5. Learning in the School of Ezra: Celebrating the Feast of Shelters

5. Learning in the School of Ezra: Celebrating the Feast of Shelters.

“On the next day, the heads of families and the priests gathered around Ezra again to study more of the words of the Torah. They discovered that the people of God were to live in temporary shelters at that time. So in obedience to God’s Word, the people went out into the hills, brought back branches of every leavy tree, and built for themselves shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the Temple of God, and in the squares of the Gates in Jerusalem. The whole company of Israelites that had returned from captivity built booths and lived in them. And their joy was very great, and there was much merrymaking.”  (Nehemiah 8:16-17).

After the first day of Ezra’s reading of Torah, the people responded with tears of grief at how far they had fallen from their heritage of faith and their knowledge of Yahweh their God. But the wisdom of the elders was on full display again as they told the mourning people to be still, to quiet down their mourning, and instead celebrate their renewed faith and knowledge, as well as God’s faithfulness to them through all of Israel’s ups and downs. So the people went their way rejoicing, ready to have a feast of celebration in their homes. The elders reminded them that they were to make sure to provide for any in their midst who were too poor to have a feast. The people went home rejoicing because “they understood the words that were declared to them.” (8:12).

Sukkah. After celebrating their new-found faith in Yahweh, the people soon discovered that in order to follow God’s instructions to Moses, they needed to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, also known by many other names, such as the Feast of Shelters, Feast of Booths, and the Feast of Ingathering. So they made their makeshift booths, their sukkahs, and were filled with gladness once again as they were privileged to participate in their faith according to God’s Scripture. Sukkah is the Hebrew word for tabernacle, shelter, temporary dwelling, booth, makeshift hut, and is pronounced sookuh.

The Feast of Tabernacles, or Succoth (pronounced sookoth, plural of sukka), is the most joyous Old Testament feast of the year; a seven-day celebration in the Temple and in the homes of Jewish believers. It is the greatest harvest feast of the year. (Refer to Deuteronomy 16:13-15). This feast is mentioned more than any other in Scripture, so is the most prominent feast in the Bible. God told His people to build sukkahs during this Feast in order to remember not only their liberation from Egypt, but also His care and protection of them during their long wilderness journey. (Leviticus 23:33-43). The Pilgrims in Plymouth referred to this Feast when they began what is now our Thanksgiving celebration.

For a rabbinic look at the sukkah, consider the words of Rabbi Jonathon Sacks: “When we sit in the sukkah, we recall Jewish history – not just the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, but also the entire experience of exile. The sukkah is the most powerful symbol of Jewish history. No other nation could see its home not as a castle, a fortress, or a triumphal arch, but as a fragile tabernacle. No other nation was born, not in its land, but in the desert. Sukkot is a festival of a people like no other, whose only protection was its faith in the sheltering wings of the Divine Presence. The sukkah itself, the tabernacle, the temporary tent, represents the singular character of Jewish history with its repeated experiences of exile and homecoming and its long journey across the wilderness of time. As Jews, we are heirs to a history unlike that of any other people: small, vulnerable, suffering exile after exile, yet surviving. Hence the sukkah.” (Jonathon Sacks, Covenant and Conversation: Leviticus)

As Christians, building a sukkah enables us to identify with our rootage in the Jewish faith and experience. This family celebration is a memorable highlight, a fun time of building our own temporary hut in the back yard with whatever materials can be found, to symbolize: God’s loving provisions to the homeless Jews wandering in the wilderness; God’s faithfulness to us during insecure times; our wandering pilgrim journey in this life; how God provides for and protects us during our temporary journey here before He provides a permanent shelter for us in the next life; God is our true spiritual security, our only permanent dwelling place as we walk with Him in faith and obedience; the physical body of Jesus was a sukkah, a temporary dwelling place for His Holy Spirit in our midst before His return to glory. “The Word became flesh and spread a tent (a tabernacle) with us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Building Our Backyard Sukkah:

1. Make it flimsy and shaky, to symbolize our temporary dwelling now as opposed to our permanent home in God and His Kingdom;
2. Use whatever materials you can find… Make it a fun family search for anything available, like downed limbs, discarded lumber, corn stalks, leafy branches on the ground, etc. For fun, try building it without nails;
3. Try to have the inside of the sukkah as shady as possible during the day, while leaving openings in the roof in order to see the stars at night;
4. Decorate the inside with harvest fruits and vegetables if you want;
5. Eat some meals inside the sukkah, and even have a sleepover in it if possible. At least some time in the evening is meaningful and memorable, with flashlights, readings, etc.;
6. On the last night, see if you can have an “open house” for neighbors and friends, and maybe even a simple progressive supper (eg, some sukkah soup?) with others who have built huts in their backyards, or who want to hear the story.

“Each day, from the first day of the Feast to the last one, Ezra read from the Torah, the Book of Instructions of God. All the people celebrated the Feast of Shelters for the required seven days. On the eight day, they held a solemn assembly of confession, as the Lord instructed.” (Nehemiah 8:18).  

Isn’t it wonderful and amazing that all during the seven days of the Feast, Ezra continued reading to the people from the Word? What better foundation for the rebuilt Israel can there be but the Scripture?