Sukkot is one of the three “pilgrimage” holidays mentioned in the Bible.
Together with Pesach and Shavuot, these were the three times of the year
that people came to Jerusalem to celebrate.
Here are some excerpts from the 23rd chapter of the Book of Leviticus:
“The fifteenth of this seventh month shall be the feast of booths
for seven days to the Lord…
…Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you
have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast to the lord
seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day
shall be a sabbath. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day
the fruit of the tree hadar, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of
thick leaved trees, and willows of the brook...
…You shall dwell in booths seven days…that your generations may
know that I made the children of Yisra’el to dwell in booths when I brought
them out of the land of Egypt…”
We see that the Torah gives two reasons for the celebration, one agricultural and the other national. Both are ways of celebrating the service of the Lord at the change of seasons, from the summer to the winter.
Paying
near the Western wall, Jerusalem
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Although the Bible does not specify the names of the species or their precise description, Jews have traditionally come to identify the Biblical words thus:
“hadar” = citrus fruit
similar to lemons, called ‘etrog’
“palms” = young branches
of the date tree, called ‘lulav’
“thick leaves” =
branches of the aromatic myrtle, called ‘hadasim’
“willows” =
of the kind that grow near rivers, called ‘aravot’
Etrog
Lulav
Hadas
AravaThe Midrash (ancient Rabbinic commentary) finds symbolism in the four agricultural species that Jews use to celebrate the Sukkot festival.
The etrog
, which has both tasty fruit and a good smell, is similar to
those who keep the Torah and also do good deeds;
The lulav ,
which has tasty fruit (dates) but no smell, is similar to those who keep
the Torah, but don’t do good deeds;
The hadas ,
which has a fresh smell but no fruit, is similar to those who do good deeds
but do not keep the Torah;
The aravah,
which has no fruit and no smell, is similar to those who do not keep Torah
and do no good deeds,
However, the commandment of the four species can only be accomplished when all four species are held together as one. So too are the people of Israel: even though they may be different, they should be together as one.
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Each of the four species of plants that Jews bring on Sukkot are plentiful in the Land of Israel. However, each one is botanically quite different from the other.
The aravah and the etrog need large amounts of water to thrive, the palm tree and hadas can do with less water. This is important because water resources in Israel are scarce in many areas, while abundant in others.
Climate is also a significant factor. Palm trees love hot and dry climates, but don’t give much fruit along the coast, where it may be hot in the summer but it’s also very humid. Hadasim prefer the colder mountainous regions. Willows will grow almost anywhere in a marine climate, but in Israel, which has limited rainfall, the aravah grows only within a few meters of streams that flow all year long.
By now it should be obvious that the Torah chose four species according to those kinds which abound in the Land of Israel. Israel may be small, but compact. This tiny land has a wide variety of climates and geography, and each of the Four Species of Sukkot represents a different climate:
Etrog – the lower coastal areas and valleys
Lulav – the deserts
Hadas – the mountains
Aravah – waterways
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The Bible describes only one instance where people actually built Sukkot, and that was at the time of the return from the Babylonian exile. The Book of Nechemia (chapter 8) relates the events of the middle of the 5th century B.C.E., when Jews were trying to resettle their ancestral homeland.
“Go out to the mountain, and fetch olive branches, and branches
of wild olive, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of
thick trees, to make booths, as it is written. So the people went out,
and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of
his house, and in their courts…”
It would seem that in those days, the custom was to build Sukkot from
the materials of the Four Species. Later Rabbinic traditions modified the
rules, and established the principles of Sukkah-building:
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Hospitality is a central theme of the Sukkot celebration. For a week
we spend as little time as possible in our beautiful, permanent homes,
and dwell in our humble, temporary Sukkah. In this way we recall
the Biblical booths of our forefathers, who lived for 40 years as guests
in God’s wilderness.
Many individuals, Synagogues, and communities make great efforts to
be hospitable, and open their Sukkot to others.
In the Middle Ages, it became customary to symbolically welcome the
seven patriarchs, who “visit” our Sukkah, each on his own day of the seven
day holiday. This was called “Ushpizin”, from the Aramaic/Hebrew “to reside”.
On the 1st day - Avraham
On the 2nd day - Yitzchak
On the 3rd day - Ya’akov
On the 4th day - Yosef
On the 5th day - Moshe
On the 6th day - Aharon
On the 7th day - David
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If you live in a climate where there is plenty of rainfall all year
round, you probably think of rain as an inconvenience. You may associate
rain with puddles, umbrellas, and canceled baseball games. But in the Mediterranean
climate of Israel, rain is almost always a blessing.
Sukkot is the beginning of the rainy season. (Any serious rainfall
between May and September is considered a meteorological phenomenon.) Rabbis
2,000 years ago called Sukkot “the judgement period for rain”. They established
that on the eighth, additional day of Sukkot, called “Sh’mini Atzeret”,
that we should pray for a rainy winter.
Isn’t it interesting that on the same day Jews the world over pray
that it should rain in one particular spot on earth?
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