Nobody Knows Why We Celebrate Sukkot: Unraveling the Secrets of Torah’s Most Enigmatic Holiday

Passover clearly commemorates the Exodus. Shavuot clearly commemorates the Revelation at Sinai. This book measures Sukkot against the other holidays and shows that it simply does not remain consistent with them in representing a monumental, one-time event that has no match in history.What complicates matters further is that the holiday is blessed as a "commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt," yet there is neither clarity nor consistency among the masses who celebrate it as to how it relates to the Exodus. The conventional answers differ drastically from those given for Passover and Shavuot, which have a clearer association to a historic event of cosmic proportions.This book therefore raises the questions and takes its cues from the Torah itself, from the rituals, and from the sages - to see Sukkot from a different perspective and shine light on aspects of the holiday that are not often addressed.Questions include: - The significance of the seventy bulls- The reason for the hakafot, the circuits made around the bimah with the four species- The unusual timing of the holiday- The origin and significance of the term regalim- The inextricable link between Sukkot and Yom Kippur- The connection between Sukkot and the cherubim- The general commandment to "see the face of God" on the holidays- The connection between Sukkot and the cooking of a kid in its mother's milk- Recontextualizing the original answer of the sagesThe sources are old. The picture they assemble is not the familiar one. You will not see Sukkot the same again.