The Harvest Festival of Booths Liturgical Readings חג הסוכות

(11) You shall rejoice before the LORD your God with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite in your communities, and the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your midst, at the place where the LORD your God will choose to establish His name.(12) Bear in mind that you were slaves in Egypt, and take care to obey these laws.(13) After the ingathering from your threshing floor and your vat, you shall hold the Feast of Booths for seven days.(14) You shall rejoice in your festival, with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your communities.(15) You shall hold a festival for the LORD your God seven days, in the place that the LORD will choose; for the LORD your God will bless all your crops and all your undertakings, and you shall have nothing but joy.(16) Three times a year—on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the Feast of Weeks, and on the Feast of Booths—all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place that He will choose. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed,(17) but each with his own gift, according to the blessing that the LORD your God has bestowed upon you.

(33) ה׳ spoke to Moses, saying:(34) Say to the Israelite people: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month there shall be the Feast of Booths to ה׳, [to last] seven days.(35) The first day shall be a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations;(36) seven days you shall bring offerings by fire to ה׳. On the eighth day you shall observe a sacred occasion and bring an offering by fire to ה׳; it is a solemn gathering: you shall not work at your occupations.(37) Those are the set times of ה׳ that you shall celebrate as sacred occasions, bringing offerings by fire to ה׳ —burnt offerings, meal offerings, sacrifices, and libations, on each day what is proper to it—(38) apart from the sabbaths of ה׳, and apart from your gifts and from all your votive offerings and from all your freewill offerings that you give to ה׳.(39) Mark, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the yield of your land, you shall observe the festival of ה׳ [to last] seven days: a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day.(40) 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 your God ה׳ seven days.(41) You shall observe it as a festival of ה׳ for seven days in the year; you shall observe it in the seventh month as a law for all time, throughout the ages.(42) You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths,(43) in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt—I, your God ה׳.(44) So Moses declared to the Israelites the set times of ה׳.

(12) On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you shall observe a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.—Seven days you shall observe a festival of ה׳.—(13) You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to ה׳: Thirteen bulls of the herd, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs; they shall be without blemish.(14) The meal offerings with them—of choice flour with oil mixed in—shall be: three-tenths of a measure for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams,(15) and one-tenth for each of the fourteen lambs.(16) And there shall be one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.

(1) Lo, a day of the LORD is coming when your spoil shall be divided in your very midst!(2) For I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for war: The city shall be captured, the houses plundered, and the women violated; and a part of the city shall go into exile. But the rest of the population shall not be uprooted from the city.(3) Then the LORD will come forth and make war on those nations as He is wont to make war on a day of battle.(4) On that day, He will set His feet on the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall split across from east to west, and one part of the Mount shall shift to the north and the other to the south, a huge gorge.(5) And the Valley in the Hills shall be stopped up, for the Valley of the Hills shall reach only to Azal; it shall be stopped up as it was stopped up as a result of the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah.—And the LORD my God, with all the holy beings, will come to you.(6) In that day, there shall be neither sunlight nor cold moonlight,(7) but there shall be a continuous day—only the LORD knows when—of neither day nor night, and there shall be light at eventide.(8) In that day, fresh water shall flow from Jerusalem, part of it to the Eastern Sea and part to the Western Sea, throughout the summer and winter.(9) And the LORD shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one LORD with one name.(10) Then the whole country shall become like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem.^-h The latter, however, shall perch high up where it is, and ^-ishall be inhabited^-i from the Gate of Benjamin to the site of the Old Gate, down to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.(11) Never again shall destruction be decreed, and Jerusalem shall dwell secure.(12) As for those peoples that warred against Jerusalem, the LORD will smite them with this plague: Their flesh shall rot away while they stand on their feet; their eyes shall rot away in their sockets; and their tongues shall rot away in their mouths.(13) In that day, a great panic from the LORD shall fall upon them, and everyone shall snatch at the hand of another, and everyone shall raise his hand against everyone else’s hand.(14) Judah shall join the fighting in Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the nations round about—vast quantities of gold, silver, and clothing—shall be gathered in.(15) The same plague shall strike the horses, the mules, the camels, and the asses; the plague shall affect all the animals in those camps.(16) All who survive of all those nations that came up against Jerusalem shall make a pilgrimage year by year to bow low to the King LORD of Hosts and to observe the Feast of Booths.(17) Any of the earth’s communities that does not make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to bow low to the King LORD of Hosts shall receive no rain.(18) However, if the community of Egypt does not make this pilgrimage, it shall not be visited by the same affliction with which the LORD will strike the other nations that do not come up to observe the Feast of Booths.(19) Such shall be the punishment of Egypt and of all other nations that do not come up to observe the Feast of Booths.(20) In that day, even the bells on the horses shall be inscribed “Holy to the LORD.” The metal pots in the House of the LORD shall be like the basins before the altar;(21) indeed, every metal pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy to the LORD of Hosts. And all those who sacrifice shall come and take of these to boil [their sacrificial meat] in; in that day there shall be no more traders in the House of the LORD of Hosts.

