Jewish Sukkot celebrates bounty

The observance, which has historical and agricultural aspects, is a kind of
‘spiritual harvest.’

By LINDA M. LINONIS

VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR

YOUNGSTOWN — Rabbi Franklin W. Muller of Congregation Rodef Sholom described this time of Tishrei as a “mighty month.”

Rabbi Muller credited a “wise man” with this description.

Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the new calendar year (5768) for Jews, and the time of the High Holy Days. “Rosh Hashanah is a thinking holiday because you reflect on your life.

“Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is one of feeling and repenting. Sukkot is celebratory and being grateful for the blessing and bounty of the harvest.”

Rabbi Muller said after the seriousness of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, observed earlier in September, Sukkot is a “reawakening” and a kind of “spiritual harvest.”

“It’s more lighthearted,” he said.

Sukkot begins five days after Yom Kippur, on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, as noted in the book “The Jewish Home,” by Daniel Syme.

“Traditionally, it’s eight days of celebration. But it’s seven days in Israel and for Reform Jews,” he said.

The event involves building a sukkah, which symbolizes the frail huts the Israelites lived in after the Exodus from Egypt. “They were traditionally built in backyards but very few people still do that,” he said.

One at synagogue

The Rodef Sholom congregation has a sukkah at its synagogue on Elm Street, and a decorating party took place late Wednesday afternoon, the eve of Sukkot. “They can be made of wood, latticework or fabric,” Rabbi Muller said. “It’s important that the top be open to the sky so you’re able to see the stars.”

Rabbi Muller said the makeshift structure symbolizes the “fragility of life.”

“It all can be changed, altered or taken away in a split second,” he said. “It’s about human mortality.”

And though Sukkot is a celebration, it also has that lesson of life to impart.

The sukkah is decorated with fruits, a nod to the harvest. “It’s a prototype of Thanksgiving. It has agricultural and historical aspects. It’s remembering the 40 years of the Israelites’ wandering in the desert and then settling in Canaan and farming. It’s about rejuvenation,” Rabbi Muller said.

Traditions associated with Sukkot are having a special blessing over a meal and extending hospitality. Congregation Rodef Sholom will have an outdoor service Friday. The event, which will especially engage families with children, will explain the history and customs of Sukkot, blessings and foods.