Sukkot: The Season of Our Joy
After the solemn days of Rosh HaShanah (the New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the Jewish calendar moves into a week-long festival called Sukkot (סֻכּוֹת) — the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles. Jewish tradition calls this festival z’man simchateinu (זְמַן שִׂמְחָתֵנוּ), “the season of our joy,” because Scripture repeatedly commands Israel to rejoice during this time (see Leviticus 23:40; Deuteronomy 16:14–15). This joy is not shallow happiness, but rather the culmination of the High Holiday season: after repentance and forgiveness comes celebration.
The Torah commands, “You shall dwell in booths (sukkot) for seven days… so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 23:42–43). The sukkah (singular of sukkot, סֻכָּה) is built as a temporary shelter, with a simple roof made from branches so that its shade is greater than the sunlight inside. Many Jewish families build it light enough that they can glimpse the sky or stars through the roof — a physical reminder that protection ultimately comes from God. Families eat meals in the sukkah, welcome guests, and, in some communities, even sleep there. Today, it is common to begin building the sukkah as soon as Yom Kippur ends. This tradition reflects the movement from repentance to joyful celebration.
Another central commandment of Sukkot is taking the arba’at haminim (אַרְבָּעַת הַמִּינִים) — “the Four Species”: the lulav (palm branch), etrog (citron), hadas (myrtle), and aravah (willow). These are held together and waved in six directions — north, south, east, west, upward, and downward — as a way of proclaiming that God’s presence fills the entire world. Jewish tradition also teaches that the Four Species symbolize the unity of the Jewish people — different types, different strengths, yet gathered together before God in worship.
In biblical times, Sukkot was one of the three pilgrimage festivals when the people of Israel would travel to Jerusalem to celebrate before the Lord (Deuteronomy 16:16). The joy of Sukkot was so great that the sages wrote, “Whoever has not seen the rejoicing at the water-drawing ceremony has never seen joy in all his life” (Mishnah Sukkah 5:1). This joyful celebration, called Simchat Beit HaShoeva, involved drawing water from the pool of Siloam. and pouring it out at the Temple altar — a prayer for rain and blessing for the year ahead, acknowledging that all sustenance comes from God.
Sukkot is not only about looking back to the wilderness journey — it also carries a forward-looking hope. The prophet Zechariah envisioned a time when all nations would come to Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkot together (Zechariah 14:16–19). For Christians, the festival takes on even deeper resonance in light of the New Testament. John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The Greek verb here is eskēnōsen (ἐσκήνωσεν), which literally means “to pitch a tent” or “to tabernacle.” John is intentionally evoking the image of God’s presence dwelling with Israel in the wilderness Tabernacle (Mishkan). In other words, John presents Jesus’ incarnation as God “tabernacling” among humanity. The sukkah thus becomes a powerful symbol of this reality — God’s presence taking up residence in a fragile, earthly dwelling. Revelation 21:3 points to the ultimate fulfillment of Sukkot: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with humanity. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people.”
Sukkot invites us to rejoice, to give thanks, and to remember that our lives — as fragile as a booth in the wind — are secure under the shelter of the Almighty. It is a week-long reminder that forgiveness leads to joy, and that God’s desire is to dwell with His people forever.
By Sandra Aviv
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