Joseph Shulam
WRITTEN IN 1991. @2024 JOSEPH SHULAM
Each of Israel's holidays has a central idea for which God created and gave it. All the activities and customs surrounding the holiday are created to manifest and actualize the central point and concept.
The Jewish calendar year is so interconnected between religion, nature, history, future expectations, and educational philosophy that, at times, it becomes impossible to distinguish between these areas in the practices and traditions of our holidays. This aspect, or shall I call it a mystery, makes the feasts of Israel unique and memorable both for the secular and religious Jew and, perhaps, especially for the Messianic Jew.
Here are some special reasons why the Jewish holidays are important and imperative for the Messianic Jew who knows Yeshua as the Messiah and the center-peace of the crown of his life.
The Jews who have come to the Messiah in our times have, for the most part, come from very secular homes. They, at times, feel an alienation from both their Jewish and Christian cultural framework. They need to connect with their Jewish heritage. Among the Jewish Christians of the early 20th Century, one can find many who, although having been born into orthodox Jewish families, lost their connections with Judaism and, years later, have sought them out again. Englishman Harry Lipson, who was in the Hebrew Christian Alliance for many years, is a perfect example. In America, I cite people like Buksbasen, Arthur Kack, and Zola Levit as persons who once gave up their relationship to their Jewish heritage and later started to teach others about the beauty of the Jewish home, holidays, and tradition.
The Jews have a divine mandate to stay, live, and be a distinct nation. The glue that has kept and continues to keep Jews as a nation is their holidays. These are not only traditions of men. The Jewish holidays are the only holidays from any nation with a divine command and mandate. Nothing in the New Testament belittles or has any derision toward the Biblical or Traditional Jewish holidays. Some scholars, like Goulden, think the Gospel of John is written as a tri-year lectionary for the Early Jewish Christian Church. The holidays are, therefore, crucial for Christians who are living among the Jews, and especially for the Jews who live with and fellowship with Christians. These same holidays gave the Messianic Jew the special historical relationship and dimension genuinely needed by and for the whole church of Christ.
From an evangelistic point of view, the Pauline dictum of 1Cor 9:18-20 has to include the holidays and imply more than lip service to the biblical heritage of the Jewish people.
"To those under the law, I became as under the law "
must also include keeping and fully participating in Jewish holiday celebrations and even in Simchat Torah.
Here is some of the imagery seen in Jewish tradition regarding the building of the Succah.
Rabbi Yossef Karo saw in the Succah a symbol of God's eminent presence in even the most ramshackle house in Israel. He saw the Succah as a representation of our earthly life, which is temporary and insecure in light of the mansions that await us in the next life.
Philo of Alexandria understood the Succah as a reminder of Israel's traveling and wandering in the wilderness. He also understood that the Succah reminds the rich not to think too highly of themselves and the poor not to think too lowly of themselves.
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The Rash"bam, Rashi's grandson, notices that God commanded people to go outdoors and build for themselves Succoth during the season when their stores are full and the harvest has just been gathered. God commanded this so that the hearts of men might not be puffed up just after the ingathering of grain and the wealth of the fields. According to Rash"bam, it reminds everyone alike that our inheritance is not in this world. Israel did not have an inheritance or land in the wilderness, yet God walked with them and fed them each day for forty years. This realization should make people more trusting in God and ready to face even the most tremendous hardships, such as losing their property and houses, with grace and gratitude toward God.
The Rabbis also see the Succah as a symbol of Israel's eschatological renewal and how the Apostles see the passage from Amos 9:11 when they quote it in Acts 15. In the prayer of thanksgiving after meals, there is the quotation, 'The Merciful one will raise for us the falling tabernacle of David,.' a reference to the Messianic Kingdom, which every Jew should relentlessly wait for.
AMOS 9:11
"In that day will I raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. 13 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. 14 And I will bring the captivity of my people of Israel again, and they shall build the waste cities, inhabit them, plant vineyards, drink the wine thereof, make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God".
ACTS 15:13
"And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: 14 Simeon hath declared how God at first did visit the Gentiles, ot take out of them a people for his name. 15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 16 After this I will return, and will build again the Tabernacle of David, which is fallen; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: 17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. 18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. 19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:"
Just like God left his dwelling place in heaven to come and dwell among men when the Tabernacle was complete in Succoth, men must leave their permanent dwelling to dwell in "Exile" for a week during the creation period.
There are those in Judaism who see the closeness to the other holidays as a significant factor in the feast of Succoth. They see that after a man has crowned God as his King on Rosh HaShanah, and after he has had his sin atoned for at Yom Kippurim, he can now perform real public mitzvah, build a Succah that all men should see and rejoice. One can not rejoice and be happy until his sins are atoned. The commandment to rejoice and be happy during this holiday is given in Leviticus 23:41 and Deut. 16:14-16.
The holiday in orthodox Jewish circles comes right at the beginning of the rainy period in the Middle East. The Rabbis give two distinct points to answer this issue. First, we sit in the Succah when the seasons are uncertain because God does not want the nations to say that they are sitting in the Succah because of the Summer heat. During the fall, when it starts to rain and gets colder, it is clear that Israel will demonstrate its devotion. At a time when people were fixing their houses to face the rain and wind, Israel was building a booth from which the stars of heaven could be seen through its roof.
Although these are only traditions of the Rabbis, they have great Biblical and Messianic teachings in them. They can be mentioned and used during the Succoth for education and fellowship with our families and guests. It is common in Jewish homes ot have discussions on some of these teachings during the feast.
The four types.
The Torah commanded using these four types of branches: Lev 23:40, "And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days."
Each type of tree represents a different type of people in Israel. The types symbolized people. The pattern of four types is a trope repeated throughout rabbinic thought, and it appears in the parable of the seeds and the soils in Mathew 13.
