Sukkot

Sukkot is one of the Jewish holidays. Like Passover and Shavout, Sukkot is one of the three Pilgrim Festivals. On this holiday the Jewish people walk to Jerusalem. We celebrate Sukkot on the fifteenth of Tishrey.

The Name - Sukkot

The holiday Sukkot is called "Sukkot" because, In the Exodus from Egypt, the Jewish nation lived in bowers. We build bower in order to remember the miracles that g-d did for us. G-d protected us from animals, enemy, disease. Our cloth had never been small; our shoes had never been small also.

The Orders and the Customs

On Sukkot, we have to live for a week in booth. We should build booth or visit in booth. We should decorate the bower, because we need to feel like our house.
In the bower we must eat, drink and sleep.
On Sukkot, we have to take the varieties. The varieties are ceremonial palm frond, citron, myrtle, and wilderness. We have to gather the ceremonial palm frond, the myrtle, and wilderness together, and to take the bundle in one hand, and in the other hand to take the citron, we have to shake them together.
On Sukkot, in Beit HaMikdash, was the Water Libation Ceremony, the priest poured water on the altar. While this ceremony was occurring, the Jewish people were singing.
The sages of blessed memory told us that the happiness was huge, if someone didn't saw this ceremony he had never seen a great happy ceremony.

The Traditions of Sukkot

The tradition told us that on Sukkot visitors came to our booth every day:
• On the first day Abraham our forefather comes.
• On the second day Isaac our forefather comes.
• On the third day Jacob our fore father comes.
• On the fourth day Moshe comes.
• On the fifth day Aharon comes.
• On the sixth day Josef comes.
• On the seventh day the King David comes.

The eighth day of Sukkot

The eighth day is the festival celebrating the completion and beginning reading of the Torah (Simchat Torah). In this day we finish and start the Torah.
In this day we mustn't sit in bower. This is another holiday after Sukkot.
This holiday also called "Shemini Atzeret" (in abroad we have two days so the first is "Shmini Atzeret" and the second is "Simchat Torah") in this day we start to pray about the winter and about the rain (in the land of Israel we ask for rain on seventh in Heshvan, and in abroad we ask sixty days after Tishrey's season).

Intermediate days of certain Jewish festivals

The days between the first day on Sukkot and Shemin Atzeret called "Intermediate days of certain Jewish festivals". In these days we also must eat, drink and sleep in the bower, but in these days we can do jobs (in few conditions) but only jobs which we need to do for the holidays or that we'll lose money if we don't do these.

The three Pilgrim Festivals

Sukkot is one of the three pilgrim festivals in Sukkot the Jewish people walked to Beit Hamikdash. In this holyday the priests many sacrifice, sacrificed daily number different bulls:
• On the first day of Sukkot – thirteen bulls, two rams and fourteen ships.
• On the second day of Sukkot – twelve bulls, two rams and fourteen ships.
• On the third day of Sukkot – eleven bulls, two rams and fourteen ships.
• On the fourth day of Sukkot – ten bulls, two rams and fourteen ships.
• On the fifth day of Sukkot – nine bulls, two rams and fourteen ships.
• On the sixth day of Sukkot – eight bulls, two rams and fourteen ships.
• On the seventh day of Sukkot – seven bulls, two rams and fourteen ships.