Sukkot’s days were celebrated with extraordinary joy in the Bet haMiqdash (Temple of Jerusalem). In addition to the biblical commandment of holding the four species (ארבעת המינים), two other mitzvot were fulfilled in the Temple. One of these was nisukh hamayim or water libation, the ceremony of pouring water on the altar. The second is the Mitsva of the ‘araba.
NISUKH HAMAYIM
The rabbis describe the great joy of the water libation ceremony: “He who has not seen the celebration of the water libation has never experienced true joy. Big golden lamps were hoisted, with four cups of gold on top of each lamp. Four young apprentice priests rose to the top, carrying large oil jugs to fill the lamps. Once lit, no courtyard in Jerusalem did not shine with the light emanating from the Temple. Special balconies were built to allow the women of Israel to see the Sages of the Sanhedrin as they danced. People sang, and the righteous and pious men danced before them while juggling with lighted torches. The Levites stood on the fifteen steps leading down from the court of Israel to the court of women, playing music with lyres, harps, trumpets, and many other instruments. Two priests stood on the top of the stairs, on each side of the entrance to the great door of the court, and honked the silver trumpets [these were real trumpets, not shofarot]. They did all this to honor the commandment of the water libation. At dawn, people came singing to the spring of Shiloach, at the foot of the walls of Jerusalem. One of the Cohanim carried a special jug of gold and filled it with water from the spring. Then the congregation walked back to Temple, led by the priest bearing the water. Upon reaching the Temple, the priest brought the vessel to the altar and poured water into a basin of silver in one of the corners of the altar.” (Mishna Sukka, Chapter 5). This festive ceremony, known in Hebrew as Simchat Bet haShoeba, was connected to the beginning of the prayers for rain and was accompanied by Tefilot and psalms of praise, trusting that HaShem will bless the earth and its products with rain during the coming year.
MITZVAT ‘ARABA
The other special ceremony held at the Bet haMiqdash during Sukkot was Mitsvat ‘Araba. “The commandment of the willow branches”. This ritual was different and independent of the Mitsva of the two willow branches that we have in the four species (ארבעת המינים), which are tied together with the lulab and the myrtle. There was a place outside Jerusalem called Motza (which still exists today, with the same name) located on the banks of the “Soreq” river. Each day of Sukkot, people went to Motza and cut down large willow branches (about 20 feet high). They would place these branches at the altar’s foot (mizbe’ah), with the top bent over the altar. Since the altar was 16 feet high, the branches jutted a few feet above the top of the altar on all four sides.
Each day of Sukkot, the Kohanim (and, according to other opinions, the city’s elders) went around the altar once, marching with their lulabim in hand, and praying to the Almighty “Anna Hashem hoshi’a na; Anna Hashem hatzliha na.” Please, God, save us. Please, God, grant us success. On the seventh and final day of Sukkot, Hosha’na Rabbah, people would go around the altar seven times.
Nowadays, we go around the bima —the platform on which the Sefer Tora is placed–every day of Sukkot with our lulabim and etrogim in remembrance of the Mitsvat ‘Araba of the Bet haMiqdash. In Hosh’ana Rabbah, the seventh and last day of Sukkot, we go around the bima seven times.
There is an additional ritual that belongs to the mitsva of ‘Arabah. A tradition established by the later prophets of Israel, Haggai, Malakhi and Zecharia, after the destruction of our first Temple. At the end of the Tefillah of Hoshana Rabba we take a few branches of ‘Araba (the tradition is to take five ‘arabot, which can not be those used with the lulab) and without reciting any blessing, we hit these branches into the ground. This ancient tradition is called habitat (or hibut) ‘araba.
Why so much emphasis on the ‘araba?
Our rabbis explain that by the end of Sukkot, the Celestial Court issues the verdict on the rain that will fall during the next year (bachag niddonim al hamayim). This is why, following a Kabbalistic custom, we stay awake all night during Hosh’ana Rabba studying Tora.
Rain is indeed the most critical element for our sustenance. The ‘araba —the plant that needs more water than all other plants and the one that gets dry faster than all other plants of the four species- also reminds us of our vulnerability and dependence on the rain that HaShem sends us. Moreover, hitting the branches of ‘araba on the ground and seeing how it loses its leaves with each stroke helps us internalize our fragility and total dependence on God, not only for our sustenance and prosperity but also for our very survival.
