Judaism and Feast of Tabernacles
Customs and Traditions - Past and Present
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From the book "Festivals of the Jewish Year" by Theodor H. Gaster, written in 1952/53. (Remember what you are reading is Judaism, some things correct and some things not correct. Judaism has many traditions that are not directly from the Scriptures - Keith Hunt) THE FEAST OF BOOTHS The Festival of Ingathering Corresponding to the festival of Passover in spring is the Feast of Booths (Succoth) in autumn. This, too, begins at full moon in the first month of the season; this, too, is a harvest festival; and this, too, is observed for eight days. Moreover, just as Passover marks the beginning of the summer dews, so Booths marks that of the winter rains. The original name of the festival was Feast of Ingathering (Asif); it celebrated the ingathering of summer-crops and fruits and the close of the agricultural year. The date was at first variable and indefinite; the feast took place whenever the harvest happened to be in (Deut. 16:13). Later, however, when the year came to be determined on an astronomical basis, the Feast of Ingathering was made to begin either at the autumnal equinox (Exod. 34:22) or at full moon in the appropriate lunar month. The latter system is the one which has prevailed in Jewish practice. (It was always set by the Lord within the calendar that the elders of Israel formulated. So it still is to this very day set by the Jewish calendar - Keith Hunt) The Feast of Ingathering was really but the concluding stage of a longer festive season, the three principal moments of which were: (a) the Memorial; (b) the Day of Purgation; and (c) the harvest-home. The two former stages are now represented respectively by New Year, on the first day of the lunar month, and by the Day of Atonement, on the tenth. Prefaced by these two solemn occasions, on which all noxious and evil influences are ceremonially removed, the Feast of Ingathering marked both the successful issue of the preceding year and the "clean start" of the one which followed. It was therefore regarded as the most important of all the seasonal festivals, and came to be known as "the festival" tout court. The principal features of the celebration were: (a) the actual reaping of crops and fruits and the bringing in of the vintage; (b) the performance of special ceremonies designed to induce rainfall; (c) the custom of dwelling in booths (succoth) or trellis-roofed cabins throughout the period of the festival. Of these usages the most important was the last, and it was this that gave the feast its popular name. THE BOOTHS The booths were originally functional in character; they were simply the wattled cabins in which the harvesters and vintners were wont to lodge during the time of the ingathering. Such booths, made of plaited twigs of carob and oleander and roofed with palm leaves, are still used in the Holy Land throughout the period (from June to September) when the reaping is in progress, and it is in this sense that the word "succah" is usually employed in the Hebrew Bible. The primitive ceremonies for inducing rainfall can be deduced only from a later survival in the days of the Second Temple. The Mishnah tells us that on every day of the festival a golden flagon was filled from the neighboring pool of Siloam and carried to the Temple in gay procession. Delivered to the officiating priest, it was then poured into a silver container, the spout of which was trained upon the altar. This ceremony, known as the Water Libation (Nissuch Ha-mayim), has abundant parallels in other parts of the world, and is based on what is known as "sympathetic magic," that is, on the primitive notion that things done by men may induce similar actions on the part of nature or "the gods." Lucian of Samosata, writing in the second century C.E., records an analogous practice performed twice yearly in the pagan temple at Hierapolis (Membij), Syria; while at Ispahan, in Iran, there is (or was) an annual ceremony of rain-making which consisted in pouring water on the ground; and in many parts of modern Palestine, rogations for rain, accompanied by the ceremonial drenching of a little girl known as "Mother Shower," are a common element of folk usage in early spring. Interesting also is a more remote parallel from the Mara tribe of northern Australia. In time of drought, the local magician besprinkles himself with water and scatters drops of it on the ground; this, it is believed, will induce rainfall. The Mishnah likewise preserves the record of another magical ceremony which would seem to go back to the primitive observance of the festival. On the evening of the first day, we are told, men repaired to the precincts of the Temple in Jerusalem and lit huge candelabra in the Court of the Women. "Men of piety and good works" danced in front of them, waving burning torches, while a throng of Levites, standing on the fifteen steps which divided the Court of the Women from that of the Israelites, furnished accompanying music. At the Nicanor Gate stood priests, holding trumpets. At cockcrow, they ascended the steps and sounded a series of prolonged and quavering blasts. When they reached the gate which leads out to the east, they turned their faces westward, in the direction