The types of trees represent the fruitfulness of people.
For example, those who produce fruit like the Citron and the Palm and those who smell only like the Myrtle teaches shared responsibility and camaraderie within Israel.
Another Rabbinic understanding of the four types is that each represents another part of the human body. The Citron is like the heart. The Lulav is
like the backbone. The Myrtle branch is the eyes, and it is a hint that the sight of his own eyes should not lead one into immoral behavior. The Willow branch is a lot like the lips. It teaches that lips should speak with holiness.
An exciting factor among these four types is the ancient customs reflected in modern times. In 2 Samuel 6:5, David and Himen take branches and shake them in a kind of PANAGGUIRIA of victory.
The great discourse of Yeshua in John 7 is within the New Testament. This discourse takes place on the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. In John 7:13, Yeshua is in the Temple for the Feast. In John 7:37, Yeshua gives the most essential teachings in the Temple on the last day of the feast. This last day is Simchat Torah and Simchat beit HaSoevah.
The themes Yeshua deals with in this long discourse are all in Sukkot's repertoire.
Here are some of these themes:
Living Water, Simchat Beit HaSoevah.
Unity and division among the people.
King David's seed and redemption.
The giving of the Holy Spirit as the Harvest.
Another custom of the Sukkot feast is to invite guests. Two kinds of guests are invited.
The regular guests are specially invited to celebrate. Inviting people experiencing poverty and strangers into the Succah is considered a great mitzvah.
The Ushpezin. (Aramaic word with Latin root.) The same root as the words 'Hospice' and 'Hospital'. These special guests consist of the fathers of the nation, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David. The number of these guests is also the number of days in the Succoth holiday. Each day of the feast, one of these fathers is invited to visit the Succah. This custom is beneficial for the Messianic celebration of Succoth. Use these tremendous religious and national figures and their stories and messianic implications for teaching and a better understanding of the holiday and the historical and literary connections between the New Testament and the Hebrew world and lifestyle.
The specific additional sacrifices offered in the Temple for the nations are also unique and significant in teaching Israel about the universality of God and His Kingdom. So much time and effort is spent in Israel focusing on the particularity of Israel that it is easy to forget the universal aspects of the Torah and Israel's faith. The Jewish viewpoint is that there are seventy nations and seventy languages worldwide. During the Succoth feast, seventy unique offerings were made in the Temple, one for each nation. An opportunity is created to celebrate in the Body of the Messiah, and we ought to study more and deal more with the biblical and Jewish aspects of God's Universal Kingdom.
Another aspect of Sukkot is the ebullition of water, "Nissuach HaMaiim" in Hebrew. On Succoth, the Priest would pour a cup of wine and another of water together on the sacrifice. The Sadducees objected to this custom, and when a Sadducee Priest would officiate, he would sometimes pour the water on his feet instead of on the sacrifice. Since then, tradition has had people shout, "Raise your hands." This was done so they would see the water pour on the sacrifice from afar.
Yeshua refers to This pouring of the water in John 7:37:
"In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."
The verse also connects with the Joy of the Well, or as it is called in Hebrew, 'Simchat Beit-HaShoeva.' Since Succoth is also a holiday celebrating the beginning of the rainy season in Israel, like all ancient peoples, Israel also had a commemoration and request from God for a rainy winter and fertility. In great joy and celebration, the people would gather at the Temple courts and walk down to the pool of Shiloah in a grand procession. The procession and all of Jerusalem were lit with candles and torches, and since this was done at the end of the holiday, it was always night. Musical instruments would accompany the crowds, and jugglers would throw fire torches. Among the most famous of these jugglers is Rabbi Shimon Ben-Gamliel, of whom the Mishna writes this description,
"It is taught in a baraita: They said about Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel that when he would rejoice at the Celebration of the Place of the Drawing of the Water, he would take eight flaming torches and toss one and catch another, juggling them, and, though all were in the air at the same time, they would not touch each other. And when he would prostrate himself, he would insert his two thumbs into the ground, and bow, and kiss the floor of the courtyard, and straighten, and there was not any other creature that could do that due to the extreme difficulty involved. And this was the form of bowing called kidda performed by the High Priest. (Succah 53a,7)
The HaKaffot (crowd) in the time of the Temple in Jerusalem would surround the altar with their palm branches, Lulav, in hand, and walk around the altar singing "Hossanah." Today, in the synagogues, the Torah is lifted, held high, and walked about in the morning prayer after the Hallel. It is then set on the podium, and the people walk around it and sing songs of joy called Hoshaanot.
On the seventh day of the feast, the Hosanah Raba, or the great Hosshaanah, is celebrated with tremendous enthusiasm and joy. The crowd walks around the Torah seven times.
This great Hosshaanah is considered to be the end of the Judgment. Succoth is a holiday at the end of the Judgment. Rosh HaShanah starts the cycle of judgment day, Yom Kippur is the beginning of Judgment day, and the end of Succoth is the end of Judgment. Commentators refer to the passage of Zechariah 14, which obligates the nations to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the feast of Succoth. On judgment day, if the nations did not come to celebrate with Israel, they would have to bear the consequences.
Should Messianic Jews celebrate the feast?
Yes!
Messianic Jews ought to celebrate the feast of Succoth for these reasons:
1) The Lord celebrated it.
2) It is a part of their historical past, and many great lessons and teachings are found during holidays.
3) In the future, all nations will celebrate this feast. Why should we not celebrate it right now?
4) We are commanded by the Bible to "Weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice." For personal identity and national integrity, we cannot afford to separate ourselves from the nations. 1 Corinthians 9:18-20 indeed gives us the obligation and privilege to keep the feast.
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