(17) Second day: Twelve bulls of the herd, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;(18) the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;(19) and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libations.

(2) All the men of Israel gathered before King Solomon at the Feast, in the month of Ethanim—that is, the seventh month.(3) When all the elders of Israel had come, the priests lifted the Ark(4) and carried up the Ark of the LORD. Then the priests and the Levites brought the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent.(5) Meanwhile, King Solomon and the whole community of Israel, who were assembled with him before the Ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen in such abundance that they could not be numbered or counted.(6) The priests brought the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant to its place underneath the wings of the cherubim, in the Shrine of the House, in the Holy of Holies;(7) for the cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the Ark, so that the cherubim shielded the Ark and its poles from above.(8) The poles projected so that the ends of the poles were visible in the sanctuary in front of the Shrine, but they could not be seen outside; and there they remain to this day.(9) There was nothing inside the Ark but the two tablets of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, when the LORD made [a covenant] with the Israelites after their departure from the land of Egypt.(10) When the priests came out of the sanctuary—for the cloud had filled the House of the LORD(11) and the priests were not able to remain and perform the service because of the cloud, for the Presence of the LORD filled the House of the LORD—(12) then Solomon declared:
“The LORD has chosen
To abide in a thick cloud:(13) I have now built for You
A stately House,
A place where You
May dwell forever.”(14) Then, with the whole congregation of Israel standing, the king faced about and blessed the whole congregation of Israel.(15) He said:
“Praised be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with deeds the promise He made^-b to my father David. For He said,(16) ‘Ever since I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city among all the tribes of Israel for building a House where My name might abide; but I have chosen David to rule My people Israel.’(17) “Now my father David had intended to build a House for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.(18) But the LORD said to my father David, ‘As regards your intention to build a House for My name, you did right to have that intention.(19) However, you shall not build the House yourself; instead, your son, the issue of your loins, shall build the House for My name.’(20) “And the LORD has fulfilled the promise that He made: I have succeeded my father David and have ascended the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the House for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel;(21) and I have set a place there for the Ark, containing the covenant which the LORD made with our fathers when He brought them out from the land of Egypt.”

(20) Third day: Eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;(21) the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;(22) and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.(23) Fourth day: Ten bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;(24) the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;(25) and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.(26) Fifth day: Nine bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;(27) the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;(28) and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.(29) Sixth day: Eight bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;(30) the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;(31) and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libations.

(10) I have observed the business that God gave man to be concerned with:(11) He brings everything to pass precisely at its time; He also puts eternity in their mind, but without man ever guessing, from first to last, all the things that God brings to pass.(12) Thus I realized that the only worthwhile thing there is for them is to enjoy themselves and do what is good in their lifetime;(13) also, that whenever a man does eat and drink and get enjoyment out of all his wealth, it is a gift of God.(14) I realized, too, that whatever God has brought to pass will recur evermore:
Nothing can be added to it
And nothing taken from it—
and God has brought to pass that men revere Him.