of the Temple building, and cried: "Our forefathers, when they were in this place, turned their backs to the Temple of the Lord and their faces toward the rising sun in the east [cf. Ezek. 8:16], but we - our eyes are turned toward the Lord." This ceremony-known as the Rejoicing at the Beth Ha-Shoebah - was originally a magical rite, its purpose being to rekindle the decadent sun at the time of the autumnal equinox and to hail it when it rose at dawn. Such a ceremony is likewise recorded by Lucian, and a Christianized survival of it may be recognized in the Festival of the Cross (Maskal) still observed by the Ethiopian Church on September 26. Elsewhere, however, it is usually combined with the idea of burning up all evil and harmful influences at the start of the agricultural year. Thus, at Fez and amid the Berber tribes of Morocco, it is customary to light bonfires on the rooftops on the festival of 'Ashura, the Mohammedan New Year, and for children and unmarried men to leap through the flames while they say "We have shaken out over thee, O bonfire, the fleas and lice and sickness both of body and of soul!" The same custom obtains also in Tunis. Analogously, an ancient Babylonian text which describes the ceremonies of the New Year festival refers to the custom of tossing firebrands in the air; Ovid tells us that the Romans leaped over fires and raced through the fields with blazing torches at the beginning of the year. To this day, bonfires are a standard feature of Halloween ceremonies in most parts of Europe, and Halloween was, of course, the eve of the ancient New Year. (And so the Jews were influenced by pagan nations and their so- called "quaint" customs, and adopted and added and adapted such, to their festivals - Keith Hunt) For Israel, this purely agricultural aspect of the festival was not enough. Like Passover and Pentecost, so too the Feast of Booths had to possess a historical as well as a seasonal significance; it had to exemplify the presence of God not only in the world of nature but also in that of event; and it had in some way to symbolize and epitomize Israel's continuing covenant with Him. The transformation was accomplished by an ingenious device: the traditional booths were interpreted as a reminder of those in which the ancestors of Israel had dwelt when they wandered through the wilderness on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land! The festival thus became a logical sequel to Passover and Pentecost, which commemorated respectively the escape from bondage and the conclusion of the Covenant at Sinai. Moreover, by themselves dwelling in booths at this season, each successive generation of Jews could be said to be sharing in that experience and thereby endowing it with a perpetual character. This interpretation was, of course, purely fanciful; the cold fact is that people who wander through deserts live in tents, not booths, wood and green leaves being unavailable except at rare and intermittent oases. To be sure, the point is not really important; the "myth" which is woven around a traditional institution is usually more indebted to fancy than to fact, and its validity lies not in its historical accuracy or authenticity but in the transcendental truths which it focuses and conveys. Nevertheless, throughout the ages Jewish scholars and teachers felt a little uneasy about the story of the booths in the wilderness, and alternative interpretations were therefore propounded. (A good point - the Israelites in the wilderness would have had tents, but the writer fails to see that some instructions for this celebration was for the time that Israel inherited the Promised land note Lev.23:40 and context. So yes, God already made provision for when they would be in the promised land - Keith Hunt) It was observed, for instance, that in sundry passages of the Bible, the word succah - or, more precisely, its masculine equivalent, sok-serves, by poetic metaphor, to denote the temple of God in Jerusalem, and that both the First and Second Temples are said expressly to have been dedicated at the Feast of Booths. This at once suggested that the seasonal booths might be regarded as a symbol of that holy habitation. The idea finds repeated expression in the traditional liturgy of the festival. Typical is a medieval hymn chanted during the morning service of the first day, in which a sustained contrast is drawn between the heavenly and earthly tabernacles. The poem is full of recondite allusions and quaint conceits, but its general spirit and tenor may perhaps be conveyed by the following partial and paraphrastic rendering. Where flaming angels walk in pride, Where ministers of light abide, Where cavalries of heaven ride, Where souls have rest at eventide, There, 'mid the sapphire and the gold, God's tabernacle rose of old. Yet here, as in a mead aflower, Here, as in a bridal bower, Here, where songs of praise and power, Wreathe Him, every day and hour, Here, in an earthly booth as well His glory did not spurn to dwell. 1 ...... 