Chag Sameach\u2026<\/em>Happy holiday!<\/p>\nWhy We Celebrate<\/strong><\/p>\nSukkot is one of the richest and most splendid of all Jewish holidays.\u00a0 Throughout history, the holiday has accrued many symbols and traditions.<\/p>\n
Its origins lie in the dawn of Israelite civilization.\u00a0 The Sukkah booth may have originated as a temporary harvest dwelling, permitting farmers to remain close to their ripening crops.\u00a0 Many years later, the Torah\u2019s authors claimed that these booths housed the Israelites as they journeyed through the wilderness to freedom.<\/p>\n
According to a legend recorded in the Hebrew Bible, King Solomon dedicated the First Temple on Sukkot.\u00a0 By the time of the Second Temple, a tradition arose to sacrifice seventy bullocks on the holiday.\u00a0 This was a gesture of universalism.\u00a0 The bullocks were intended to honor the \u201cSeventy Nations of the Earth\u201d as conceived by Jewish mythology.<\/p>\n
The Lulav and Etrog are the second great symbol of the holiday.\u00a0 They are actually comprised of \u201cFour Species,\u201d in the language of the Rabbis.\u00a0 The Lulav is a palm frond and it is accompanied by three sprigs of myrtles and two of willows.\u00a0 The Etrog is a citron, native to the Land of Israel, and described in the Torah as \u201cthe fruit of the goodly tree.\u201d\u00a0 They are taken together and waved to symbolize gratitude for the harvest.\u00a0 Traditional Jews parade them in synagogue processions throughout the holiday.<\/p>\n
Sukkot is also known as Chag He-Asif<\/i> \u2013 The Festival of the Harvest.\u00a0 The name recalls its origins.\u00a0 The Rabbis of old simply called it THE<\/b> holiday.\u00a0 Sukkot is the only festival mentioned in the Torah that is accompanied by a call to rejoice.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s Sukkot\u2026the \u201cFeast of Tabernacles\u201d! Being a busy Secular Humanistic rabbi at the holiday season, I have not had much time to blog recently. But with the \u201chigh\u201d holidays behind us\u00a0we\u2019re into that second round of holidays, Sukkot and Simchat Torah. Over the next few days I\u2019ll share a few readings that I wrote for\u00a0the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":2919,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-2917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-holidays"],"yoast_head":"\n
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Falick\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/09\/happy-sukkot.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/09\/happy-sukkot.html\",\"name\":\"Happy Sukkot!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-29T20:12:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-29T20:12:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372\"},\"description\":\"It's Sukkot...the \\\"Feast of Tabernacles\\\"! Being a busy Secular Humanistic rabbi at the holiday season, I have not had much time to blog recently. 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