Alef: The NEXT Conversation

Sukkah-what?

We are now several days into Sukkot and some of us at Alef thought it might be nice  to take a PAUSE and REWIND moment.  Talking about the meaning of the holidays is great, but we didn’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves.  Sure, we all know the ins and outs of Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur, but how much do you really know about the Jewish harvest holiday?  Fortunately, our friends at Tablet Magazine offer a little Sukkot FAQ and we’ve pulled the juiciest part for your reading pleasure:

“Sukkot is without doubt the most action-packed of all Jewish holidays. We’re commanded to build a temporary dwelling, take our meals al fresco, shake special tree branches, and so on. This, in part, has to do with the fact that Sukkot (together with Shavuot and Passover) is one of shloshet ha’regalim, or the three festivals of pilgrimage, occasions on which the ancient Israelites traveled to Jerusalem and worshipped at the Temple. This means it’s both a religious and an agricultural celebration, calling for all manner of ritual.

The holiday, the Bible instructs us, is to be celebrated “at the end of the year when you gather in your labors out of the field,” after you’ve gathered your harvest “in from your threshing-floor and from your winepress.” Sukkot, then, is the time to survey—and give thanks for—the land’s bounty, a classic agricultural feast for a classic agricultural society.”

Read more about Sukkot and Jewish life at Tablet Magazine online!

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Between Sukkot and Thanksgiving be on the look out for other stories on food issues in our own communities.  Learn more about Harvest to Harvest.

Photo by Baracute, licensed under Creative Commons.

Posted by Emily.Comisar@birthrightisraelnext.org, Monday, September 7th, 2009, 6:18 pm, Harvest to Harvest.