1 Az hayethah hanayath sukko, by Eleazar Kalir; Adler-Davis, Taber-nacles, p.212. ...... In the same way, in a poem recited on the eve of the second day, the ruined Temple is likened to a booth fallen to pieces: Thy tabernacle which is fallen down Rebuild, O Lord, and raise it once again! Alternatively, the succah was given a continuing historical meaning by being identified with the protective providence of God, spread like a pavilion over His chosen people. Says the same poem, in reference to the Exodus from Egypt: Thy cloud enfolded them, as if that they Were shelter'd in a booth; redeem'd and free, They saw Thy glory as a canopy Spread o'er them as they marched upon their way. And when dryshod they through the sea had gone, They praised Thee and proclaimed Thy unity; And all the angels sang the antiphon, And lifted up their voices unto Thee. "Our Rock, our Savior He" - thus did they sing "World without end the Lord shall reign as King!" 2 Whatever meaning be given to it, Jewish tradition iinsists that the seasonal succah must be in every sense a true booth; no mere token substitute will do. Specifications are laid down clearly in the Mishnah. The succah must not be lower than five feet, nor higher than thirty; and it must possess at least three sides. It may not be roofed with matting or burlap, but only with lightly strewn leaves or straw. It must be exposed to the elements and to a view of the stars. Moreover, since the task of erecting it is regarded as an essential part of the commandment, no permanent structure may serve. ...... 2 "Yephi ananechd," by Jehiel ben Isaac (XIIIth cent.); Adler-Davis, p.218. ...... The duty of eating and sleeping in the succah is incumbent upon all adult males; women and minors alone are exempt. Since, however, it is often impossible to observe this rule in modern cities, modifications of it have been introduced. According to some authorities, at least one meal must be taken in the booth each day and each night of the festival; according to others, it is sufficient if one eats in the succah on the first night only. In either case, nothing must be done to lessen the discomfort or even hardship which may attend the observance; rain water, for instance, may be baled out only if it "threatens to spoil the gruel"! (I have shown and proved in other studies that the physical attachments to this feast are no longer an issue under the New Covenant. The "spirit and heart" of the matter is today the MOST important aspect of this festival. Those living in Greenland and other northerly countries or the arctic circle, would find trying to live in such a make-shift booth enough to quench any enthusiasm for this feast, especially for children, the elderly, and the un-cobverted - Keith Hunt) But the booth was not the only feature of the earlier pagan festival which the genius of Israel transformed and transmuted. (No, while pagan nations did have their fall festivals to their gods, this Feast celbration was directly ordained of God. Some pagan people, under the influence of Satan the Devil do "copy" God's feasts, some very close to the same time; i.e. Sunday observance, right next to the Lord's Sabbath day, of the 7th day of the week - Keith Hunt) The Biblical commandment ordains that "ye shall take you, on the first day, the fruit of a goodly tree, palm-branches, foliage of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and ye shall rejoice seven days before Jehovah your God" (Lev. 23:40). What is envisaged is evidently no more than the carrying of a gay bunch such as is borne by revelers at harvest festivals in many parts of the world. The most obvious example is, of course, the European maypole, in spring, for although this was later conventionalized as a single beribboned post set up on the village green, it was originally a green bough carried by each of the revelers in token of nature's revival. In Cornwall, England, for example, doors and porches used to be decked on May Morn with boughs of sycamore and hawthorn; in Sweden and in parts of Alsace boys and girls used to march around the villages carrying festive bunches. Nor are such usages unattested in ancient times. At the beginning of spring, it was customary in ancient Greece for children to make the rounds of houses in the manner of modern carol singers, bearing a leafy bough and chanting an appropriate ditty; and the carrying of wands (thyrsoi) wreathed with fresh leaves and topped with pine cones was a prominent feature of the winter festival of Dionysus. Moreover, on a Cretan seal dating from the second millenium B.C.E., suppliants of a female deity are portrayed bearing flowering wands; while the prophet Ezekiel, satirizing the pagan "abominations" performed in Jerusalem during high summer, observes significantly, "The rod has blossomed - arrogance has flowered" (7:10). In Jewish tradition, however, the festive branch and bunch (called lulab) was invested at once with a historical as well as a seasonal significance. The various ingredients of the bunch - somewhat arbitrarily identified as the beautiful but scentless palm branch, the beautiful and fragrant citron (ethrog), the humble but sweet-smelling myrtle, and the simple, unprepossessing willows - were taken to symbolize the characters and virtues of the ancient patriarchs, and when they were carried in procession around the synagogue during the morning services of the festival, this was regarded as a memorial of the circuits which the priests used to make around the altar on the Feast of Booths. Moreover, the ceremony came to be accompanied by the chanting