With Sukkot, Jews give thanks

By Robert J. Barcellos, Standard-Times staff writer

The penitential days of the new year have passed and Jews now pause to reflect upon the bounty of the earth and express thanks as they prepare to celebrate the Festival of Sukkot, which begins at sundown Sunday.

Sukkot, known also as the Festival of Ingathering and the Festival Tabernacles, is an ancient harvest festival that recalls the travels of the ancient Israelites through the wilderness and is a precursor of modern Thanksgiving observances. It continues through sundown Oct. 13.

Jews customarily observe the first two days and the last two days--which are sometimes considered a separate holiday period.

Sukkot is observed at services in the synagogue and in backyard sukkahs -- temporary shelters with open or latticed roofs that recall the shelters that housed the Israelites as they fled from Egypt to the Holy Land.

During Sukkot, including the intermediary days, families take their meals in the sukkah and many synagogues set up a sukkah where special communal meals may be enjoyed.

While a lighter mood prevails during Sukkot and the hours spent in the sukkah, Rabbi Raphael J. Kanter of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in New Bedford sees in the sukkah a reminder of man's frailty.

"We construct a booth--a temporary dwelling. We see the sky and we feel the coolness. It brings home that we are frail beings and need to cherish our time on earth and use it in the service of God," said Rabbi Kanter.

Rabbi Barry David Hartman of Ahavath Achim Synagogue in New Bedford observed that Sukkot is a time when people are happy and recalled the historical significance of the occasion.

"Sukkot is one of the three festival holidays when people traveled to Jerusalem. (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot are the pilgrimage festivals.) People were invited by the residents of the city into their homes, to go to the synagogue with them and to break bread with them."

With the harvest over and crops in, it was a time for giving thanks and tithing when the farmers shared their bounty with the Levites and the kohen (the priests) and with the poor, Rabbi Hartman said.

The lulav and etrog play a role in synagogue services. The lulav (palm branches) and etrog (citron), tied together with the hadasim (myrtle branches) and cravat (willow branches), form the four species that are carried in procession and waved during services on the first days and intermediary days. The four species represent the four types of individuals in Jewish society.

The last two days of the Sukkot festival take on a distinct character and name. The eighth day, which runs from sundown next Sunday until sundown Oct. 12 being known as Shemini Atzeret ("Eighth Day") and the final 24-hour period concluding at 6:58 p.m. Oct. 13 being the Festival of Simchat Torah ("Rejoicing with the Torah").

On Shemini Atzeret is scheduled on of the four Yizkor or memorial services for the departed that are regular observed each in the synagogue.

During Simchat Torah services, it is customary to dance or carry in procession in procession the Torah to celebrate the conclusion of reading from the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses when the final part of Deuteronomy is read and the cycle begins again with the first reading from Genesis (Bereshis).

Sukkot services and programs are scheduled at Ahavath Achim Synagogue, County and Hawthorn Streets, and Tifereth Israel Synagogue.

Ahavath Achim will hold services at 6:15 p.m. on Sunday, the first evening of Sukkot. On Monday and Tuesday, there will be Shacharis service each morning and evening service at 6:15 both days. Following the morning service on Oct. 5, Ahavath Achim will hold a luncheon in the sukkah in honor of the late Dr. Eli Nochimow, the congregation's longtime president who for may years sponsored the annual Sukkot luncheon.

The holiday will resume with a 6 p.m. service on Oct. 11. One 12, Shacharis will be at 9 a.m. followed in mid-morning by the rabbi's sermon and Yizkor service. For Simchat Torah, the festive service at 6 p.m. Oct. 12 will include "dancing with the Torah" and will be followed by an ice cream social. Services on Oct. 13 will be at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. The morning also will include dancing with the Torah and closing and opening readings of the Pentateuch.

Following the morning service on Oct. 13, Ahavath Achim will hold a luncheon in the sukkah honoring Louis Pildis, a businessman and former owner of Pildis Market for his longtime association with the congregation.

Tifereth Israel will hold its first Sukkot service at 5:45 p.m. Sunday with services at 9 a.m. and at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. A special Harvest of the Years luncheon following the morning service on the second day will honor notable members of the congregation.

Services at Tifereth Israel resume at 5:45 p.m. Oct. 11 with day services on Oct. 12 for Shemini beginning at 9 a.m. with the rabbi's sermon and Yizkor at 10:30, and Mincha Maariv at 6:15 p.m. This will be followed at 7 p.m. Oct. 12 with the service for the eve of Simchat Torah. This will conclude the consecration and reading from the Torah. The closing and opening readings from the Torah will again be read at the 9 a.m. service on Oct. 13. The final service will be at 5:45 p.m. that day.

Tifereth Israel will once again continue its custom honoring distinguished members of the congregation by calling them up during the last and first Torah readings on the morning service of Simchat Torah.

Prior to the opening service Sunday, young people at Tifereth Israel will have a sukkah decorating parry.