Sukkot 5770 (Leviticus 22:26-23:44, Numbers 29:12-16)

A weekly Torah exploration for families by Michael S. Raileanu, M.A.Ed.

A weekly Torah exploration for families by Michael S. Raileanu, M.A.Ed.

Have and easy fast and a great Sukkot, from your friends at Carpool Curriculum.

As is our tradition, we will be discussing the parasha to be read this coming Shabbat. Of course this week it is the special reading for Sukkot, Leviticus 22:26 - 23:44 and Numbers 29:12 - 16. Sukkot is a great time of the year. Go ahead, build a Sukkah. Dwell in it. Invite friends over, shake the lulav and etrog wth them and, have a grand old time. You will not regret it!

The actual discussion of Sukkot does not appear in this week's reading for 39 verses. First we have laws about animals and then we read about Shabbat, Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Why is that? Why can't we just hit the ground running and talk about Sukkot? What might the rabbis, who set up this system, have been trying to communicate to us about Sukkot? About the connection between all of the holidays? And, what about including the business about the first seven days after an animal is born (Lev 22:26ff)? Why do you think that is read here?
God tells us (Lev 23:3) that we are to set aside the seventh day, Shabbat. This is one of the many times we are told this. Which seems more natural, the passing of the year or the passing of a week? If we did not have calendars do you think we would naturally recognize the passing of each week? How about the passing of each month? How are they different? How are they the same?
According to the text, Sukkot is supposed to last seven days (Lev. 23:36), Why is there an eighth day now? Do you know how that got started? Why did our ancestos a couple of thousand years ago add that extra time? Do you think we still need it? Why is it a good idea to keep it? Why might it be a good idea to finally dump it? If the choice were yours whch would you do (keep it or dump it) and why?
In Lev 23:39 - 43 we get the commandments to take up the lulav and the etrog. Each of these is supposed to repesent a different part of the body. Have you ever heard about that before? If not, take a look at them and see if you can assign each one to a part of the human body. If you have heard of this, what do you think about it? Do you get it? How is the etrog like the heart? Or the palm ike the spine? The mytle like our eyes and the willow like our lips? What else might they represent? Use your imagination!
Num 29:12 - 16 tells us the exact sacrifice we are to bring on Sukkot. Considering that we do not do sacrifices anymore, why do we still read this? What do you think about animal sacrifice? Part of the sacrifice involved flour and oil getting mixed in. Why do you thnk this was done? Why mix in the products of the earth with the animals? What might that symbolize?