of hosha'anoth--that is, of poetic litanies punctuated by the refrain Hosanna (O save us!), and to this day these litanies are associated specifically with incidents in the lives and careers of the patriarchs and of other ancestral worthies. On the first day, God is invoked to remember all those inci- dents which involved the number one, e.g., the fact that Abraham had been the one true believer in his generation; that Isaac had been delivered from sacrifice by the substitution of "one ram caught in a thicket" (Gen. 22:13); that Moses had transmitted to Israel the one true Law. On the second day, reference is made to Abraham's journey to Mount Moriah in the company of two servants (Gen. 22:3); to Isaac's having been the ancestor of two great nations; to Jacob's having acquired the parental blessing by dressing two kids for his aged father (Gen. 27:9); and to Moses' having brought down from Sinai two tables of stone. On the third day, the litany alludes to the three angels whom Abraham (Gen. 18:2); to Moses' having formed a triad with Aaron and Miriam; and to his having divided the people into the threefold division of priests, Levites and Israelites. Dexterously, and sometimes even tortuously, the same scheme is carried through for the remaining days of the festival. On the seventh day - known as "Hoshanna Rabba," or the Great Hosanna example, when seven circuits are made, not only do these commemorate the seven worthies, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, Phineas and David, but they also serve to call to mind the first seven days of the world; the seven lambs set apart by Abraham in his covenant with Abimelech at the well of Beersheba (Gen. 21:28); the seven years of famine endured by Jacob; and the seven-day festivals ordained by Moses. Thus, although in itself not so readily capable of historicization as is the succah, the lulab is nonetheless securely wedded to the historical interpretation of the festival. The same process was applied also to the ceremony of the Water Libation. All that now remains of the ancient rite is the custom of offering special prayers for rain on the eighth day of the festival, the cantor or precentor being usually attired for the occasion in the same long white robe (kittel) which he wears on Passover during the recital of the prayers for dew and which he also dons on New Year and the Day of Atonement. These prayers, however, have been thoroughly integrated with the historical aspect of the festival. The rain is besought in the name of such ancestral heroes as Abraham, Isaac, and Moses, and God is invoked to remember all those moments of their careers in which water played a part. The following lines from a medieval poem embodied in the Ashkenazic (German-Polish) liturgy will serve to illustrate the pattern: 3 Remember him whose heart outflowed to Thee Like water; unto whom Thy blessing came That he should thrive and flourish like a tree Beside a stream; whom Thou didst save from flame And water; that his offspring might abide Like seed which grows the running brooks beside. Remember him whose birth was heralded By angels, when his father washed their feet With water; 4 who his blood would fain have shed Like water; 5 whom his servitors did greet With tales of water found where none before Had e'er been sighted in the days of yore. 6 Remember him who from the river deep Was drawn; of whom the seven maidens said: "Water he drew for us and gave our sheep To drink;" 7 who through the torrid desert led ...... 3 "Zeehor ab" by Eleazar Kalir; Adler-Davis, p.138. ` 4 Compare Gen. 18:1-4. 5 i.e., when he was destined for sacrifice on Mount Moriah (Gen. 22). 6 Compare Gen. 26:19-22, 32. 7 i.e., the seven daughters of Reuel (or Jethro); cf. Exod. 2:16-18. ...... Thy people and, himself for this accurs'd, Struck water from the rock to slake their thirst. At the same time, the Jewish genius insists that history is a living and continuing experience, and not merely a remembrance of things past. The ceremony is therefore wedded also to the present and immediate situation of the Jewish people, for the poem concludes: Remember them for whom Thou didst divide The sea, and sweet the bitter waters make; Whose children's children, beaten and decried, Pour out their blood like water for Thy sake! Turn Thou to us, O Lord, and make us whole; For lo, great waters swirl about our soul! PRESENT AND FUTURE As in the case of Passover and Pentecost, so, too, in that of the Feast of Booths, the seasonal and historical aspects of the festival are made to run parallel, so that the same truths may be expressed concurrently on two different planes. The essential point about the festival, alike in its seasonal and in its historical aspect, is that what it celebrates is not an achievement but a prospect, not something finally accomplished but something which has been but begun and the consummation of which lies in the future. On the seasonal plane, the Feast of Booths marks the ingathering of the harvest and the onset of the rains; but the harvest is consumed only in the ensuing months, and when the festival actually takes place, none but the first token drops of rain have yet fallen. Similarly, on the historical plane, the festival commemorates not the actual entry of the Israelites into the Promised Land but