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Sukkot and Simchat Torah
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The Torah Personified

If at Rosh Hashanah we rethink our relationship with G_d, on Yom Kippur we attempt to renew the bond connecting us to ourselves, and at Succot we find our place within the community anew, then Simchat Torah is the Jewish holiday on which we again reflect on the relationship we establish (or fail to establish) with the Torah as a significant text for our identity and our tradition.
The author compares and contrasts academicist paradigms with the significant study of the Biblical text in communitarian environments, inviting us to set the “objective” approach aside—if only for a moment—in order to achieve a focus that, instead of dissociating us from the text, places us in a dialogical relationship to it.

by Rabbi Joshua Kullock

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Sukkot Traditions and the Joy of the Torah

This project can serve as material and guidance for heads of Sunday schools and Jewish children’s centers, as well as for Jewish communities, or for organizing a Sukkot celebration for families, with the children and their parents as guests.

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“Guess who’s coming to dinner?”

Mystics tell us that in each of these special guests there is a specific prominent quality connected to one of the ways in which G_d makes himself manifest on Earth (the Sefirot). By studying in greater depth some of the stories involving these personalities that became Ushpizim we will reach an understanding of whom and what we should make room for in the sukkah. And of course we will cover the subject of with what attributes we should prepare ourselves so that, should they happen to drop in, we can make them feel at home.
By Guido Cohen

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Playing in Sukkot


Sukkot-related play activity, in which the participants will play with the different symbols, biblical sources, and historical data.

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Joy in the Sukkah and on Simchat Torah

Through four activities and several celebrations, the children will be able to experience these joyful festivals and become familiar with customs of Sukkot and Simchat Torah.

The project includes three activities for Sukkot and one for Simchat Torah, providing ideas for the subsequent celebrations:

1. The sukkah, its construction and fragility
2. Ushpizin and hachnasat orchim; suggestions for a celebration with invited guests
3. Arbaat HaMinim—the richness of diversity
4. Simchat Torah—our big illustrated Torah

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Sukkot


Thematic project on Sukkot consisting of 3 activities.

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Ushpizin and Ushpizot: Stories for the Sukkah

Inviting ushpizin and ushpizot each day elevates and expands the joy of Sukkot. Sukkot is the ultimate opportunity to engage in the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim – hospitality. But on Sukkot we do not just invite friends and family. One Sukkot custom that became popular in the Middle Ages, based on the mystical text known as the Zohar, was to invite "invisible" guests to the sukkah along with "visible" ones. Following the article you will find a list of ready-to-tell stories for each of the traditional ushpizin and ushpizot. Bring these stories to life in the sukkah, and give children the tools to act out the stories further on their own and to act out the mitzvah hachnasat orchim. And it will truly be z’man simchateinu – the time of our rejoicing.
By Maxine Segal Handelman

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The Sukkot Holiday


The following project consists of several learning proposals that will allow children of preschool age to know and experience several aspects of the chag (the concepts of sukkah and home and their characteristics; the Arba Minim, among others).

The proposals include recreational, literary, and plastic-arts artistic activities and finish with the celebration of the chag together with the children’s parents.

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The "Chosenness" and "Uniqueness" of The Jewish People


We Jews have always had to come to terms with being different from other nations and cultures. Some among us claim that these differences are due to the fact that we are the "chosen" nation of G-d. The prayers of Sukkot support this claim: “You have chosen us from all the people; You loved us and found favor in us; You exalted us above all the tongues and You sanctified us with your commandments." This argument, in effect, credits our differences to an external force, namely G-d.
In contrast, others insist that our differences are due to our uniqueness in terms of our history as a nation, our belief in one omnipotent G-d, and our ethical standards and behavior as dictated to us by the Torah. This argument posits that our differences are due to a more internal cause, namely our own actions and beliefs.



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Sukkot: On Convergences and Contrasts


In the progression of any calendar there are specific moments at which time would seem to condense, taking on volume and density. This transformed dimension, this condensed state of time, can gradually establish itself to various degrees and on various levels, producing a multitude of vectors of meaning that sometimes follow parallel paths and at other times are interwoven and strengthened. If we look at our calendar, we can see that the festivals are signs that invite us to participate in sacred moments, moments that are different and separate from our daily routine. Sukkot, among all our celebrations, is one of those moments of convergent density. But what does this really mean? What are the origins and the scope of such assertions? In the next paragraphs we will attempt to find the answers.
By Joshua Kullock

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