(כא) וַיִּבְרָ֣א אֱלֹקִ֔ים אֶת־הַתַּנִּינִ֖ם הַגְּדֹלִ֑ים וְאֵ֣ת כָּל־נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּ֣ה ׀ הָֽרֹמֶ֡שֶׂת אֲשֶׁר֩ שָׁרְצ֨וּ הַמַּ֜יִם לְמִֽינֵהֶ֗ם וְאֵ֨ת כָּל־ע֤וֹף כָּנָף֙ לְמִינֵ֔הוּ וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹקִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃
In the afternoon on Hoshana Rabbah [or at the same time on Shemini Atzeres in the Diaspora], it is customary to enter the sukkah and eat a light snack, to fulfill the mitzvah of dwelling in the sukkah one last time. Upon leaving the sukkah, the following prayer is recited:
- May it be Your will, Hashem our God and God of our fathers, that just as I have merited to sit in this sukkah, so too may I merit that next year in Jerusalem I shall sit in the sukkah made of the skin of the leviathan.
(כה) תִּמְשֹׁ֣ךְ לִוְיָתָ֣ן בְּחַכָּ֑ה וּ֝בְחֶ֗בֶל תַּשְׁקִ֥יעַ לְשֹׁנֽוֹ׃ (כו) הֲתָשִׂ֣ים אַגְמ֣וֹן בְּאַפּ֑וֹ וּ֝בְח֗וֹחַ תִּקּ֥וֹב לֶֽחֱיוֹ׃ (כז) הֲיַרְבֶּ֣ה אֵ֭לֶיךָ תַּחֲנוּנִ֑ים אִם־יְדַבֵּ֖ר אֵלֶ֣יךָ רַכּֽוֹת׃ (כח) הֲיִכְרֹ֣ת בְּרִ֣ית עִמָּ֑ךְ תִּ֝קָּחֶ֗נּוּ לְעֶ֣בֶד עוֹלָֽם׃ (כט) הַֽתְשַׂחֶק־בּ֭וֹ כַּצִּפּ֑וֹר וְ֝תִקְשְׁרֶ֗נּוּ לְנַעֲרוֹתֶֽיךָ׃ (ל) יִכְר֣וּ עָ֭לָיו חַבָּרִ֑ים יֶ֝חֱצ֗וּהוּ בֵּ֣ין כְּֽנַעֲנִֽים׃ (לא) הַֽתְמַלֵּ֣א בְשֻׂכּ֣וֹת עוֹר֑וֹ וּבְצִלְצַ֖ל דָּגִ֣ים רֹאשֽׁוֹ׃ (לב) שִׂים־עָלָ֥יו כַּפֶּ֑ךָ זְכֹ֥ר מִ֝לְחָמָ֗ה אַל־תּוֹסַֽף׃ (א) הֵן־תֹּחַלְתּ֥וֹ נִכְזָ֑בָה הֲגַ֖ם אֶל־מַרְאָ֣יו יֻטָֽל׃ (ב) לֹֽא־אַ֭כְזָר כִּ֣י יְעוּרֶ֑נּוּ וּמִ֥י ה֝֗וּא לְפָנַ֥י יִתְיַצָּֽב׃ (ג) מִ֣י הִ֭קְדִּימַנִי וַאֲשַׁלֵּ֑ם תַּ֖חַת כָּל־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם לִי־הֽוּא׃
(25) Can you draw out Leviathan by a fishhook? Can you press down his tongue by a rope? (26) Can you put a ring through his nose, Or pierce his jaw with a barb? (27) Will he plead with you at length? Will he speak soft words to you? (28) Will he make an agreement with you To be taken as your lifelong slave? (29) Will you play with him like a bird, And tie him down for your girls? (30) Shall traders traffic in him? Will he be divided up among merchants? (31) Can you fill his skin with darts Or his head with fish-spears? (32) Lay a hand on him, And you will never think of battle again. (1) See, any hope [of capturing] him must be disappointed; One is prostrated by the very sight of him. (2) There is no one so fierce as to rouse him; Who then can stand up to Me? (3) Whoever confronts Me I will requite, For everything under the heavens is Mine.
The Shabbat meal is served. Every dish is saturated with theology as well as calories. Item: The popularity of fish as a Jewish food goes back to the sojourn in Egypt before the Exodus. There is a tradition that the Leviathan (a gigantic fish--whale?) will be served at the ultimate messianic feast in paradise. Since Shabbat is a foretaste of the age of redemption, fish dishes became de rigueur.
The eschatological combat myth, which is rare in the Hebrew Bible and absent altogether in the Pentateuch, survives and even grows in Jewish and early Christian apocalyptic literature and is found, with a phenomenal degree of continuity, in the aggadah of the Talmudic rabbis. In the case of the rabbis, Leviathan, Behemoth, and the like are some of several obstacles that God must surmount in order to secure His reign. These include inter alia idolatrous worldly powers (Gog), anti-Semitic peoples (Amalek), and the very urge to do evil that lies deep in the ambivalent human heart (the yetzer hara).