the fact that, in the sure and certain hope of it, they wandered in a wilderness for forty years, protected only by the shelter of fragile booths. All of these ideas are caught up and reflected not only in the poems and hymns interspersed throughout the liturgy, but also - and more strikingly - in the lessons from the Law and the Prophets which are appointed to be read during the morning services. On the first end second-days of the festival, two portions are read from the Law. The first is taken from that section of the Book of Leviticus (22:26--33:44) in which the seasonal feasts are ordained. It is here that the succah is explained as a memorial of the booths in the wilderness, and it is here too that the carrying of the festive bunch is prescribed. The other portion is taken from Numbers 29:12-16 and describes the special sacrifices offered in the tabernacle and the temple on the first day of the feast. The Lesson from the prophets is the fourteenth chapter of the Book of Zechariah. The ostensible reason for this choice is that the prophet there foretells how, in days to come, "every one that is left of all the nations that came up against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of booths" (vs.16). It would appear, however, that there is really far more behind the selection than this single passing allusion to the festival; for the fact is that throughout the chapter the prophet seems to be playing on the characteristic phenomena of this season, as if he were delivering a sermon especially geared to the traditional ceremonies. Thus, when he says that "on that day . . . there shall be a singular kind of day (it is known to Jehovah), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light" (vs.7), it is not difficult to recognize in his words a projection into mythology of the autumnal equinox at which the Feast of Booths anciently took place (cf. Exod. 34:22). Similarly, when he goes on to predict that "in that day, living waters shall go out from Jerusalem . . . in summer and winter it shall be" (vs.8), and that "upon those of the families of the earth that go not up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, there shall be no rain" (vs.17), he is painting a picture of future times in terms of the seasonal conditions which obtain at the Feast of Booths, for that festival falls at a period of the year in which rain is still scarce and the beds of the rivers have not yet been replenished and the earth is moistened chiefly by the "perpetual streams." The same tendency to project the features of the festival into a picture of the future age also characterizes the lessons chosen for the intermediate sabbath. The portion from the Law Exod. 33:12--34:26) describes the conclusion of the Covenant at Sinai and ends by relating to it the observance of the three great seasonal festivals. The portion from the prophets, however (Ezek. 38:18--39:16), deals with the war which Jehovah will wage at the end of days against Gog and Magog. At first sight, it is difficult to see why the latter passage should have been selected, for it would seem to have no ostensible bearing upon the Feast of Booths. If, however, we look more closely, an extremely interesting fact emerges: the details of the doom which awaits the opponents of Jehovah can readily be construed as a projecyion into the future times of several leading features of the autumn festival. It is said, for instance, that Jehovah "will rain upon Gog and his hordes . . . torrential rains" (38:22); and this message would, of course, have had significance when it was recited at the festival, which, in fact, inaugurated the rainy season and on which, according to a bekief recorded in the Mishnah, "the world is judged through water." Similarly, the prophet declares that Jehovah "will send fire on Magog" (39:6) and that "those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go forth and make fires of the weapons and burn them" (39:9); and these words would likewise have sounded with particular effect upon the ears of people who were actually performing the rite of kindling fires for the Rejoicing at the Beth Ha-Shoebah. Moreover, when the prophet further describes how Jehovah "will appoint for Gog a place of burial in Israel" where "he and all his multitude will be buried" (39:11), it might De possible to detect an ironic allusion to the common pagan custom of burying and subsequently disinterring at this season little dolls and puppets representing the god (or goddess) of fertility who was believed to die and be resurrected from year to year. (I think the latter is stretching it to a degree that does not need to be stretched. It should be obvious that this passage being read for this festival of booth, is the overall knowledge that when the Kingdom of God comes, when Israel is safe and in peace, the Lord will put down all the enemies of Israel, and if they try to harm the people of Israel they will be buried even on Israel's soil - Keith Hunt) ANOTHER TYPE On the other hand, the portion from the prophets selected for the second day strikes an entirely different note. This describes be Solomon's dedication of the First Temple on the Feast of Booths (I Kings 8:2-21). Its primary purpose is thus to drive home the lesson that the seasonal booth is but a symbol of that