MC3L-irt -1 °
spiritualit
Sukkot 101
Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News
Experience South as a premier venue for'
parties, meetings and events!!
iNcch(),)k.cmii/s()Iitiihar
t_i
hviticr.•Hin/suilthhal.
210 S. Old WOOdtVill'd
BirittitP.;liant, All 48009
(248) 593 - 813:1
The Holiday
Sukkot begins at sundown Wednesday, Oct.
12, and goes through Wednesday, Oct. 19.
The festival concludes with Shemini
Atzeret on Thursday, Oct. 20, and Simchat
Torah on Friday, Oct. 21.
Why We Celebrate
A divine mandate as expressed in the
Torah: Leviticus 23:33-43, Numbers 29:12-
38, Deuteronomy 16:13-15.
What The Name Means
In Hebrew, sukkot means "booths" or
"huts" (sukkah is the singular form). In
English, the holiday is called "Booths" or
"Tabernacles."
What It Celebrates
Sukkot recalls the temporary
shelters that the Israelites used after the
exodus from Egypt and their sojourn
through the wilderness on their way to
the land of Israel. Some Torah scholars
interpret sukkot to mean protective, divine
clouds that enveloped the Jewish people on
their journey.
How We Celebrate
ookstock.
USED BOOK AND MEDIA SALE
SUPPORTING THE NEED TO READ
1 0 T H ANNIVERSARY
DONATE USED BOOKS AND MEDIA NOW:
All kinds of gently used books plus
* t
41
ecords, cds and duds
COLOSSAL COLLECTION
DRIVE-THRU & DROP-OFF:
KC West Bloomfield
loading dock
Sunday, October 16, 2011
11:00a.m.-1:00p.m.
ADDITIONAL DROP OFF SITES:
Check our website or call
for exact dates and hours:
www.bookstock.info
248-645-7840 ext. 365
Jewish Community Center, Oak Park
Jewish Community Center,
West Bloomfield
Laurel Park Place, Livonia
Sarah and Ralph Davidson
Hadassah House, West Bloomfield
bookstock
MEER TO SHO OUR SALE A II. 22-29, 2012
0,2
4
. Jewish
.kelatioru
Cami
30
THE
JN
October 13 2011
NCJ
CeNTER
Strictly speaking, we must live for the
entire holiday in a temporary dwelling
called a sukkah. A sukkah consists or at
least three walls and a permeable roof. The
walls can be made of almost any material
and can be temporary or permanent.
The key feature of the sukkah is the roof.
It must be made of harvested plant mate-
rial not still connected to the soil. This is
known in Hebrew as schach. The material
can be dried or fresh.
Examples include corn stalks, tree
branches, evergreens, bamboo poles or
slats, unfinished wooden furring strips,
vines, grass or leaves. The material must
be laid across the top of the sukkah so that
it provides more shade than light, but not
so a hard rain could not penetrate it. One
rabbinic opinion states that the schach
should be spread so that you can see the
stars through it.
Because it may not be possible to live
in the sukkah as we would live in a house,
the rabbis ruled that at least if we have our
meals in the sukkah, we have fulfilled the
commandment (since one cannot survive
without eating). Nonetheless, one should
try to spend as much time in the sukkah
as possible.
Many people decorate their sukkahs,
mostly on the inside, but some on the
outside as well. Walls are painted or hung
with photographs or artwork. Others hang
dried fruits or ornaments from the rafters
(that hold up the schach). People also get
creative with the lighting , some opting for
industrial lamps or elaborate chandeliers.
Hospitality is common on Sukkot; and
many families invite friends to dine in
their sukkah, some especially inviting
those who have no sukkah of their own.
Another feature of Suk k ot is the arba'ah
minim or "four species',' commonly
referred to as the lulay. This is derived
from the Torah commandment to take
"the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm
trees and boughs of thick trees and wil-
lows of the brook" (Leviticus 23:40) to use
to "rejoice to the Lord." Our practice is to
bind together a date-palm frond with wil-
low and myrtle branches. This bundle is
known as the lulav (from the Hebrew for
"palm branch").
The fourth element is the etrog, or
citron, a very fragrant fruit that looks like
a lemon.
The lulav and etrog are held together
and waved in four directions, the order
of which varies between the Ashkenazic,
Sephardic and Chassidic traditions. The
lulav and etrog also are waved during the
Hallel prayer.
The holiday service in the synagogue
includes a procession around the sanctu-
ary of worshippers, each holding an etrog
and lulav, and reciting the Hoshanah
prayers, a different prayer for each day.
Ashkenazic and Sephardic rites differ as to
when in the service this is done.
Hoshanah Rabbah
And Shemini Atzeret
The seventh day of Sukkot is Hoshanah
Rabbah, both a festival and a day of judg-
ment. According to tradition, on Rosh
Hashanah, God made a decision regarding
our fate for the coming year and sealed
it on Yom Kippur. Yet we still have until
Hoshanah Rabbah to mend our ways
before the judgment is final.
In the synagogue services on Hoshanah
Rabbah, the worshippers, holding their
etrog and lulav, make seven circuits around
the sanctuary, during which time all of the
previous days' Hoshanah prayers are said,
hence the name of the holiday, which in
Hebrew means "many Hoshanahs."
The last day of Sukkot is Shemini
Atzeret. Known as the "festival of conclu-
sion',' it is mentioned in Leviticus 23:36,
Deuteronomy 16:8 and Isaiah 1:13 as "a
holy convocation:' Shemini Atzeret has the
distinction of being both part of Sukkot
and a separate holiday. The davening for
Shemini Atzeret is the standard holiday
service. There are no special rituals, but the
davening includes Yizkor and the prayer
for rain called Tefillat Geshem.
Shemini Atzeret includes another holi-
day called Simchat Torah, "Celebrating the
Torah." More on that holiday next week. 71