetrate through its roof, the Sukkah is not valid. And if it rains at the party Sukkot – and the rain is heavy enough to spoil the food on the table in the hut –, we will be exempt from the commandment to inhabit it. Therefore, rain is an impediment to the fulfillment of mitzvah de Leshev ba-Sukkah, that is, “dwelling in Sukkah” during the seven days of the festival.
The difference between the two exclusive commandments of the feast is even more profound. On the one hand, Sukkot It is the most universalistic of all Jewish festivals. The prophet Zechariah prophesied that one day this festival will be celebrated by all humanity: “And the Eternal will be King over all the earth; on that day the Eternal will be One and His Name, One... Then each of the nations among those who invaded Jerusalem, who survive, will go up each year to worship the King, the Eternal of the Legions, and celebrate the feast of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Eternal of Legions, they will not be blessed with rain. And if the family does not come up from Egypt and does not come, their river will not overflow; they will be struck by the plague with which the Eternal will strike the nations that do not go up to celebrate the festival of Sukkot” (Zechariah 14:9, 16-17-18).
The universality of Sukkot is evidenced by another commandment of the Torah that is also exclusive to the festival: 70 bulls would have to be sacrificed in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem during the week of the festival (Numbers 29:12-34). Our Sages teach that such sacrifices were offered in the name of the seventy main nations of the world. The 70 animal offerings served to allow G-d to bless all the nations of the world. They also teach, based on the passage above from the prophet Zechariah, that, on the feast of Sukkot, G-d decides matters relating to rains – whether they will be abundant or not, whether they will be a source of blessing or not, in the year to come. The Talmud tells us, in the Treatise Rosh Hashana 1:2: “At the feast (of Sukkot), the world is judged on the issue of rain”. Evidently, there is nothing specifically Jewish about the need for rain. All countries, including Brazil, and especially those in the Middle East, need it. Therefore, even though the commandments to take the Four Species and offer the 70 bulls in the Holy Temple were carried out only by the Jewish People, they have a universal meaning, since one of their many purposes was to lead G-d to decree a year of abundant rains and prosperity for the whole world.
Sukkot It is the most universal festival on our calendar, but it is also the most especially Jewish. When we sit on Sukkah, we remember Jewish History – not just the 40 years of wandering through the desert towards the Promised Land, but also the entire experience of exile. A Sukkah is defined as “temporary housing”. It constitutes one of the strongest symbols of our history because we are a people who, over the millennia, have been forced to live outside their Homeland – the Land of Israel. A Sukkah, the temporary and fragile tabernacle, symbolizes the many transitional and temporary homes of the Jewish People. No other people were born in the desert. No other people were dispersed so widely across the world, emigrating frequently or being expelled from so many countries. No other people were able to survive for so long without their own land.
We were expelled from Ancient Israel almost 2.000 years ago. The modern State of Israel was founded less than 70 years ago. During the two millennia in which our people lived without a Jewish State, we always yearned to return to the Land of Israel, our ancestral homeland. This longing was fostered not only by the countless horrendous episodes our people have endured since the fall of Ancient Israel. As most conscientious Jews and Christians understand, the return of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel, in particular to Jerusalem, is imperative to the coming of the moshiach, and thus, for the redemption not only of the Children of Israel, but of all Humanity. So regardless of where we lived in our scattering – whether it was good and pleasant, whether we were welcomed with open arms or brutally persecuted – we were always in a temporary dwelling, never in a permanent destination. Far from being universalist, the commandment to dwell in a Sukkah is particular, as it symbolizes a people whose only protection throughout most of their history was their faith in the protective wings of the Divine Presence, which, as the Zohar, the fundamental work of Kabbalah, dwells within every Sukkah during the party Sukkot. This temporary housing teaches us that the survival and security of the Jewish People do not depend on strong walls, impenetrable ceilings and tall buildings, but rather on Divine Providence and Protection.
We see, therefore, that Sukkot It has a double symbolism, which contradicts itself. It has a universal and, at the same time, specifically Jewish character. It's almost like two parties. Therein lies its unique character.
