Remembrance and Celebration

Last week marked the end of the weeklong Biblical Feast of Sukkoth (or Tabernacles). This feast celebrates God providing for the Israelites in the desert. Everyone puts a sukka outside of their house or business during this very special time to remind themselves of how God provided for us in the wilderness. A sukka is a small hut that has no roof. The amount of Sukkas put up throughout town is amazing. They are outside of restaurants, grocery stores, houses, hotels, and many other places. There was even a Sukka outside the American pizza place (Sbarro’s). People will sit outside the restaurants in these huts and eat their meal during the feast of Sukkoth.

This amazing thing about being in Jerusalem during this feast is how many times during the week you are reminded of God’s providence to his people during their time in the wilderness. Everywhere you go you see the booths (sukka) set up and you are reminded that God provided for his people. At every turn there is another booth, and instantly the thought “God provided for his people,” pops into your head.

One thing these past couple of months have taught me is the importance of remembrance and celebration. The Jewish people are constantly reminding themselves of God, and celebrating God. In addition to Sukkoth, the Sabbath is another constant reminder. On Shabbat (Sabbath) everything closes down and people take time to celebrate the Shabbat meal and celebrate God. From Friday evening to Saturday evening almost every single business is closed. So as you’re walking to Church (I go to church on Saturday) or to Synagogue, the emptiness of the streets and the lack of business reminds you that God has given us a day of rest.

Shiminei Atzerot and Simchat Torah mark the end of the Feast of Sukkoth. This celebration takes place the last day of the weeklong Sukkoth celebration. The main point of this celebration is to celebrate the beginning of another cycle of Torah readings in the Synagogue. As many of you know, the Jewish people read through the entire Torah (1st five books of the Bible) in the synagogue once a year. So on the last day of the Feast of Sukkoth there is a huge celebration to mark the beginning of a new cycle of Torah reading. It was amazing. Down at the Western Wall the Jewish people were dancing around with the Torah Scroll and kissing the scroll because it contains the very words of God. They never see the Torah is law, they see it as God showing his people the right way to live. As such, when a new cycle of reading begins, there is a celebration with dancing. In Jesus’ day when the Torah scroll was removed from the Torah scroll for reading on Shabbat the Rabbi would lead the congregation in dancing and everyone would kiss the Torah scroll. So if Jesus was visiting a synagogue he would’ve led the congregation in dancing!

Well, now for an update on what we’re doing here at JUC! Tomorrow we are participating in an all-day field study with the famous Israeli Archaeologist Dr. Gabriel Barkay, and I’m looking forward to it. We are heading over to the City of David, which is basically the old Jerusalem. When David first settled Jerusalem, it was much smaller, and down much lower than it is today. There are digs going on in the City of David right now in an attempt to find David and Solomon’s palace and other royal buildings from that time period.

On November 12 we leave for a 4-day field study in Jordan, and I cannot wait. There has been so much stuff going on, and time has flown by over here. I cannot believe I’ve been here this long.

I hope everyone is doing well. May the Lord bless you and keep you in all the things you do this week!

Shalom,

Rob Kol