Exploring the Fall Holidays: Sukkot

The Pilgrimage-Festival of Weeks you are to make for yourselves, of the first-fruits of the wheat cutting, as well as the Pilgrimage-Festival of Ingathering at the turning of the year.

YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month: the pilgrimage-festival of Huts, for seven days, to YHWH. On the first day [is] a proclamation of holiness: any-kind of servile work you are not to do. For seven days you are to bring near a fire-offering to YHWH; on the eighth day, a proclamation of holiness shall there be for you; you are to bring near a fire-offering to YHWH —it is [a day of] Restraint: any-kind of servile work you are not to do.

The Gemara cites a parable about a king of flesh and blood who said to his servants: Prepare me a great feast that will last for several days. When the feast concluded, on the last day, he said to his beloved servant: Prepare me a small feast so that I can derive pleasure from you alone.

The pilgrimage-festival of Sukkot/Huts you are to observe for yourself, for seven days,
at your ingathering, from your threshing-floor, from your vat. You are to rejoice on your festival, you, your son, and your daughter, your servant and your maid,
the Levite, the sojourner, the orphan and the widow who are within your gates. For seven days you are to celebrate-a-festival to YHWH your God in the place that YHWH chooses,
for YHWH your God has been blessing you
in all your produce and in all the doings of your hands, and you shall be oh so joyful!

(4) The days of Sukkot are called "seasons of our joy," because God has privileged us to dwell in God's shade. The sukkah is something like the Garden of Eden, where it says: "He placed there the person who God had made: (Gen. 2:8). The true intent of Creation was that humans dwell there, in that place of joy...

God above is surely happy because Israel have purified themselves before God on Yom Kippur. We now partake of God's joy. Of this, Scripture says: "Before the Lard [or 'for the Lord's sake'] you will be purified" (Lev. 16:30). We rejoice not only at our purification but also in the joy God takes in us.

You are to take yourselves, on the first day, the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palms, and boughs of thick tree-foliage, and willows of the brook. And you are to rejoice before the presence of YHWH your God for seven days;

Rabbi Akiva teaches based on the verse:

Etrog--this is the Holy One; (Psalm 104:1)

Lulav--this is the Holy One; (Psalm 92:13)

Myrtle--this is also the Holy One; (Zechariah 1:8)

Willow--is the Holy One. (Psalm 68:5)

Another Interpretation:

Etrog--this is Abraham our father whom God beautified with old age;

Lulav--this is Isaac our father who was bound up on the altar;

Myrtle--this is Jacob our father: just as myrtle is crowded by its leaves, so too was Jacob crowded by his children;

Willow--this is Joseph: just as the willow dries out and crumbles before the other species, so too Joseph died before his brothers.

Another Interpretation:

Etrog--this is Sarah our mother whom the Holy One beautified with old age;

Lulav--this is Rebecca our mother, just as the palm tree has fruit and thorns so too Rebecca established the righteous and wicked;

Myrtle--this is Leah our mother: just as the myrte is crowded by its leaves, so too Leah was crowded by her children; Willow--is Rachel our mother, just as the willow dries out before the other three species, so too Rachel died before her sister.

Another Interpretation:

Etrog - This is the great Sanhedrin of Israel (ancient Supreme Religious Council) who God has exalted, who rise before their elders.

Lulav- This is the Torah scholars and sages, who are bent over in their learning.

Myrtle- These are the three rows of Torah scholars who sit in front of the Sanhedrin

Willow-- These are the two court scribes before the Sanhedrin, one on the right and one on the left.

Another Interpretation:

4 species--this is the Jewish people

Etrog has both smell and taste, so it is that some people are learned in Torah and fill their lives with good actions;

Lulav--has taste but no smell, so it is that some people are learned in Torah but do not fill their lives with good actions;

Myrtle--has smell but no taste as both smell and taste, some people fill their lives with good actions but do not learn Torah;

Willow--has neither taste nor smell, so too do some Jews know no Torah nor do they fill their lives with good actions.

The Holy One said, "We should be sure not to lose any of them. Rather, let's bind all of them together and their will atone for each other."

This is why Moses said, "On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Holy One your God seven days." (Lev. 23:40)