By Cantor Sidney Ezer:
We all find the month of Tishrei extremely hectic. No sooner do we hear the final blast of the Shofar at the conclusion of Yom Kippur than we begin to build our Sukkahs in anticipation of Sukkot. The sticker on the door of Reb Steve’s office jokingly says: “No sleep until Cheshvan.” All joking aside, the calendrical proximity of the holy days accounting for the intense, action-packed Jewish marathon in Tishrei is not merely arbitrary. In his book “A History of Sukkot in the Second Temple and Rabbinic Periods”, Jeffrey L. Rubenstein presents two theories on the origin of Sukkot. Many scholars believe that Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot all originated in the pristine Israelite autumnal festival, eventually separating into three distinct festivals, each with an identity of its own. Other scholars maintain that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were always independent of Sukkot, but that these days functioned as preparations for the great harvest celebration. No matter which theory of origin one supports, there was always a substantive connection between Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. For example, the ancient Rabbinic sources which placed the determination of rain on Sukkot express the theological process in terms of a judgement and sentence, the same theological process on Rosh Hashanah when the divine decree is written and on Yom Kippur when it is sealed. Sukkot is therefore understood as a response to the events of the previous two festivals, especially the favourable divine judgement. Moreover, the rejoicing on Sukkot becomes a celebration of the renewal of life which God bestows on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Furthermore, the period of atonement is extended from the High Holy Days to Sukkot, thereby connecting the ideas of sin, repentance and forgiveness to the festival. Hoshanah Rabbah, the seventh and final day of Sukkot, is considered the final opportunity for repentance, when the divine verdict of the High Holy Days is officially sealed.
Rabbi Yisroel Ciner explains the transition from Yom Kippur to Sukkot from an historical perspective. In the Sifra, a classic work of Midrash Halakha (legal interpretation) explaining the laws and text of Leviticus, Rabbi Akiva asserts that the sukkah, or “booth” as referenced in Leviticus 23:42-43, is not a literal dwelling but rather it symbolizes the clouds of glory that surrounded the Israelites during their desert wanderings (Sifra Emor 17:11. In the verse, God states that every native-born Israelite shall dwell in the sukkot “…so that your generations know that I caused the children of Israel to dwell in sukkot when I took them out of the land of Egypt.” The clouds were associated with divine protection and intimacy. The sukkah thereby served as a reminder of the Exodus from Egypt. The fifteenth day of Nisan (Passover) was the Exodus and the beginning of the divine protective shield as the Israelites travelled through the wilderness. Forty-nine days later, on the sixth day of Sivan, the Israelites stood by the foot of Mount Sinai as Moses ascended the mountain to remain there for forty days and forty nights to receive the Torah. Impatiently waiting for Moses’ return, the Israelites sinned by making the golden calf. Moses descended on the seventeenth day of Tammuz, saw the golden calf and broke the two tablets, resulting in the withdrawal of the clouds of glory and the loss of divine love and protection. Moses ascended the mountain again to plead forgiveness on behalf of the people Israel, and on Yom Kippur, the tenth of Tishrei, he descended carrying God’s message of forgiveness. On the next day, Moses commanded the Israelites to bring sacrifices, which were then brought on the twelfth and thirteenth of Tishrei. On the fourteenth, the materials that Moses had collected were brought to the artisans who would be constructing the Tabernacle, and on the fifteenth day of Tishrei, Sukkot, the actual construction began. On that day the clouds of glory returned and served as a Sukkah—the loving protection that God gave to the people Israel. We reenact that display of love and intimacy by moving out of our houses into the Sukkah each year on the fifteenth day of Tishrei. The atonement on Yom Kippur and the subsequent rejoicing on Sukkot are intrinsically linked. It is the return of the clouds of glory that followed the Israelites’ repentance that we commemorate and celebrate yearly on Sukkot.
The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana, a collection of non-legalistic exegesis dating from the fifth or sixth century, also connects the aspect of judgement on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to that of rejoicing on Sukkot. It links the rejoicing of Sukkot to the celebration of the kingship of God actualized during the previous festivals. In Psalm 96, which we read on Friday night, the rejoicing of the fields and everything in them (Psalms 96:12 ) represents the exultation of the entire world and all living creatures. The homilist of the Pesikta goes on to juxtapose the second half of the verse with a parallel verse from 1 Chronicles 16:33. “All the trees of the forest shout for joy (Psalms 96:2). And it says, The trees of the forest shout for joy (1 Chronicles 16:33) R. Aha said: The forest refers to trees that produce fruit. All the trees of the forest refers to trees that do not produce fruit.” (PRK 27:4) The fact that the parallel verse in 1 Chronicles 16:33 lacks the word “all” leads the homilist to conclude that the verses refer to different types of trees—fruit-bearing and non-fruit-bearing. From the four species used on Sukkot, two of them, the date palm and the etrog, are from fruit-bearing trees. The other two, the willows and myrtles, are from non-fruit-bearing trees. One therefore concludes that the “trees” from the two aforementioned verses allude to the lulav species. The first half of Psalms 96:12 describes the rejoicing of the fields and the earth’s creatures; the second half proclaims the rejoicing of Israel with the lulav. The homilist of the Pesikta then examines the following verse, Psalms 96:13. “(rejoice) before the Lord, for God comes to judge the earth. God will judge the world with righteousness, and the nations with faithfulness.” The homilist interprets the verse as heralding the advent of God on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The rejoicing is a response to God’s arrival and ascent to the throne of judgement. Nature exults, and Israel rejoices with the lulav when God comes to judge and rule the earth.
In all of the above examples, we see that the rejoicing of Sukkot is not linked to the harvest or the pilgrimage, but rather it is directly connected to the themes of judgement and atonement characteristic of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. God either judges Israel favourably or forgives Israel, and then the people express joy at that favourable outcome by dwelling in sukkahs and by taking the lulav. Sukkot is more than just a great harvest celebration. It captures the chaotic brilliance of the High Holy Days by connecting rejoicing to atonement.