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Feast of Tabernacles - Sukkot
The Feast of Tabernacles is the final feast until Chanukah. It is the time when Yeshua was born, when He, The Light, came to "tabernacle" with us! It was nine months earlier at Chanukah that Mary was told she would bear the Promised Messiah.
This is the only feast that requires us to build something!
After Yom Kippur we have four days to construct a sukkah. And construction of a sukkah is very interesting! It teaches many lessons. Here are just some.
1. We chose to build our sukkah as a temporary structure. No nails, bricks, or mortar. The teaching in this for us is that our lives here on earth are temporary.
2. We have also learned through construction of this temporary sukkah, that if the base/foundation of the structure is not laid with care, it can bring the collapse of the entire structure later on! A powerful life lesson in that.
3. We also try to use natural materials in constructing the sukkah, reminding us of Our Father's marvelous creation.
4. The roof is not completely "solid". The covering material allows the sky/stars to be seen. As such it encourages us to consider our Creator ... and the vastness of His creation.
5. The sukkah reminds us of the Jewish Wedding Chuppah. The chuppah is the special canopy under which the groom and bride stand during their wedding ceremony and symbolizes the home that the couple will build together.
Our Sukkah Saga
We have had an interesting journey with sukkah building. Our initial sukkah was so small that either we or the bread, wine, and candles could be inside at one time. It would not house us both. Since this was our first effort we were determined to improve on the space the next year.
And the next year we did construct a sukkah that could house both us AND the bread, wind, and candles. It was lovely! But space was still at a premium.
So the following year we moved the location of our sukkah to a roomier part of the yard and constructed a nicely spacious temporary structure!
But when we had to move to an apartment we wondered what to do without yard space. I had read accounts of apartment dwellers who fashioned sukkahs in their hallways during Feast of Tabernacles. So we decided to construct our sukkah as part of our dining room table. It was wonderful!
When we moved to where we now live, that "table sukkah" is perfect! There is so much wind in this area at times that any outdoor sukkah would be flying to the neighbor's field on a regular basis! The "table sukkah" does not leave home without us.
These are the celebration aids our family uses for Feast of Tabernacles. Feel free to use them as a starting point for this joyful feast.
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Four Species ( for days 2 - 6 ) - Print two on
the same page by rotating paper and putting through the printer again. Cut in
half length-wise.
For each of these days:- First day - Erev Zman Simkhatenu - Print inside then turn paper over and print outside on other side of paper. Fold lengthwise.
- Seventh day - Erev Simcha Bet HaShoevah - Print inside then turn paper over and print outside on other side of paper. Fold lengthwise.
- Eighth day - Erev Shmeni Atzert - Print inside then turn paper over and print outside on other side of paper. Fold lengthwise.
- Psalm 113 - 118 booklet - Print the cover. Sheet A - Print frontside then turn and print backside. Sheet B - Print frontside then turn and print backside. Fold all sheets lengthwise and assemble as a booklet according to page numbers.
- Calendar stickers - We print these on "sticky paper" and put them on the calendar following the day of Yom Kippur.
You can contact the Web-master for more details and recipes of our celebration.
Questions? Comments?
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