19 October 2024 (5785)

Week of 13 -19 October 2024

 Sukkot, a time of joy, hope and trust in the One and Unique God

We are in the middle of the Jewish holidays: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and ending with Simhat Torah. As I said last week, this year is very special. The people of Israel have been suffering an ongoing tragedy which has lasted for over a year. Everything has changed, and everyday life itself has changed: paying attention to warnings, finding out where the nearest places of protection are, keeping the radio or phone on silent but on, in case of an announcement of a possible attack… However, the Jewish people, despite everything, have not changed their tradition of celebrating their holidays, which mark the moment of getting closer to God, of renewing their loyalty as individuals and as a people to the One and Unique God, of making present a distant past, thus reinforcing its identity and gaining confidence to move towards the future. In fact, sadly, it is clear that the Jewish people have survived throughout history, overcoming all the crises that were imposed on them.

First, the feast of Sukkot is based on the Scriptures, and throughout history its practice has been the bearer of a theological evolution that sustains the Jewish people to this day. In turn, the literature of the New Testament bears witness to the importance of the celebration of the feast of Sukkot and its spirituality in the life of the Jewish people; from this fact we learn that while the Temple existed, Jesus, his disciples and all his followers actively lived with the existing liturgy of the feast of Sukkot and participated in its spiritual richness.

The texts of Scripture emphasise the centrality of the festival of Sukkot and underline its importance to the community of Israel:

Deuteronomy 16:13-15: “As for the festival of Sukkot, you shall celebrate it for seven days, when you have gathered in all that comes from your threshing floor and from your place. You shall rejoice at your festival, together with your son, your daughter, your male and female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow who are in your towns. For seven days you shall celebrate a pilgrimage to the Lord your God at the place which the Lord your God will choose, for the Lord your God will bless you in all the produce of your land and in all your doings; and you shall be a joyful lot.” (Cf. Lv. 23:34-37; Nm. 29:12).

Sukkot,”booths”, also known as Succoth, Sukkos, Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles), is a Biblical pilgrimage festival that occurs in autumn on the 15th day of the month of Tishri (late September to late October). The holiday lasts 7 days. In Judaism it is one of the three major holidays known collectively as the Shalosh Regalim (three pilgrim festivals), when historically the Jewish populace traveled to the Temple in Jerusalem.

The festival of Sukkot is the third and final harvest festival (after Pesah and Shavuot). All three of these festivals are distributed at different times throughout the year. The first (Pesah) begins with spring and the last (Sukkot) marks the beginning of winter. From a natural point of view, the festival of Sukkot marks the end of the period of the sun, of the brightness of the light, and the beginning of the period of shorter days in which night takes over the day, that is, darkness prevails over light. It is a time to gather, to plant, to germinate, to wait. Nothing is certain, everything depends: it is a time of expectation: what will germination be like; what will the conditions for growth be like; will the favourable conditions be there to overcome this time?

Among the many elements that the feast of Sukkot offers for experience, its universality prevails: the liturgy of the feast includes everyone. The Jewish people are the testimony to the One and Unique God for all humanity, and all Nations are included in this celebration that is a prelude to the Kingdom of Heaven. As the Prophet Zechariah states: “In that day there will be no more light, no more cold, no more frost. It will be one day – the dreamer knows it. There will be no more day or night; at evening there will be light. On that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the eastern sea, half toward the western sea. It will be like this in summer and in winter. Then the Lord will show himself to be king over all the earth. In that day the Lord will be ONE and UNIQUE his name…” (Zech 14. 6-1).

At a time when Israel faces seven frontiers of direct attacks against it and the vast majority of Nations are silent about this fact, may the God who revealed himself to Israel and from Israel to the world, enable Israel to celebrate the feast of Sukkot in joy (“…It is said that whoever has not seen the joy of the festival of the drawing of water (on Sukkot) has not seen joy in life” (m Sukkah V, 1) and show the right path for Israel to free itself from its enemies and be a bearer of peace to the world, as is its mission: to be ‘light unto the Nations’.

This week’s Parashat Sukkot Period Commentary was prepared by
Elio Passeto, nds, Israel, Director

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