Sukkot festival helps us realize that our lives are truly in God's hands
Jewish families in the Fox Valley will join with others around the world this week in celebrating that ancient Old Testament festival, Sukkot.
Never heard of Sukkot? Maybe you have. It's right there in Leviticus 23, just after instructions about the Day of Atonement. Moses tells the Jewish nation to live outdoors in "booths" for seven days every year to commemorate God's provision during their nomad years -- 40 of 'em -- after leaving the land of Egypt.
If you heard about it in Sunday School, it was probably referred to as the Feast of Booths. Generations have come and gone, but the festival is still around.
"Sukkot is unfortunately one of our undercelebrated holidays, although it's one that I try to stress and teach people," said Hazzan Sarah Alexander of Elgin's Congregation Shirat Shalom. "It is known in Hebrew as 'the time of our rejoicing.'"
Alexander said the last few years have seen a resurgence of Sukkot observances among American Jews. Families build backyard shelters, each known as a sukkah, where they eat all their meals for the week. If the weather is nice, they may camp overnight as well.
The sukkah walls can be built of any material; plywood is a natural choice, or you can buy a pre-fabricated booth online from companies like Sukkah Depot. You do have to be particular about the roof, though.
"The roof has to be made out of something that grew out of the ground, such as tree branches or cornstalks or any kind of foliage," Alexander said. "It has to have enough in the way of holes in it that you can see the sky or the stars above you."
Sukkot festivities begin Wednesday evening, but, just as in Leviticus, first comes the Day of Atonement. Commonly known as Yom Kippur, this most holy of the Hebrew High Holy Days starts tonight and continues through Saturday evening, when observers will break their one-day fast together.
Before eating, though, they'll make a symbolic start on the sukkah, finishing the project and decorating it on Sunday.
"The rabbis have actually said that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are to prepare us for Sukkot," Alexander said, "because Sukkot takes such a deep faith in God to truly celebrate. You're basically giving up control of your life. You're saying, 'I recognize that even though I work very hard to put a roof over our heads, we're going to be out in this flimsy little shack and relying on God.'"
But, she added, "Symbolically, that's really true for our whole lives. Our lives are really in God's hands."
New worship center: Congratulations to Harvest Bible Chapel on the long-awaited opening of its new, 2,200-seat worship center in Elgin.
After meeting three years in a temporary sanctuary on its 80-acre wooded property, Harvest opens the new building Sept. 30, with identical services at 9 and 11:15 a.m. Senior pastor Dr. James MacDonald, also known for his national radio program, Walk in the Word, will give the sermon message.
Harvest sits on a pretty sweet piece of land in Elgin, with a 280,000-square-foot building that formerly served as headquarters for Safety Kleen. The building and the beautiful acreage around it were purchased in 2002 for $9 million by a charitable foundation and sold to the Rolling Meadows-based church for $1.
The original building has been turned into a day school, Harvest Christian Academy, and the new worship center next door also includes a gymnasium for the school.
Harvest Bible Chapel is actually a five-campus church with more than 10,000 people meeting for worship in Rolling Meadows, Elgin, Niles, Crystal Lake and North Phoenix, Ariz. An additional 17,000 meet in more than 20 Harvest church plants worldwide.
The Elgin campus is located at 1000 N. Randall Road. Services are open to the public, of course, and are translated for Spanish speakers.
Harvest Festival: If you're looking for some family fun this weekend, the party's at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Hampshire.
The church's Harvest Festival runs from 1 to 11 p.m. Saturday at 297 E. Jefferson Ave. Music headliners are The Billy Croft Band at 6 p.m. and Yesterday's Dream at 8:30 p.m.
Of course, there'll be games and activities for the kids, plus family movies, a pumpkin moonwalk, fire truck slide, hayrides, Great Lakes Baseball Fast Pitch and raffles for handmade quilts, theme baskets and cash.
And you can bet there'll be lots of good food available ... all day long.
Rummage sale: Be sure to stop by the Fall Rummage Sale at First Congregational Church, 900 S. Eighth St., West Dundee, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. Or, if you can hold out till Sept. 28, you can get in on the "Bag Day" discount sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Have fun shopping!