holy habitation lesson which also informs the selection for the eighth day, when, as a supplement to Deut. 15:19--16:17 (the laws of the seasonal festivals), the continuation of that passage, containing Solomon's prayer on the occasion, is recited (I Kings 8:54-66). There were, of course, some features of the earlier pagan festival which did not lend themselves so readily to reinterpretation and which were therefore discarded or survived only in extremely attenuated form. The fire rites, for instance, disappeared entirely, since it was contrary to Jewish belief to imagine that men could rekindle the sun or in any way influence the course of nature. Similarly, all that now remains of the festival's original connection with the equinox is the custom of solemnly blessing the sun on the Feast of Booths every twenty years or so, when the lunar and solar cycles happen to be completed at about the same time. (The Jews over time, were willing to drop rites that were introduced in times past, that had no bearing of the original Feast of Tanerbacles as prescribed by the Lord under Moses - some adoptions of pagan customs would be seen very clearly by nations from whom those customs came, and would bring the Jews under somewhat of a ridicule and made fun of; some things just had to be dropped for the overall credit to be given the Jewish people - Keith Hunt)
ONE TRADITION STILL REMAINS On the other hand, there is one ancient "functional" rite which has indeed survived almost unaltered, though so different a meaning is now read into it that its original purport can no longer be recognized. This is the custom of "beating hosannas" - that is, of taking extra twigs and beating off their leaves upon the lectern during the recital of the Hosanna litanies on the seventh day. The conventional explanation of this practice is that it symbolizes the frailty of human lives, which fade and fall "thick as autumnal leaves which strew the brooks in Vallombrosa." The truth is, however, that it harks back to a primitive and fairly universal belief that the willow is a symbol of fertility and to the consequent custom of beating people with branches of that tree in order to induce potency and increase. Throughout Europe, for example, "Easter smacks," administered in this fashion, are a characteristic feature of the great spring festival. Thus, in Croatia, those who attend church on this occasion "beat health" into one another with rods of willow, while in several parts of Germany and Austria the same practice obtains on St. Stephen's Day (December 26) or on Holy Innocents' Day (December 28); and in Russia it is (or was) common on Palm Sunday. In ancient Greek ritual, at the major seasonal festival, human scapegoats were beaten with squills of willow or agnus castus in order, at one and the same time, to beat out sterility and beat in fecundity. Nor, indeed, was this beating always confined to human beings; the poet Theocritus informs us that in times of drought the youths of Arcadia used to smite the statue of the god Pan. (This book was written in 1952/53 and such customs may have well gone by the wayside today in those countries mentioned - Keith Hunt) It must be confessed that of the three seasonal festivals which punctuate the Jewish year, the Feast of Booths has suffered most from the conditions of modern life and that, for all the tenacity of its observance, it is the one which possesses for the modern Jew the least contemporary relevance. The first reason for this is purely practical. Traditionally, as we have seen, the principal feature of the festival is the erection of the succah in the precincts of one's own home. This was intended not only to commemorate the experience of the ancient Israelites but also to provide their living descendants with a means of sharing in it. In most modern cities, however, this is obviously impossible, and the conventional substitute is a communal succah set up in the courtyard of the synagogue. But this involves not only a curtailment of the traditional rite but also an attenuation of its significance. In the first place, the element of personal labor and construction disappears altogether; the succah is put up by paid employees or professional contractors. Second, although the matrons of the congregation may indeed foregather, a few days before the festival, to deck the structure with fruits and flowers, in cities where most people live in apartments rather than in private houses these do not, as a rule, represent offerings from their own gardens or orchards, but are simply bought for cash at the local greengrocer and florist. Last, a perfunctory visit to the succah after the synagogue service is obviously no substitute for actually living and sleeping in it: what should be a reproduction of ancestral hardship becomes mere attendance at a social function, and the succah itself is reduced to an artistic showpiece. Small wonder, then, that the festival loses its personal immediacy. (For the true Christian it does not loose its personal touch, not at all. The physical symbols, like many things under the Old Covenant, are the least important. Some symbols have been changed i.e. Passover service is now bread and fruit of the vine, as instituted by Christ Himself. Other physical rites have been abolished, such as physical