Simon says: "Who are the guests in your sukkah?"
The Ushpizim
Simon says: "Who are the guests in your sukkah?"
During Sukkot, we don't just invite friends & family into our sukkah, we also welcome 7 very special guests.
They're called the Ushpizin (Aramaic for "guests"), the 7 'shepherds of Israel' who, according to Kabbalistic tradition, visit every sukkah during the seven days of the festival.
Who are they?
Abraham: the embodiment of kindness & hospitality Isaac: strength & judgment Jacob: beauty & balance Moses: victory & leadership Aaron: splendor & peace Joseph: connection & abundance David : majesty & kingshipEach night, a different guest "leads" the others into the sukkah. On the first night, Abraham enters first. On the second, Isaac. And so on through the week.
The Zohar teaches that when we leave our homes & enter the sukkah for the sake of Heaven, we merit to welcome the Divine Presence, & these seven exalted souls descend from Gan Eden to join us as our guests.
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Some people have the beautiful custom of reciting a formal invitation upon entering the sukkah:
"I invite to my meal the exalted guests: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph & David."
Among Sephardic communities, it's customary to prepare a special chair in the sukkah, covered with a fine cloth & holding holy books, declaring: "This is the chair of the Ushpizin." A candle is lit in their honour.
The Ushpizin aren't just symbolic. They correspond to the seven divine attributes through which G-d created the world: kindness, judgment, beauty, victory, splendor, connection & majesty. Each of these patriarchs embodied one of these attributes in their lifetime, & on Sukkot, that light shines into our sukkah.
And there's another beautiful custom connected to them: the Zohar teaches that the "portion" of the Ushpizin should be given to the poor. If we invite the mystical guests but ignore the needy, the Ushpizin depart. True hospitality means the physical & the spiritual go hand in hand.
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Can you imagine sitting in a sukkah in Israel, welcoming guests, both earthly AND heavenly?
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