“The fifteenth day of this seventh month (Tishri) shall be the Feast of
Tabernacles (סכות) for seven days unto the Lord” (Lev. xxiii. 34).
The name has its explanation in the commandment, “Ye shall dwell in
booths seven days” (ibid. 42); “that your generations may know that I
made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out
of the land of Egypt” (ver. 43). We are thus commanded to commemorate
the travelling of the Israelites through the wilderness. They dwelt in
tents, that gave them shelter to some extent; but without the Divine
protection this shelter would have proved insufficient. Of this twofold
shelter and protection we are reminded by the tabernacle in which the
Law commands us to dwell during the Festival.
In fulfilment of this commandment we make booths (סכות). The chief
difference between a booth and an ordinary house consists in the mode
and in the material employed for roofing the two structures. For the
succah must not be covered with fixed boards and beams or with canvas,
but with detached branches of trees, plants, flowers, and leaves, in
such a manner that the covering is not quite impenetrable to wind and
rain, or starlight. During the Festival the succah is our
dwelling-house, in which we take our meals, study, receive our friends,
and, if possible, enjoy rest and sleep. If, on account of the severity
of the climate, the constant dwelling in the succah threatens to prove
injurious to our health, we content ourselves with taking our meals in
the succah. Before each meal we recite the blessing ברוך … אשר קדשנו …
לישב בסוכה “Blessed art thou ... who hast sanctified us by thy
commandments and hast commanded us to dwell in the booth.” The first
time we are in the succah we add the blessing, שהחינו (p. 358).
The Festival is, secondly, called “the Feast of Ingathering,” חג
האסיף. The produce of the fields and gardens have been gathered in,
and the people rejoice before the Lord in gratitude for the blessings
which He has granted to them. “And ye shall take unto you on the first
day the fruit of the goodly tree, branches of palm-trees, and boughs of
thick-leaved trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice
before the Lord your God seven days” (Lev. xxiii. 40). In accordance
with the traditional interpretation of this verse, we take four kinds
of plants (ארבעה מינין), viz., אתרוג “the citron;” לולב, “a
branch of the palm-tree;” הדסים, three “myrtle branches;” and
ערבות, two “branches of the willow.” According to a Midrashic
interpretation, they represent four different types of plants, that
which has a pleasant fragrance and a beautiful form (esrog); the
beautiful in form, but without fragrance (lulabh); that which smells
pleasantly, but is inferior in form (hadassim); and that which has
neither a goodly form nor an agreeable fragrance (arabhoth), as if to
say that we are thankful to God for all that He has given us, although
to our mind some of these seem imperfect in comparison with others.
In obedience to this commandment we take, every day of Succoth except
Saturday, [123] the above four kinds into our hands, hold them during
the recitation of the Hallel, and make with them a procession round the
Synagogue, [124] while singing the hymns called hoshaanoth (so called
on account of the repeated occurrence of the word hoshaanah in them).
Before taking the arbaah minim into our hands we say the following
blessing: ברוך … אשר קדשנו … על נטילת לולב “Blessed art thou ... who
hast sanctified us by thy commandments and hast commanded us to take
the lulabh.” [125] On the first day שהחינו is added.
Succoth lasts seven days, the last five days being half Holy-days, חול
המועד. The seventh day is called Hoshaana-rabba, because on that day
many prayers beginning with hoshaana are offered up, during the
chanting of which seven processions round the Synagogue are made. [126]
The Feast of Tabernacles is closely followed by “the feast of the
eighth day,” שמיני עצרת, [127] which, like all other Festivals, is
kept two days. The second day is, in addition, called “Rejoicing of the
Law,” שמחת תורה because on this day the reading of the Pentateuch is
completed and recommenced.
The nine days of the Festival are called זמן שמחתנו “The season of
our rejoicing,” and it is the third principle of our faith, the belief
in Divine Providence, that this Festival impresses on our hearts. On
the one hand, we have the rejoicing and the four species of plants as
proofs and tokens of Divine blessing; and, on the other hand, the
succah is a symbol of human frailties and imperfections. Thus, in all
our rejoicings we should remember that our abode on earth is not
permanent, and that all earthly happiness is like the plants that
easily fade away. In order to impress this idea on our mind, we read
the book of Koheleth on Sabbath chol-ha-moëd or on Shemini-atsereth.
The following portions are read from the Pentateuch: Lev. xxii. 26 to
xxiii. 44 [128] (on the first two days); Exod. xxxiii. 12 to xxxiv. 26
(on Sabbath chol-ha-moëd); Deut. xiv. 22 to xvi. 7 (on the eighth day);
Deut. xxxiii. to end of Pentateuch; and Gen. i. 1 to ii. 3 (on Simchath
Torah). In addition, the paragraph of the sacrifices of the day (Num.
xxix. 12–39) is read from a second sefer. The Lessons for chol-ha-moëd
are taken from the same passage.
The Lessons from the Prophets are the following: Zech. xiv., prophecy
on the future of Israel and on the punishment of those who would not
come to Jerusalem to celebrate there the Succoth Festival; 1 Kings
viii. 2–21, on the opening of the new Temple; on Sabbath chol-ha-moëd,
Ez. xxxviii. 18 to xxxix. 16, on the war with Gog; 1 Kings viii. 22–66,
prayer of Solomon on the eighth day of the services for the
consecration of the Temple; Jos. i., accession of Joshua to the
leadership of Israel.