circumcision. The physical is the very least important concern, though some physical remains, like putting out leaven and eating unleavened bread during the feast of Unleavened Bread (see 1 Cor.5 and proven in other studies the NT church did practice this physical part of that Feast); the spiritual is the key of importance today, the worshipping of God in spirit and in truth, as Jesus said had come and would continue [that is found in the gospel of John] - Keith Hunt) The other reason for Succoth's decline is ideological. Passover and the Feast of Weeks, though geared to particular events in the past, epitomize and focus elements of Judaism which continue in the present - namely, the progressive mission and adventure of Israel, its persistent struggle for freedom, and its special Covenant with God. In this continuous adventure, in this struggle and in this Covenant, every Jew in every generation is personally involved, so that observance of these festivals is a direct personal experience, part and parcel of his own individual life, and not a mere act of pious remembering. The Feast of Booths, on the other hand, seems (apart from its seasonal significance) to be moored and anchored to a single specific event, to the particular situation of a particular group at a particular moment of time. At a distance of more than three thousand years and miles, the modern Jew finds it difficult to recognize in the incident of his forefathers' sojourn in booths anything in the nature of a continuing experience which he can personally repeat - especially when the historicity of that event is itself more than doubtful. (What, hummmm, did he say "doubtful"? Yes he did! Obviously this fellow does not take the Bible as fully "inspired" - if he did, there would be NO doubt - Keith Hunt) Once again, therefore, the festival degenerates into a mere survival. Viewed in the proper light, however, the Feast of Booths can indeed possess a continuing significance no whit inferior, and in fact complementary to, that of the other seasonal festivals. For if Passover and the Feast of Weeks exemplify, in the stories of the Exodus and the Covenant, the trials, achievements, and obligations, first of Israel and then of mankind in general, the transcendental theme of the Feast of Booths is the persistent hope and confidence without which all such trials are insupportable, all such achievements impossible, and all such obligations unacceptable. Thus interpreted, the festival is pertinent not only to every generation but also to every individual. For every individual can at once recognize in it an experience which is paralleled in his own life; every individual knows that the only sure sustainment of labor is hope, and that the Promised Land is reached only after years of wandering. Thus, too, it becomes clear why the dominant note of the festival is joy and not austerity, why the Biblical commandment enjoins especially that "thou shalt be altogether joyful" (Dent. 16:15), and why the Feast of Booths is known in Jewish tradition as "the season of our rejoicing." (Now he gets at the truth of the matter and why this Feast of Tabernacles IS important to the Christian today, and why is is a feast of rejoicing. It protrays the GREAT KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH FOR 1,000 YEARS. And all of that I have expounded upon in many various studies on this Website - Keith Hunt) The Feast of Booths is followed immediately by a festival which is called in the Bible by the name "Azereth." The meaning of this term (conventionally rendered "Solemn Assembly"), and hence the original significance of the festival, is quite uncertain, no explanation of it being given in the Scriptural text. In the Book of Deuteronomy, however, it is applied also (16:8) to the last day of Passover, and in the Mishnah to the Feast of Weeks, while its Arabic equivalent is today the current term for Easter. It must therefore have applied in the first place to some feature of the seasonal celebrations common alike to the vernal and autumnal harvests. What this feature was can only be guessed, but seeing that the root of the word azereth normally means "restrain," it is not impossible that it originally denoted a day of abstinence and austerity which marked the end of the reaping and the real beginning of the new agricultural cycle. The Festival of Azereth coincides in part with the extra day which was added to the Feast of Booths. ...... Note: This feast and what the author writes concerning it can be found in another study in this section of the Website. Why does the author find it difficult to explain the meaning of this LAST GREAT FEAST? It is because he and thousands of other religious teachers, do not understand the PLAN of salvation that the Eternal God is working out here below. That plan is all explained on this Website. Keith Hunt September 2009 POST SCRIPT IT IS RECORDED BY THE CHRISTIAN JEW EDERSHEIM IN HIS WRITINGS, THAT ON THE 7TH DAY OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES, THEY TOOK DOWN THEIR BOOTHS OF SHELTER; THEY KNEW IT WAS NOW THE LAST DAY OF THAT FEAST, AND THE NEXT DAY, A SABBATH DAY, WAS A DIFFERENT FEAST ALTOGETHER. I HAVE PRESENTED IN OTHER STUDIES A LOT OF WHAT EDERSHEIM HAS WRITTEN. |
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