Sukkot: A Celebration of God's Gifts of Life, Sustenance and Prosperity

The harvest festival of Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles, calls us to acknowledge and thank our Creator for the miracles of life and His ongoing, life sustaining provision. The first day of the festival falls on Shabbat. The Torah readings are Leviticus 22:26 - 23:44 and Numbers 29:12-16. 

Living In the Sukkah

For the seven days of the Sukkot festival, we build a shelter from natural materials and harvested food items and basically live in this place for seven days. The experience releases us from modern conveniences and reliance upon man made things, and gives us an opportunity to feel the need and presence of God for sustenance and protection.

For city folks, this can be quite traumatic, and an effective dose of spiritual and physical reality. Even for those who enjoy nature, this drastic change of location can be demanding, especially when autumn temperatures fall. Like so many biblical directives, those who observe the holiday do so to the degree possible.

However we celebrate, we teach our children that our lives emanate from God and it is only through His love and concern for us that we continue to live and grow. We thank Him for His everlasting love by serving Him rather than ourselves in all of our daily activities.

Daily Reliance on God's Providence

The Leviticus reading this week repeats the portion where God commands us to surrender our lives to Him in order to make His name holy. Going our own way desecrates God's name and puts us outside of His providence. If we really believe that our very lives depend upon receiving His power and grace, we happily surrender our will to His will.

The Sukkot reading also delineates festival and holy days, and the pilgarmmages, fasting and work restrictions of each. Mentioned are the weekly Sabbath, Passover, Counting the Omer, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur. We grow spiritually and strengthen our commitment to God's way of life when we observe these festival and holy days.

The Numbers reading refers to the harvest festival of Sukkot and the numerous animal and food sacrifices to God that He accepts from a grateful people.

God Remembers and Blesses His People

Our Haftorah portion this week, Zachariah 14:1-21, takes place at a hopeful time in Jewish history. The Jews are returning to Jerusalem after being exiled in Babylon. The temple is being rebuilt. Worshipping God is fashionable again. Priestly power gains authority as political power wanes among the returning exiles.

These spiritually favorable conditions animate Zachariah's prophecy of a messianic event in which the Jews will repent from their past errors in religious judgment and practice. They will merit a rebirth of holiness and a renewed holy covenant with the Almighty.

Living in God's Will

How do we show our gratitude and awe of God during modern Sukkot celebrations? Instead of sacrificing numerous animals highly valued in agrarian society, we sacrifice highly valued ideas and actions that contravene holiness. We surrender our secular ideas about life and begin a journey of return to God’s vision for our lives. We take responsibility for our errors in judgement that cause harm to others, including babies in the womb. We make amends.

These are profound sacrifices of self identity and self interest. We make these sacrifices because we realize God is the only source of life and positivity in this world and we want to be close to Him. Changed attitudes rather than pilgrimages to Jerusalem indicate our desire to live in God's will.

We can make peace with our children in the womb and begin the end of hostilities that plague the globe. As of this writing, over 29 million babies have died from abortion in 2026. This horrific deliberate destruction of God's image desecrates God's name. It is the antithesis of the harvest festival's celebration of Life.

The pilgrimage to holiness starts here and now. In this very moment, we can harvest goodwill and hasten the spiritual transformation of the world. 

And the Lord shall become King over all the earth; on that day shall the Lord be one, and His name one.   Zachariah 14:9.

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Cecily Routman 

May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.

Cecily Routman is the founder and president of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation. She opposes abortion homicide in general and among Jews in particular and laments secular policy making in Israel that results in loss of Jewish life and delays the messianic redemption. She envisions a Torah based holy Land of Israel and a world that respects the life of every human being from conception.

Please visit our Hebrew blog on our Israel website.