The two cycles of the festival
The biblical festivals in the Jewish calendar represent two different cycles. The first is the cycle known as Shalosh regalim (literally, “three legs”): Passover, Shavuot e Sukkot. These festivals take their name because all Jewish men were required to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem during these three festivals to offer sacrifices in the Holy Temple. You Shalosh regalim tell us the particular history of the Jewish People: Passover celebrates our freedom from Egyptian slavery; Shavuot commemorates the Divine Revelation on Mount Sinai, the reception of the Torah and the birth of the Jewish People; It is Sukkot recalls the 40-year journey of the Jewish People in the desert, on their way to the Promised Land. These three festivities revive the Jewish past. They celebrate what it means to be Jewish. Although the messages they convey to us have inspired an unusual number of people throughout history – particularly the theme of Exodus and the Ten Divine Utterances (the “Ten Commandments”) heard on Mount Sinai – they tell the story of Jewish people. The Jews were the slaves freed from Egypt; it was to the Jews that G-d chose to reveal Himself and to whom He entrusted His Torah; and it was the Jews who lived in the Sukkot during the long journey on which they were led by Moshé on the way to the Promised Land.
However, there is a second cycle of Jewish festivals – those of the month of Tishrei: Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur e Sukkotsystem. (Shemini Atzeret, the festival celebrated on the day after the end of Sukkot, in a way it is the eighth day of this festival). Despite Rosh Hashana e Yom Kippur Although they are Jewish festivities, both do not concern only Jews and Judaism. They concern G-d, Humanity, all living creatures and the destiny of the entire world. The wording of the prayers is different on these two festivals; It is different than in other Jewish festivals. On Rosh Hashanah, we proclaim: “Instill Thy wonder in all Thy works, and the fear of Thee in all Thy creation.” The liturgy is clearly universal. The Talmud teaches us that in the Dread Days, which begin in Rosh Hashana and end at the end of the Yom Kippur, G-d determines the destiny of all people and each of His creatures for the coming year. It is true, it is the Jews who flock to the synagogues on these days and who have to fulfill the commandment to listen to the ringing of the shofar em Rosh Hashana and fasting in Yom Kippur, but they act as agents of Humanity, even though almost the entire world is not aware of what is happening in these crucial days. In them we reflect not only on the current condition and future of the Jewish People, but also on that of the world and all its inhabitants.
Having identified these two cycles of festivities, we clearly see the uniqueness of Sukkot, which is to be the only party that belongs to both cycles. It is part of the cycle of Jewish History - Passover, Shavuot e Sukkot, but also the sequence of festivities in the month of Tishrei - Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur e Sukkot. Hence the double joy associated with it. Hence one of the countless reasons for being called zman Simchatenu – the “Season of our rejoicing”.
The commandment of the Four Species represents the universal aspect of Sukkot. The Arbaat ha-Minim they symbolize some of the needs common to all Humanity: nature, rain, agriculture, sustenance, the cycle of seasons and the complex ecology of the created world – things that all human beings need to survive and flourish. The commandment to dwell in a Sukkah, on the other hand, represents the unique character of Jewish History, with its repeated experiences in exile. This temporary and fragile structure symbolizes the fragility of the Jewish People in the Diaspora – the exiles, the expulsions, the assimilation, the persecutions, the massacres and, even, the genocide. At the same time, the commandment to live under the Sechach, the coating of Sukkah, takes us back to the opening verses of Psalm 91: “Whoever dwells in the Abode of the Most High will always be under His protection” – and it is curious that the numerical value of the word Sukkah is 91. This teaches us and reminds us that the Children of Israel they survived endless trials and tribulations only because they dwelt in the shadow of the Divine Presence, ensuring their perpetuity.
Unlike all other festivities, Sukkot celebrates the dual nature of Judaism: the universality of G-d and the particularity of the Jewish People. And, as the Torah teaches us, all human beings were created by the One and Only G-d and all descend from the same two human beings: Adam and Eve. This means, as the Talmud indicates, that no one can claim to be superior to another . However, each people, civilization and religion is unique and different, and this diversity is what enriches the world. Just as each human being has his own mission in this world, so does each of the people.
The universal aspect of the feast of Sukkot and particularly the Four Species commandment teach us that we Jews cannot isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. If we are to be a light among the nations, as commanded by G‑d (Isaiah 42:6), we must get involved and try to influence humanity. However, the specific aspect of Sukkot – especially the commandment to dwell in a Sukkah – teaches us that the Jewish People are heirs to a history that has no equal among any other people: small in number, vulnerable, suffering exile after exile, and yet, not only surviving, but triumphing. A Sukkah It may be a fragile and temporary home, but it has kept our people alive for millennia.
Humanity is made up of our commonalities and our differences. The first remind us that we are all human beings, with similar needs, pains and joys, hopes, desires and dreams. But our differences forge our identity. And the party Sukkot brings together our uniqueness as a people and, at the same time, our participation in the universal destiny of humanity. Hence, the double joy of Sukkot, the “Season of our rejoicing.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sacks, Rabbi Jonathan, “Leviticus: The Book of Holiness (Covenant & Conversation 3)”, Maggid.
