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The unique sacrifices of each holiday are listed in calendrical order in this aliyah. Note that the number seven and its multiples occur numerous times throughout this text. The Passover holiday sacrifices are described; in fact, there are actually two different holidays that we call Passover. On the fourteenth day of Nisan, the paschal sacrifice, the Passover, is brought to the Temple. Following that unique fourteenth day, a seven-day holiday, the Festival of Matzot, ensues. On the first and seventh day no work may be done. Similar sacrifices of two bulls, one ram and seven lambs are brought each of the seven days of the holiday. The Festival of First Fruits, which we celebrate as Shavuot, is described in its agricultural and sacrificial terms. No specific date for the holiday is recorded since its date is determined by counting seven weeks from the second day of Passover, but a detailed list of its sacrifices is specified. The New Year, the say of Shofar blowing, occurs on the first day of the seventh month of Tishrei, followed by the fast of the tenth day of Tishrei, Yom Kippur.
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| Thoughts to Consider and Discuss |
1. What is most unique about the discussion of the holidays here, as compared, for example, to Leviticus 23? Is the historical significance of the holidays listed in each case and how does that relate to the situation of the Jews at the time?
2. How does the notion of giving sacrifices relate to each of the holidays as described here?
3. Void of sacrifices, what offering do we make to G-d to mark these holidays?
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"Just as for parents the greatest joy is that a child grows up and celebrates its birthday, so too was the festival of unleavened bread [Chag Hamatzot] the time of rejoicing for Israel. We were freed from the house of bondage as a child is brought forth from the prison of the womb. For Israel it was a dark and narrow tomb in which he was confined many hears until, like a child, he was brought forth...For little Israel, Shavuot means that he has had good fortune to begin studying in cheder [yeshiva for young children], which is the time of the giving of our Torah. But the joy has not come to fruition yet, for how can we know whether the tender child, barely out of the womb, will be able to survive the rigors of Torah study? Especially in view of the fact that he might be adversely affected by wicked children who do not want to learn...This is why we were given the festival of Succot, a true time for rejoicing, because it reminds us of the forty years wandering in the wilderness in which no human can survive on his own. The Creator sustained us with all kinds of blessings."
Succot Techinah, from A Book of Jewish Women's Prayers compiled by Norman Tarnor
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 | | Points to Ponder | |
Are any images evoked that would enable you to identify the author as a woman had you not known that techinot were prayers written for and by women for particular times?
What comparisons are made between the life cycle and the yearly cycle?
Why do you think that Succot is considered to be the culmination of the growth process of the Jewish people?
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