Paul Calvert finds out more

Greg Olson

In Israel they celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles; it's harvest time when we should be thankful for what God has given us. But what is the full meaning of this very joyous holiday? I spoke to Greg Olson from Focus on Israel.

"In Leviticus 23: 33-44 it commands Israel to have a holiday in the autumn; so the Feast of Tabernacles is an 8 day long holiday. This holiday has a two fold purpose; it celebrates the harvest and the second reason is to remember the wilderness experience and God's provision during that time.

"Now on the streets you will see Orthodox Jews carrying special things; they carry them because this festival is a very joyous time, it's exiting and they remember what the Lord has done. These traditions have developed through the years.

"You will see them carrying plastic bags and inside these plastic bags are the Lulav which is a palm branch and an Etrog which is a citrus fruit unique to this area, a willow branch and the myrtle. They will carry these things down to the Wailing Wall and the synagogue then point them to the north, the south, the east and the west. It's a proclamation that he is the ruler and he is the provider, he brings forth all this stuff. That's why you will see them walking around on the streets with this stuff.

"They also build tents; in Hebrew it is called a sukkah, which is literally tabernacle or temporary dwelling. This is part of the memorial, the Lord commanded them to remember the memorial and they are to live in the temporary dwelling at this time of year. The ceiling is very unique because it's supposed to have holes in it.

"The holes are so they can see the stars to remind them that they were temporarily dwelling in the wilderness and that God was their provider. It was a temporary state being in the wilderness for 40 years.

"Today people build their temporary dwelling on their balcony or roof and they are supposed to eat some meals in there. Some people will actually live in them over the festival. It's all about remembering the wilderness experience.

"If you go to the synagogue at this festival time you will see it as a very joyous time shaking their branches back and forth and chanting and singing Psalm 119, the Psalm of ascent.

"This holiday is one of the three times where the Jews are commanded to come up to Jerusalem and celebrate these feasts before God. The feast is 8 days long. The first day is a holy day; you aren't supposed to do any work on that day because it's a Sabbath. The last day is also a holy day where you do no work as well. That's a Biblical command that is written in Leviticus.

"Zechariah 14: 16-17 talks about the nations of the world coming up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and in a very special way the Christian Embassy here in Israel Celebrates the feast and has many nations coming up to Jerusalem.

"My prayer at this time is that the Jewish people will remember Gods great provision, especially Jesus their Messiah."