(12) Moses said to ה׳, “See, You say to me, ‘Lead this people forward,’ but You have not made known to me whom You will send with me. Further, You have said, ‘I have singled you out by name, and you have, indeed, gained My favor.’(13) Now, if I have truly gained Your favor, pray let me know Your ways, that I may know You and continue in Your favor. Consider, too, that this nation is Your people.”(14) And [God] said, “I will go in the lead and will lighten your burden.”(15) And he replied, “Unless You go in the lead, do not make us leave this place.(16) For how shall it be known that Your people have gained Your favor unless You go with us, so that we may be distinguished, Your people and I, from every people on the face of the earth?”(17) And ה׳ said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have asked; for you have truly gained My favor and I have singled you out by name.”(18) He said, “Oh, let me behold Your Presence!”(19) And [God] answered, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim before you the name ה׳, and the grace that I grant and the compassion that I show,” (20) continuing, “But you cannot see My face, for a human being may not see Me and live.”(21) And ה׳ said, “See, there is a place near Me. Station yourself on the rock(22) and, as My Presence passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and shield you with My hand until I have passed by.(23) Then I will take My hand away and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”(1) ה׳ said to Moses: “Carve two tablets of stone like the first, and I will inscribe upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you shattered.(2) Be ready by morning, and in the morning come up to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to Me, on the top of the mountain.(3) No one else shall come up with you, and no one else shall be seen anywhere on the mountain; neither shall the flocks and the herds graze at the foot of this mountain.”(4) So Moses carved two tablets of stone, like the first, and early in the morning he went up on Mount Sinai, as ה׳ had commanded him, taking the two stone tablets with him.(5) ה׳ came down in a cloud—and stood with him there, proclaiming the name ה׳.(6) ה׳ passed before him and proclaimed: “יהוה ! ה׳ ! a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness,(7) extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin—yet not remitting all punishment, but visiting the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generations.”(8) Moses hastened to bow low to the ground in homage,(9) and said, “If I have gained Your favor, O my lord, pray, let my lord go in our midst, even though this is a stiffnecked people. Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your own!”(10) [God] said: I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will work such wonders as have not been wrought on all the earth or in any nation; and all the people who are with you shall see how awesome are ה׳’s deeds which I will perform for you.(11) Mark well what I command you this day. I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.(12) Beware of making a covenant with the inhabitants of the land against which you are advancing, lest they be a snare in your midst.(13) No, you must tear down their altars, smash their pillars, and cut down their sacred posts;(14) for you must not worship any other god, because ה׳, whose name is Impassioned, is an impassioned God.(15) You must not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for they will lust after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and invite you, and you will eat of their sacrifices.(16) And when you take [wives into your households] from among their daughters for your sons, their daughters will lust after their gods and will cause your sons to lust after their gods.(17) You shall not make molten gods for yourselves.(18) You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread—eating unleavened bread for seven days, as I have commanded you—at the set time of the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you went forth from Egypt.(19) Every first issue of the womb is Mine, from all your livestock that drop a male as firstling, whether cattle or sheep.(20) But the firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a sheep; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. And you must redeem every male first-born among your children. None shall appear before Me empty-handed.(21) Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor; you shall cease from labor even at plowing time and harvest time.(22) You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the first fruits of the wheat harvest; and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.(23) Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Sovereign ה׳, the God of Israel.(24) I will drive out nations from your path and enlarge your territory; no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before your God ה׳ three times a year.(25) You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with anything leavened; and the sacrifice of the Feast of Passover shall not be left lying until morning.(26) The choice first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of your God ה׳. You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

(31) and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libations.(32) Seventh day: Seven bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;(33) the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;(34) and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.(35) On the eighth day you shall hold a solemn gathering; you shall not work at your occupations.(36) You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to ה׳; one bull, one ram, seven yearling lambs, without blemish;(37) the meal offerings and libations for the bull, the ram, and the lambs, in the quantities prescribed;(38) and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.

