All this week, Israel has been celebrating the holiday of Sukkot (booths or tents). Toward the end of this holiday are two more holidays in their own right. Thursday evening, October 8, is Hoshanah Rabbah Eve and the following day on Friday is the day part of the first of the two “ending holidays”.
Israelis are still enjoying, relaxing, eating and just being happy in their outdoor dwellings, where they can smell the outdoor fragrance of trees and bushes, get out of their houses, and see through to the sky above. I think all of the human race needs to get out and go back to the outdoors once in a while.
Hoshanah Rabbah in Israel is a time for being in Jerusalem, focusing on the upcoming winter/rainy season, and hoping for as much rain as possible in this desert country. Israelis once lived as shepherds and farmers upon the land, which “soaks up its water from the rains”. Water is life to an agricultural people. In ancient times we relied on rain for our basic survival.
The Israel Relief Aid Team wishes you a happy Hoshanah Rabbah.
