WEEK 3 - THE JEWISH READINGS - [Continued from page 3]
In the morning, as every day through the year, at the time of Shaharit [Morning Prayer], a reading takes, in this particular context of renewal compared to the Orthodox Christian calendar, an exceptional significance. Since very ancient days, one reads the "Aqeydat Yitzhaq", the binding of Isaac on the wood of the altar [Genesis 22:1-19]. It is very important to consider this liturgical practice because Isaac, most obedient to his father as a 38 year-old son that does not rebel! [Talmudic commentary] is not saved by Abraham, but by the Divine Providence, and returns with Abraham, the true believer, to Beer-Shave after three days... This is certainly not a coincidence that the "tree of the altar for the sacrifice" [Talumud Tamid, Eternal Sacrifice 1.5] becomes the place of salvation as the Wood of the Cross on Which Jesus was really impaled.
On the Day of Hoshana Rabba, remembering all the departed, and uttering the prayer of Sh'ma Israel [Deuteronomy 6:4], duly pronounced by Jesus Christ [Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27], the Jewish community also expresses the desire to widen the tabernacles to the whole world, because God comes and gladdens, comes and announces as the herald of joy and salvation, MeVasser, MeVasser veOmer. In Modern Hebrew, people immediately think it means to go the the butcher's because they only understand "bassar" as "meat". But B-S-R is "flesh, life, good tiding, gladness,and joy" and very close to the "Gospel" as "Good News". One sings the Hallel not in the same way as for Pessah [Passover]. The Sukkot Hallel is anticipating the world to come and new enriching experiences to happen throughout the new year. Thus, Psalm 118:25: "Anna HaShem [YHWH] Hoshiyah/nna/ Save NOW, Lord - Anna HaShem Hatzlikhah/nna/ Send NOW prosperity and success!"
And the sequence is full of power: "Your mighty salvation comes forth, because the Voice of the Beloved is announcing the good tidings! Numerous legions accompany Him, and He will stand on the Mount of Olives, announcing the good tidings! And all the inhabitants of the world will hear on earth this heavenly Voice announcing the good tidings! Prosperity for those that He loved from their mother's wombs and whom He will make younger again annou cing the good tidings! He is the Pure, making wonders who ever saw such wonderful things, announcing the good tidings! Miracle in the Heaven and upon earth, a new nation will be born at once, announcing the good tidings!... Lord, Extend Your Tabernacle to Damascus [the Heathens] and take Your sons and daughters, announcing the good tidings! Rejoice, rose of Sharon, those who sleep in the dust of Hebron [the departed] will wake up, announcing the good tidings! Scion of David, flourishing Messiah, David Himself, announcing the good entity to speak socially ...] and the Lord will be a stronghold of salvation, announcing the good tidings! The Messiah Himself will be King in Jerusalem, the populous city [multi-ethnical entity to speak socially...] and the Lord will be a stronghold of salvation, announcing the good tidings!
Then the Sh'mini Atzeret or Eighth Day of the festive Gathering [Atzeret] is a day of plentitude and a preparation to leave the appointed Feast and go back to daily life and activities. In the Tabernacles, the faithful meet with a certain feeling of nostalgia and gladness. They are aware that they met with all the Sages, Prophets and Saints whose visible presence will accompany them on their way, paving the path for hope and facing hardships.
The Feast of Simhat Torah [Joy of the Torah] is rather new and did not exist at the time of Jesus according to the most famous Jewish liturgists [Idelsohn , Elbogen]. Most of the ritual was in force when He was alive, but was carried out in a different manner. The celebration of Simhat Torah has a real impact on Jews and Non-Jews who can attend a festive service and the Israeli Radio has recorded a lot of different traditions. The peak of the celebration consists in the reading of the Torah portion. This year, one reads the last portion of the Devarim-
Deuteronomy accounting the blessing of each tribe by Moses looking at the Promised Land from Mount Nebo where he dies and no one knows where he is buried.
Immediately after this portion, the Hatan Torah or Hatan Bereshit [Bridegroom of the Torah or of the Book of Genesis] reads the account of the creation of the world, the firmaments, the lights for seasons and day-nights, the waters, the vegetation, the animals, the human being until Genesis 2:3: "And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it He has rested from all His work which God had created and was continuing to create". This sentence is special because the Hebrew words are difficult to translate: "asher assah le'assot", i.e. [the work] which [He] was achieving as a continual process to realize.
This is also expressed by the specific Simhat Torah ritual of the "Hakafot", the circles in the synagogue around the Torah Scrolls. This ancient custom comes originally from the conquest of Jericho when the Sons of Israel went seven times around the city, shouting and blowing into the trumpets of salvation and victory. Their cries became the present-day "Hoshiya/nna!" and the walls of the city fell down [Joshua 6:14-15].
During the time of the Two Temples, the processional circles were conducted around the Temple Mount and at a certain moment, after the destruction of the Temples, around the Mount of Olives which is a symbol of prophetic eschatological revelation of God and His Messiah, just facing the Temple Mount. Seven times, because "sheva" [7] in Hebrew is a sign of fulfillment and close to "sabba" [to be filled, satiated].
The "Hakafot" derive from one main root, NaQaf with a twofold origin: the first one means "to knock, surrender", and the second one means "to be surrounded, make a circle", "to make one's hair cut all around" [a sign of consecration], "to collect fruits that were the crown of a tree" and finally, "to glean olives". This shows the link of the Jewish tradition with the agricultural aspect of the Feast of Sukkot.
These circles around a sanctuary had a deep impact on many religions. The Muslim tradition has taken it from Judaism through the Nestorians and this explains the circles made by the pilgrims around the Kaabah in Mecca.
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