Sukkot is a major Jewish festival, one of the three pilgrimage festivals (along with Pesach and Shavuot). On the pilgrimage festivals, in Biblical times, every Jewish male was supposed to go to a sanctuary, such as Shiloh, or later to the Temple in Jerusalem and offer an animal, such as a goat or a sheep, to the Lord. Poor Jews were permitted to offer a jar of flour or a bottle of wine instead of an animal. Sukkot was the most important and most joyous of the three pilgrimage festivals because it marked the end of the agricultural year. The festival has been known by a variety of names throughout history. It has been called Chag ha-Osif, the Festival of the Ingathering; Chag ha-Sukkos, the Festival of Booths; Zman Simchatenu, the Season of our Joy; and sometimes simply Ha-Chag, The Festival, a sign of its great importance in Biblical times.
Sukkot is an eight-day holiday for Reform Jews and in Israel. It occurs from the 15th to the 22nd of Tishrei (September/October), five days after Yom Kippur ends. The first and last days are full holidays when one is not supposed to work. Conservative and Orthodox Jews celebrate Sukkot for nine days, and the first two and last two days are full holidays. The commandment to observe Sukkot can be found in Exodus 23:14-17.
Three times a year you shall hold a festival for Me: You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread-eating unleavened bread for seven days as I have commanded you-at the set time in the month of Abib, for in it you went forth from Egypt; and none shall appear before Me empty-handed; and the Feast of the Harvest, the first fruits of your work, of what you sow in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in the results of your work from the field. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Sovereign, the Lord.
Sukkot also has an historic meaning. The festival is identified with the journey of the Israelites through the wilderness from Egypt to the Promised Land. Further instructions concerning Sukkot can be found in Leviticus 23:39-43.
Mark, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the yield of your land, you shall observe the festival of the Lord seven days: a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eight day. On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. You shall observe it as a festival of the Lord for seven days in the year; you shall observe it in the seventh month as a law for all time, throughout the ages. 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 the Lord your God.
Sukkot is actually a series of festivals. Hoshana Rabbah, Shemini Atzeret, and Simhat Torah are either part of Sukkot or have been linked to Sukkot. These days have special prayers and rituals of their own.
Hoshana Rabbah
The seventh day of Sukkot is known as Hoshana Rabbah. The name means "the great hoshana." A hoshana was a prayer of supplication made while circling the synagogue with the lulav and etrog. For Reform Jews, the day is not celebrated. Traditional Jews make seven circuits around the synagogue carrying willow branches and the lulav. This ceremony is a reminder of how the priests, carrying willow branches, circled the altar of the Temple on the seventh day of Sukkot. Furthermore, traditional Jews consider Hoshana Rabbah a minor Yom Kippur. It is the last chance for one to make repentance because on Hoshana Rabbah the gates of judgment close.
Shemini Atzeret
The eighth day of Sukkot is known as Shemini Atzeret. The words refer to "eighth" (shemini) and "closing festival" (atzeret). It is the final day of Sukkot and is marked by special prayers for rain.
Simhat Torah
Simhat Torah (the Rejoicing with the Torah) is a separate holiday. It is not Biblical. The holiday originated in Babylonia out of the custom of completing the cycle of Torah readings on the day after Shemini Atzeret. By about 1000 C.E. the celebration had spread to other parts of the Jewish world. Three hundred years later, the custom of starting the Book of Genesis immediately upon ending the Book of Deuteronomy appeared. The reason, as one sage explained it, was "that Satan should not accuse Israel of wishing to end the Torah without the desire to begin again."
Today in Israel and among Reform Jews Simhat Torah and Shemini Atzeret are celebrated on the same day. During the service the Torah scrolls are carried around the synagogue seven times (called hakkafot) accompanied by singing, dancing, and waving flags. It is a very joyous service, a climax to the joy of the holiday of Sukkot. Sometimes the celebration can become very raucous.
