A Festive Celebration

Dear Friends and Family:

As we approach the festival of Sukkot tonight, the weather around here seems to have anticipated the season: suddenly, there is a chill in the morning air. Let's hope that the rain holds off!


Numbers 29:12 “The fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be a sacred holiday to you when no mundane work may be done. You shall celebrate a festival to God for seven days.”

The Festival reading for Sukkot comes primarily from the parasha Emor in Leviticus. In traditional congregations, we also read this verse from the Book of Numbers, which describes in detail the sacrifices made on this pilgrimage festival. The number of sacrifices for this festival, as noted in Etz Hayim, is “staggering” and includes 98 lambs and 70 bulls. Passover only requires the sacrifice of 16 bulls, and no other holiday calls for more than 2 such sacrifices.

What are we to make of this distinction? According to the Talmud (Sukkot 55b), the 70 bulls represent offerings that are made on behalf of the 70 nations of the world. Rabbi Hertz adds that these sacrifices were intended to make atonement for all of the world. We are left, however, with the following question: why should the Israelites be making sacrifices of thanksgiving on behalf of alien nations?

Perhaps it is because Israel is to be a light to the nations, and bring to them knowledge of God’s goodness and graciousness. From this perspective, we are to serve as role models for the rest of humanity.

On the other hand, perhaps if we pair the sacrificial excesses with the flimsy Sukkot we dwell in, we can see another kind of connection: our fate as Jews is to be dispersed throughout the nations of the world, living in peril but under the protection of God’s wings, as represented by the Sukkah. As such, we have a responsibility both to ourselves and to the nations to proclaim thanks for God’s bounty at the time of harvest.

Shabbat Shalom, and Chag Sameach