XVII. TREATISE SUCCAH,

Eighteen Treatises from the Mishna, by D. A. Sola and M. J. Raphall, [1843], at sacred-texts.com

p. 129

OR, OF TABERNACLES.

Introduction.

This book contains rules and regulations for the due observance of the festival of tabernacles. The law instituting this festival is to be found in the Pentateuch, Levit. xxiii. 33–43. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord. On the first day shall be a holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein. … Also, in the fifteenth day of the 7th month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord, seven days: on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath, And ye shall take you on the first day the fruit of the tree Hadar, branches of palm-trees, and the boughs of myrtle-trees, and willows of the brook, and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days: and ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord."

The precise manner in which these various enactments and observances are to be carried out, is the subject of the present Treatise; it also treats of certain ceremonies and public rejoicings that were celebrated at Jerusalem, and which have given rise to the Simchath Torah of later ages.