The month of Tishri is blessed with an additional holiday, the joyous festival of Sukkot or Tabernacles: "After the ingathering from your threshing floor and your vat, you shall hold the Feast of Booths for seven days. You shall rejoice in your festival..." (Dt. 7:13-14) Driving through modern Israel, one can often see temporary booths adjoining agricultural areas. These are hastily set up at the beginning of the harvest, and provide shade for the harvesters during their short breaks. In the Bible, these same booths symbolized the harvest, and reminded the Israelite of human dependence on G-d for the miracles of sustenance. One aspect of the celebration of Sukkot is for families to build their own sukkah (booth) at home in which they eat their meals and even sleep. It is a flimsy, three-sided affair with tree branches for a roof and decorated with the harvested fruits of the fall season. This is to remind us that even today we are ultimately dependent upon G-d for His provision to sustain our lives. The sukkah also came to symbolize another aspect of G-d's love - his love in history: "You shall live in booths seven days; all 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, I am the Lord your G-d." (Lev. 23:42-43) The sukkah reminds us of G-d's mindfulness of our needs during our journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the land of Israel. Together with the re-establishment of the Jewish state in modern Israel came a re-emphasis on the agricultural roots of the Sukkot holiday. This can be seen most clearly on the kibbutzim (community settlements) all over Israel. A giant sukkah is constructed for the outdoor meal. On the morning of the holiday, samples of the harvest are brought in ceremony before the assembled community. As with all Jewish festivals, here the whole community is part of your "extended family." Whether it be at a holiday time or not, visit a kibbutz on your pilgrimage to Israel where you can experience the ideal of true community living and sharing in common. It is a biblical principle rarely seen in our modern western societies which emphasize individualism. More than the ancient ruins, Israel - the land of the Bible, has much to see by way of a living biblical model.
Articles on Judaism: http://www.whatsjew.com/articles/
By: Rabbi Jonathan Matt
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