Nehemiah and Succoth

Sukkoth is 7 days long, and every Sukkoth we are to build a sukkah.  This is to remind us that the Lord delivered our Forefathers from Egypt.  Like our forefathers, God has delivered us from the bondage of a greater Pharaoh (satan).  The sukkah remind us of our temporary nature during this lifetime.

Some basic instructions for building a sukkah are found in Leviticus 23:40

⁴⁰And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before Yehovah your God seven days.

Our sukkahs are to be built from trees, specifically palm trees and willows.  If we go to Nehemiah there is additional guidance.

Nehemiah 8:14

¹⁴And they found written in the law which Yehovah had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month:

We know this is Sukkoth because it is the only 7 day festival in the 7^th month.

Nehemiah 8:15

¹⁵And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.

Sukkahs are built with branches from olive, pine, myrtle, palm and thick tree branches.

So, what if these branches are not readily available?  Nehemiah is not Torah.  It might be an interpretation, or application of Torah, but it certainly is not the law itself.

Specimens of these branches are easily obtained by buying a lulav which is made up of branches from a palm, myrtle and willow tree.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that all sukkahs must be built with these branches.  The important thing is that one builds a sukkah, and understands its ongoing and eternal significance.

Nehemiah 8:16-18

¹⁶So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness. ¹⁸Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.

It states they kept the feast 7 days, and the 8^th day was a solemn assembly.  This 8^th day is Shemini Atsereth.  Many today observe Shemini Atsereth as if it was the 8^th day of Sukkoth. In Nehemiah’s days there was a distinction made, and in the future to come we will discover that there is a significant distinction.

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