From NeoHasid.org
[For parallel Hebrew text, click here.]
Behold we come here to fulfill the mitzvahLit. Commandment. It is traditionally held that there are 613 mitzvot (plural) in Judaism, both postive commandments (mandating actions) and negative commandments (prohibiting actions). Mitzvah has also become colloquially assumed to mean the idea of a “good deed." to dwell in the sukkahLit. hut or booth A temporary hut constructed outdoors for use during Sukkot, the autumn harvest festival. Many Jews observe the mitzvah of living in the Sukkah for the week of Sukkot, including taking their meals and sleeping in the Sukkah., as YHVH our God commanded in the TorahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycle. Sometimes "Torah" is used as a colloquial term for Jewish learning and narrative in general.: “Seven days you will dwell in sukkotLit. Booths or huts Sukkot is the autumn harvest Festival of Booths, is celebrated starting the 15th of the Jewish month of Tishrei. Jews build booths (sukkot), symbolic of the temporary shelters used by the ancient Israelites when they wandered in the desert. Traditionally, Jews eat and sleep in the sukkah for the duration of the holiday (seven days in Israel and eight outside of Israel). The lulav (palm frond), willow, myrtle, and etrog fruit are also waved together., so that your generations will know that I made Israel’s children dwell in sukkot when I brought them from Egypt.”
For the sake of uniting the Holy One and the ShekhinahThe feminine name of God, expounded upon in the rabbinic era and then by the Kabbalists in extensive literature on the feminine attributes of the divine., to unify the name Y”H with V”H in complete unity, I invite to my meal, in the name of all IsraelLit. ''the one who struggles with God.'' Israel means many things. It is first used with reference to Jacob, whose name is changed to Israel (Genesis 32:29), the one who struggles with God. Jacob's children, the Jewish people, become B'nai Israel, the children of Israel. The name also refers to the land of Israel and the State of Israel., the exalted guests, ushipizin ila’in v’ushpizata ila’ata.
By the power of this commandment, may there be drawn down from the highest, holy Mother, from the place of LeahThe third of the Jewish matriarchs, Lead is the eldest of Lavan's daughters and one of the wives of Jacob. She is the daughter whom Lavan tricks Jacob into marrying instead of his younger daughter Rachel, whom Jacob has requested to marry. Leah is mother to six of the the twelve tribes and to one daughter, Dinah. our mother to RachelLavan's younger daughter and Jacob's beloved wife second wife (after he is initially tricked into marrying her older sister, Leah). Rachel grieves throughout her life that she is barren while Leah is so fertile. Ultimately, Rachel gives birth to Joseph and dies in childbirth with Benjamin. Rachel is remembered as compassionate (she is said to still weep for her children), and infertile women often invoke Rachel as a kind of intercessor and visit her tomb on the road to Bethlehem. our mother, the Encompassing Light of
[Day One] Love within Love
[Day Two] Love within Judgment
[Day Three] Love within Beauty
[Day Four] Love within Eternal Victory
[Day Five] Love within Majesty
[Day Six] Love within Foundation
[Day Seven] Love within Sovereignty
Come up exalted holy guests, come up exalted holy fathers, come up exalted holy mothers, come sit in the shade of exalted faith, in the shadow of the Holy One, blessed be.
Note: Each of the seven fathers and mothers represents one of the seven lower Sefirot(pl of sefirah) In Kabbalah, the 10 “attributes” – channels of Divine energy – via which God interacts with creation., which are also called “days”. We bring the energy of each day into the sukkah through UshpizinLit. Guests (Aramaic) Biblical "guests" invited into the sukkah on each of the seven nights of the holiday. While the traditional ushpizin were all male, a new custom has been created, inviting female guests (ushpizot) as well. The seven ushpizin are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David. The seven female ushpizot are Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Miriam, Abigail, and Esther., and through this, according to KabbalahThe tradition of Jewish mystical interpretation of sacred texts. The foundational kabbalistic text is the Zohar., we bring blessing to the earth and cosmos, to all being, and fertility to Eretz Yisra’el.