(32) Seventh day: Seven bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;(33) the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;(34) and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.(35) On the eighth day you shall hold a solemn gathering; you shall not work at your occupations.(36) You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to ה׳; one bull, one ram, seven yearling lambs, without blemish;(37) the meal offerings and libations for the bull, the ram, and the lambs, in the quantities prescribed;(38) and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.

(18) On that day, when Gog sets foot on the soil of Israel—declares the Lord GOD—My raging anger shall flare up.(19) For I have decreed in My indignation and in My blazing wrath: On that day, a terrible earthquake shall befall the land of Israel.(20) The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that move on the ground, and every human being on earth shall quake before Me. Mountains shall be overthrown, cliffs shall topple, and every wall shall crumble to the ground.(21) I will then summon the sword against him throughout My mountains^-d—declares the Lord GOD—and every man’s sword shall be turned against his brother.(22) I will punish him with pestilence and with bloodshed; and I will pour torrential rain, hailstones, and sulfurous fire upon him and his hordes and the many peoples with him.(23) Thus will I manifest My greatness and My holiness, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations. And they shall know that I am the LORD.(1) And you, O mortal, prophesy against Gog and say: Thus said the Lord GOD: I am going to deal with you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal!(2) I will turn you around and drive you on,^-a and I will take you from the far north and lead you toward the mountains of Israel.(3) I will strike your bow from your left hand and I will loosen the arrows from your right hand.(4) You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your battalions and the peoples who are with you; and I will give you as food to carrion birds of every sort and to the beasts of the field,(5) as you lie in the open field. For I have spoken—declares the Lord GOD.(6) And I will send a fire against Magog and against those who dwell secure in the coastlands. And they shall know that I am the LORD.(7) I will make My holy name known among My people Israel, and never again will I let My holy name be profaned. And the nations shall know that I the LORD am holy in Israel.(8) Ah! it has come, it has happened—declares the Lord GOD: this is that day that I decreed.(9) Then the inhabitants of the cities of Israel will go out and make fires and feed them with the weapons—shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, clubs and spears; they shall use them as fuel for seven years.(10) They will not gather firewood in the fields or cut any in the forests, but will use the weapons as fuel for their fires. They will despoil those who despoiled them and plunder those who plundered them—declares the Lord GOD.(11) On that day I will assign to Gog a burial site there in Israel—the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Sea. It shall block the path of travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It shall be called the Valley of Gog’s Multitude.(12) The House of Israel shall spend seven months burying them, in order to cleanse the land;(13) all the people of the land shall bury them. The day I manifest My glory shall bring renown to them^-a—declares the Lord GOD.(14) And they shall appoint men to serve permanently, to traverse the land and bury any invaders who remain above ground, in order to cleanse it. The search shall go on for a period of seven months.(15) As those who traverse the country make their rounds, any one of them who sees a human bone shall erect a marker beside it, until the buriers have interred them in the Valley of Gog’s Multitude.(16) There shall also be a city named Multitude.^-a And thus the land shall be cleansed.

(16) and the Feast of the Harvest, of the first fruits of your work, of what you sow in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in the results of your work from the field.(17) Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Sovereign, the LORD.

(4) When my Lord has washed away
The filth of the daughters of Zion,^-c
And from Jerusalem’s midst
Has rinsed out her infamy—
In a spirit of judgment
And in a spirit of purging—
(5) the LORD will create over the whole shrine and meeting place of Mount Zion cloud by day and smoke with a glow of flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the glory^-e shall hang a canopy,(6) which shall serve as a pavilion for shade from heat by day and as a shelter for protection against drenching rain.

(16) All who survive of all those nations that came up against Jerusalem shall make a pilgrimage year by year to bow low to the King LORD of Hosts and to observe the Feast of Booths.(17) Any of the earth’s communities that does not make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to bow low to the King LORD of Hosts shall receive no rain.

(18) On that day, when Gog sets foot on the soil of Israel—declares the Lord GOD—My raging anger shall flare up.(19) For I have decreed in My indignation and in My blazing wrath: On that day, a terrible earthquake shall befall the land of Israel.(20) The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that move on the ground, and every human being on earth shall quake before Me. Mountains shall be overthrown, cliffs shall topple, and every wall shall crumble to the ground.

