NAMES
Sukkot has three names:
"HAG" = Festival
Hag HaAsif - The Festival
of Ingathering.
Hag HaSukkot - The Festival
of Booths
HaHag - The Festival
All of the names are from the Tanach,
one from Exodus, another from Leviticus, and the last
from the Book of Kings. They all point to different ways
of viewing the holiday. The first name points to the agricultural
meaning of the holiday. Sukkot marks the end of the agricultural
year. It coincides with the final harvest before the onset
of winter. The second name is seemingly more straightfoward.
The holiday is about sukkot, booths that Jews build
and, traditionally, eat and live in for the duration of
the holiday. There are two explanations for the commandments
regarding sukkot. One derives from the agricultural
significance of the holiday. Sukkot resemble the
huts that Jewish farmers woulds set up in fields during
the harvest. The other explanation has sukkot reminding
us of the temporary dwellings that the Israelites lived
in during the fourty years in the wilderness.
Perhaps the least straight forward of the names is
the last one. The primacy of Sukkot as the holiday
is perhaps confusing, considering the holidays it follows.
Sukkot comes days after Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of
repentance, the tail end of the so-called "Days of Awe,"
the primary time when a Jew engages in introspection
and self-improvement. It also comes at the "end" (though
it is in the first month) of the three principal pilgrimage
holidays, when Jews would make a trek to the temple
to present offerings. It comes after Pesach (Passover)
in the early spring and Shavuot in the late spring/early
summer. Those holidays, respectively, represent no less
significant occasions than the liberation from Egypt
and the giving of the Torah. But the designation HaHag
is significant precisely because it comes after
those very significant holidays.
Many commentators point to the fact that, among the
three pilgrimage holidays only Sukkot is designated
in the liturgy as a "season of joy". Of course, this
begs the question "Why is Sukkot singled out?" The first
reason is again agricultural. When the farmers of Israel
were done harvesting, their stores were full. With that
stability, they had a right to rejoice. Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz
also points out that Sukkot has such a special designation
because of its place in the Pesach-Shavuot-Sukkot cycle.
Though Passover is festival of liberation, it is also
associated with our origins as slaves. Shavuot has a
special significance because it provided the Israelites
with Law. But its status was blemished after an incident
of idolatry (the Golden Calf). Only after Yom Kippur
were the Israelites forgiven and allowed to celebrate
Sukkot with clean consciences.
Sukkot is then the holiday because it is the
culmination of two Jewish cycles. Symbolically, Sukkot
is very much for the "present day." By one scheme, we've
seen the ideal, screwed up, and been forgiven; in the
other, we've worked hard to make ends meet and succeeded.
In both cases, the worst is behind us and we've come
upon a time to most purely celebrate.
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