[Day One] Come up AbrahamAbraham is the first patriarch and the father of the Jewish people. He is the husband of Sarah and the father of Isaac and Ishmael. God's covenant - that we will be a great people and inherit the land of Israel - begins with Abraham and is marked by his circumcision, the first in Jewish history. His Hebrew name is Avraham., merciful one, holy father. Come up RuthAn important female biblical character with her own book. The Book of Ruth, read on Shavuot, tells the story of Ruth’s devotion to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and their return to Israel. Ruth’s story is often read as the first story of conversion. Ruth is the grandmother of King David., devoted kallahLit. Bride.-daughter. Come up with them, IsaacAbraham and Sarah's much-longed-for son and the second Jewish patriarch. Isaac is nearly sacrificed by his father at God's command (Genesis 22). He is married to Rebecca and is the father of Esau and Jacob. His Hebrew name is Yitzchak., JacobLit. heel Jacob is the third patriarch, son of Isaac and Rebecca, and father to the twelve tribes of Israel. More than any of the other patriarchs, Jacob wrestles with God and evolves from a deceitful, deal-making young man to a mature, faithful partner to God. His Hebrew name is Yaakov., MosheThe quintessential Jewish leader who spoke face to face with God, unlike any other prophet, and who freed the people from Egypt, led them through the desert for forty years, and received the Torah on Mt. Sinai. His Hebrew name is Moshe., AaronBrother of Moses, chosen as Moses' interlocutor. His Hebrew name is Aharon., Yosef and David, SarahThe first matriarch, wife of Abraham, and mother of Isaac, whom she birthed at the age of 90. Sarah, in Rabbinic tradition, is considered holy, beautiful, and hospitable. Many prayers, particularly the Amidah (the central silent prayer), refer to God as Magen Avraham – protector of Abraham. Many Jews now add: pokehd or ezrat Sarah – guardian or helper of Sarah., RebeccaThe second Jewish matriarch, Isaac's wife, and mother to Jacob and Esau. Rebecca is an active parent, talking to God when she is pregnant and learning the fate of her children, then ultimately manipulating Isaac and the children to ensure Jacob's ascendancy. Her Hebrew name is Rivka., MiriamMiriam is the sister of Moses and Aaron. As Moses' and Aaron's sister she, according to midrash, prophesies Moses' role and helps secure it by watching over the young baby, seeing to it that Pharaoh's daughter takes him and that the baby is returned to his mother for nursing. During the Israelites' trek through the desert, a magical well given on her behalf travels with the Israelites, providing water, healing, and sustenance., Deborah, Tamar and Rachel.
[Day Two] Come up Isaac, bound one.
Come up Sarah, mistress, holy mother.
Come up with them, Abraham, Jacob, Moshe, Aaron, Yosef and David, Ruth, Rebecca, Miriam, Deborah, Tamar and Rachel.
[Day Three] Come up Jacob, perfect, whole one. Come up Rivkah, God-seeker. Come up with them, Abraham, Isaac, Moshe, Aaron, Yosef and David, Ruth, Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Tamar and Rachel.
[Day Four] Come up Moshe, faithful shepherd. Come up Miriam, the prophet, wellspring of the exalted stream. Come up with them, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Aaron, Yosef and David, Ruth, Sarah, Rebecca, Deborah, Tamar and Rachel.
[Day Five] Come up Aaron, holy priest.
Come up Deborah, the prophet, judge of Israel.
Come up with them, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moshe, Aaron, Yosef and David, Ruth, Sarah, Rebecca, Miriam, Tamar and Rachel.
[Day Six] Come up Yosef, righteous one.
Come up Tamar, righteous one, bearer of mashiach.
Come up with them, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moshe, Aaron and David, Ruth, Sarah, Rebecca, Miriam, Deborah and Rachel.
[Day Seven] Come up David, anointed King.
Come up Rachel, mother weeping for her children.
Come up with them, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moshe, Aaron and Yosef, Ruth, Sarah, Rebecca, Miriam, Deborah and Tamar.
“These seven days (levels) will dwell in the Sukkot…” Sit, sit exalted guests, sit, sit holy guests, sit in the shadow of exalted faith, in the shade of the Holy One.
God full of compassion, make your Presence, Shekhinah, rest among us, and spread over us a sukkah of compassion and peace. Encompass us with the radiance of the Shekhinah, heal the heavens from our wounding actions and purify us from our sins. As an eagle awakens its nest, may you awaken the flow of life-energy to flow upon your world to give life to all, and water them. Give the hungry their bread faithfully, and grant us merit to dwell many days on the earth. Blessed be YahA name for God, as in "halleluyah" – praise God. Some people prefer this name for God as a non-gendered option. for all time, Amen,
Amen.
Blessed be You, Adonai, Our God, Ruler of all space, all time, who made us holy through commandments, and commanded us to dwell in the sukkah.
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