(12) Then all the people went to eat and drink and send portions and make great merriment, for they understood the things they were told.(13) On the second day, the heads of the clans of all the people and the priests and Levites gathered to Ezra the scribe to study the words of the Teaching.(14) They found written in the Teaching that the LORD had commanded Moses that the Israelites must dwell in booths during the festival of the seventh month,(15) and that they must announce and proclaim throughout all their towns and Jerusalem as follows, “Go out to the mountains and bring leafy branches of olive trees, pine trees, myrtles, palms and [other] leafy^-a trees to make booths, as it is written.”(16) So the people went out and brought them, and made themselves booths on their roofs, in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the House of God, in the square of the Water Gate and in the square of the Ephraim Gate.(17) The whole community that returned from the captivity made booths and dwelt in the booths—the Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua son of Nun to that day—and there was very great rejoicing.(18) He read from the scroll of the Teaching of God each day, from the first to the last day. They celebrated the festival seven days, and there was a solemn gathering on the eighth, as prescribed.

It is taught in another baraita that Rabbi Eliezer says: Just as a person does not fulfill his obligation on the first day of the Festival with the lulav of another, as it is written: “And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a beautiful tree, branches of a date palm” (Leviticus 23:40), and the Sages derive from the phrase: Shall take for yourselves, that it must be taken from your own and not from that of someone else, so too, a person does not fulfill his obligation with the sukka of another, as it is written: “You shall prepare for yourself the festival of Sukkot for seven days” (Deuteronomy 16:13), and the Sages derive from the term “for yourself” that it must be taken from your own.

(1) A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven:(2) A time for being born^-b and a time for dying,
A time for planting and a time for uprooting the planted;(3) A time for slaying and a time for healing,^-c
A time for tearing down and a time for building up;(4) A time for weeping and a time for laughing,
A time for wailing and a time for dancing;(5) A time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,
A time for embracing and a time for shunning embraces;(6) A time for seeking and a time for losing,
A time for keeping and a time for discarding;(7) A time for ripping and a time for sewing,
A time for silence and a time for speaking;(8) A time for loving and a time for hating;
A time for war and a time for peace.(9) What value, then, can the man of affairs get from what he earns?(10) I have observed the business that God gave man to be concerned with:(11) He brings everything to pass precisely at its time; He also puts eternity in their mind, but without man ever guessing, from first to last, all the things that God brings to pass.(12) Thus I realized that the only worthwhile thing there is for them is to enjoy themselves and do what is good in their lifetime;(13) also, that whenever a man does eat and drink and get enjoyment out of all his wealth, it is a gift of God.(14) I realized, too, that whatever God has brought to pass will recur evermore:
Nothing can be added to it
And nothing taken from it—
and God has brought to pass that men revere Him.(15) What is occurring occurred long since,
And what is to occur occurred long since:
and God seeks the pursued.(16) And, indeed, I have observed under the sun:
Alongside justice there is wickedness,
Alongside righteousness there is wickedness.(17) I mused: “God will doom both righteous and wicked, for there is^-g a time for every experience and for every happening.”(18) So I decided, as regards men, to dissociate them [from] the divine beings and to face the fact that they are beasts.(19) For in respect of the fate of man and the fate of beast, they have one and the same fate: as the one dies so dies the other, and both have the same lifebreath; man has no superiority over beast, since both amount to nothing.(20) Both go to the same place; both came from dust and both return to dust.(21) Who knows if a man’s lifebreath does rise upward and if a beast’s breath does sink down into the earth?(22) I saw that there is nothing better for man than to enjoy his possessions, since that is his portion. For who can enable him to see what will happen afterward?

(13) The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere God and observe His commandments! For this applies to all mankind:(14) that God will call every creature to account for everything unknown,^-s be it good or bad.

The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere God and observe His commandments! For this applies to all mankind.