To fulfill the Biblical mandate, “Live in booths for seven days” (Leviticus 23:42), observant families and synagogues build temporary, hastily-built shelters and eat at least one meal per day inside the shelter.
THE FOUR SPECIES
The Sukkot celebration employs four plants, in accordance with Leviticus 23:40:
1. “choice fruit from the trees” The etrog. In English, a citron fruit.
2. “branches of the palm tree” The lulav. Ripe, date palm leaves, straight and unbroken.
3. “boughs of leafy trees” The hadas. Three myrtle branches.
4. “willows of the brook” The aravah. Leafy branches of a willow tree.
Bind the three types of branches together: two willows on the left, the palm branch in the center and three myrtles on the right. We call the bundle a lulav, even though lulav is also the word for just the palm leaves.
During Sukkot, the LORD commands us to rejoice, so Sukkot is called the “Season of our Joy."
SUKKOT BLESSINGS
Hold the lulav (bundled branches) and the etrog (citron fruit) together and recite the blessing:
Blessed are you, O LORD our God, King of the Universe, who sanctifies us with his commandments and commanded us regarding raising the lulav.
Then shake the lulav in six directions: up, down, north, south, east, and west, signifying God’s surrounding presence.
If it’s the first night, next recite the following:
Blessed are you, O LORD our God, King of the Universe, who has granted us life, and kept us, and enabled us to reach this day.
You can incorporate decorating, music, dance, fresh fruits and veggies, and lights into your celebration. Make it a joyful time. Invite friends to join you for a meal in your sukkah, and you can visit theirs. When you see one another, you can say, “Chag Sameach!” [Khahg sah-MEHY-ahkh], means "Joyous Festival."
Christians may recognize the waving of palm branches as the gesture shown to Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on what we call Palm Sunday.
Many scholars believe that Jesus was born during the festival of Sukkot, and that the manger scene was actually in a sukkah. Because the early Church believed this, they figured the Incarnation of the Christ into the womb of the virgin Mary would have occurred on or about December 25, and so declared that day as the day of Christ's Mass (Messiah's Celebration): Christmas.
HOSHANAH RABAH
The last day of Sukkot is called Hoshanah Rabah, "The Day of the Great Hosanna".
On this day, in ancient times, people prayed for rain and the High Priest poured water out onto the foot of the altar, to show trust in God. The water also symbolized the Spirit of God.
It was during Hoshanah Rabah that Jesus entered the Temple and said, "'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive." (John 7:37-39, NIV)
