A Fruity Sukkah Made from the Four Species

Like the Jews, we do not pronounce the Tetragrammaton (four-letter name of God). The term Shehmaa is the Aramaic version of the same locution used by Jews, Hashem, meaning, “the name.” Once in each prayer we pronounce The Name only by its four letters, one by one י-ה-ו-ה, perpetuating the ancient use of The Name in the Samaritan cult.

 בסכות תשבו שבעת ימים כל האזרח בישראל ישב בסכות. למען ידעו דרתיכם כי בסכות הושבתי את בני ישראל בהוצאי אתם מארץ מצרים אני י-הוה א-להיכ

All Torah quotes come from the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP). All English translations of the SP come from, Benyamim Tsedaka (translator and editor) and Sharon Sullivan (co-editor), The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version (Eerdmans, 2013). As you can see, I transliterate the Hebrew names according to Samaritan pronunciation.

For more on this, see the TABS essay, “Why We Sit in the Sukkah” and Jeffrey Rubenstein’s TABS essay, The Sukkah and its Symbolism

[4]   ולקחתם לכם ביום הראישון פרי עץ הדר כפות תמרים וענפי עץ עבות וערבי נחל ושמחתם לפני י-הוה א-להיכם שבעת ימים.

Technically, deoraita holding the lulav is the mitzvah, the shaking is a rabbinic practice (derabbanan).

^יד וַֽיִּמְצְא֖וּ כָּת֣וּב בַּתּוֹרָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֤ה יְ-הֹוָה֙ בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֲשֶׁר֩ יֵשְׁב֨וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֧ל בַּסֻּכּ֛וֹת בֶּחָ֖ג בַּחֹ֥דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִֽי: ^טו וַאֲשֶׁ֣ר יַשְׁמִ֗יעוּ וְיַעֲבִ֨ירוּ ק֥וֹל בְּכָל־עָרֵיהֶם֘ וּבִירוּשָׁלִַ֣ם לֵאמֹר֒ צְא֣וּ הָהָ֗ר וְהָבִ֙יאוּ֙ עֲלֵי־זַ֙יִת֙ וַעֲלֵי־ עֵ֣ץ שֶׁ֔מֶן וַעֲלֵ֤י הֲדַס֙ וַעֲלֵ֣י תְמָרִ֔ים וַעֲלֵ֖י עֵ֣ץ עָבֹ֑ת לַעֲשֹׂ֥ת סֻכֹּ֖ת כַּכָּתֽוּב:

Technically, any of the deciduous plants that grow on the wadis near Shechem would do, but the lilac chaste trees are a favorite choice.

This is the same reason most Jews light Hanukkah candles indoors even though the practice was once to light outdoors. Interestingly, some Israeli Jews have begun to light outside again. No Samaritans build their sukkot outside though; it would require a decision of the high priest to make that change.

See Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayyim, “Laws of Sukkah,” 626.

This story is recorded in Danchu Arnon, The Samaritans – Recipes, Traditions, and Customs (Rosh Yarok Press, 1999), 144 [Hebrew].

See Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayyim, “Laws of Sukkah” 634:4

Although we generally do the pilgrimage on the first day, it can be made up on any of the six following days if, for whatever reason, someone could not make the trip on the first day.

We are aware of the Rabbinic and Karaite interpretations of Exodus 12:16, allowing them to cook on the festival, but we understand this verse only to mean that pre-cooked food may be eaten on the holidays, not that cooking or fire may be used on the holiday itself.

Although this ritual is a celebration of Torah, and occurs on the same day as Jewish Simchat Torah, it has nothing to do with the Samaritan Torah-reading cycle. We do not begin and end our Torah reading cycle on Shemini Atzeret like Jews do, but on the Shabbat following Shemini Atzeret.

We keep our faces covered for a little more than a second.

This is a standard Samaritan gesture, used whenever we pay respect to the Almighty, to Moses or the forefathers. We do this many times during prayer, including whenever the priest waves the scroll of the Torah before the worshipers.

The recipe for אתרוג מסוכר can be found in, Danchu Arnon, The Samaritans – Recipes, Traditions, and Customs (Rosh Yarok Press, 1999), 142 [Hebrew].

This practice is reminiscent of the Jewish custom in Israel on Lag Ba-Omer. Unfortunately, in Holon we no longer burn the dry branches for legal reasons; the city authorities charge us a 750 NIS fine for burning the dried leaves; Instead, we bring them to a central dumping area for disposal. In Kiryat Luza (the Samaritan neighborhood on Mount Gerizim) however, they still burn the dried leaves.

The time of Byzantine Christian rule was particularly difficult for us, as during part of this period we lost access to Mount Gerizim and suffered many persecutions and the loss of more than half of our population to pogroms and forced conversions.

This story is recorded in Danchu Arnon, The Samaritans – Recipes, Traditions, and Customs (Rosh Yarok Press, 1999), 143 [Hebrew].

If that night is Shabbat, we start the night after Shabbat.

Why do we start right after Yom Kippur? On a practical level, the amount of time we have between Yom Kippur and Sukkot for building can be very short, depending on when the holidays fall out in relation to Shabbat. (Obviously, we cannot build on Shabbat.) But the reasoning is not only practical but spiritual as well. On Yom Kippur, we receive atonement for our sins. Our Sages tell us that, with this atonement, we should consider ourselves as having been born again and should approach the coming days with this mindset. Thus, as a demonstration of this renewed strength and vigor, each member of the congregation turns to preparing for the next holiday by beginning to build the sukkah that very night. This idea has a parallel in the Jewish custom as well, although many Jews begin their construction even earlier than this, and others wait till the next day or even later.

This is similar to the more recent custom of a “sukkah hop” that has developed in the non-Samaritan community.