The Sukkut festival is the happiest of the Jewish
festivals. We celebrated tonight with friends who are camping for the week and we'll have a household here on Saturday to continue the festivities.
Sukkot is the Hebrew word for “booths,” the singular
being “sukkah. It is known as the Feast of Tabernacles, “Z'man Simchatein” or the "Season of our Rejoicing.” It is also
know as the Festival of the In-gathering or “Chag ha-Asif” and will occur
on the 15th day of the month of Tishri (late
September to late October), that is, 5 days after Yom Kippur.
Sukkut is a celebration of God’s provision as well
as release from desert wanderings. The holiday
is also associated with another great event, which is the consecration of the
Temple of Jerusalem during the reign of King Solomon, which took place during
Sukkot. This historic event is mentioned
in Kings Chronicles' I and II. As you can see, Sukkot is rich with meaning and is
one of the three major Jewish holidays, which consists of three pilgrim
festivals, Sukkot, Passover and Shavuot, known collectively as the Shalosh
Regalim. The holiday lasts for 7 days and combines elements of
Thanksgiving, Homecoming and Christmas, with the fun of a family camp-out
thrown in.
The Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot is important to us
as Christians because it points to the future day when the Messiah sets up the
Messianic Kingdom and tabernacles (dwells) with us. Joy, indeed!
How to Celebrate Sukkot
1) A
sukkah is built. This can be a porch, a tent, or a temporary shelter,
constructed from tent poles or inexpensive wood, even a large box or with pallets. The sukkah symbolizes the
temporary shelters that were used during the desert wanderings. The Sukkah is a
place where the devout eat and sleep during the seven days of the festival. The first day is celebrated with special prayer services and
holiday meals. Inside these temporary quarters, all the members of the family
have the Sukkot meal together. The Sukkah is dismantled on the last day of the
festival symbolizing the homecoming the Jewish people experienced as
they entered the Promised Land. People usually decorate their sukkah with
flowers, fruit, paper chains, banners, and pictures of Jerusalem. It is very
common to invite friends to eat with your family in the sukkah in the tradition
of Abraham, who always invited strangers in to eat with him. The top of the sukkah
is open, to see the stars of heaven. You can build a simple sukkah; there are many designs
and ideas on-line. Use a porch, a tent, or simply make a graham cracker,
pretzel, frosting sukkah, to symbolize a temporary dwelling.
2) 4
species of plants are used during the celebration: the etrog (a fruit similar
to a lemon), and the branches of myrtle, palm and willow. These are tied
together to make a lulav. Each day of the festival, people shake the four
species to symbolize the various people in our community; from the spiritually
strong to the spiritually weak. Just as all 4 species are held together, the
community must come together and be united with the strong and the weak working
together (Ecc 4:9). People wave the lulav and point the etrog in all four
directions of the compass as well as up and down, three times each day, representing
God's total presence and dominion over the entire
universe. You can create a paper mache etrog.
Google search for a picture of the real fruit, and then re-create them using
balloons, paper mache material and paint.
3)
Hang banners on your sukkah
or the walls of your home. You can create some simple banners using
pillow cases and table cloths. A traditional saying would be “Baruch ha-ba” “Blessed
be the one who comes.” Other banners might say “ivdu et Hasem b’Simcha (serve
G-d with joy) or “sarua I’tzadik vlvishrei leiv smcha” (light is sown for the
righteous, and joy for the upright in heart).
4) Create
a harvest centerpiece using fall gourds, pumpkins, etc. Decorate your table in
fall colors.
5) Make
paper chains in fall colors, perler shapes to hang, and a fall wreath to add to
our decorations.
6) Invite
friends and family over to eat delicious food, and don’t forget the bake some Challah
bread, without which no Biblical celebration is complete. It’s the season to celebrate
God’s provision, our permanent home in Heaven and that He will tabernacle among
us one day soon.
May the joy and peace of the Lord be with you this
fall! Chag Sameach Sukkot
This post was first published in The Homeschool Village.
@Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!
