by Larry Smart

Created on: February 19, 2007   Last Updated: April 05, 2007

The Jewish holy days were originally based on astronomical observations on a lunar calendar. This is true for all religions including Christianity as well.

These astronomical observations were made by the priests of the Temple in Jerusalem. After the destruction of the Temple and the exiles that followed, Hillel devised a way to calculate approximations of these astronomical events to keep all Jewish people on basically the same schedule throughout the diaspora.

On the Jewish calendar there are more than one "New Year". The most prominent is called the New Year of Years, which is Rosh Hashanna (transl: "Head of the Year"). This day marks the transition from one year to another, and it is on this day that we advance the numbering of the year. This day occurs on the New Moon that begins the seventh month (months are numbered, counting from the "New Year of Months" which is in the spring).

Rosh Hashanna is said to be the birthday of Adam and the creation date of the world.

Ten days after Rosh Hashanna is Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year. This is the day that concludes 10 days of introspection and mending of ways that follow Rosh Hashanna.

Five days later, beginning with the full moon of the seventh month begins the festival of Sukkos or Feast of Booths. This is a seven day festival in which we build temporary booth-like structures to eat lunch in. After the seven days, we celebrate the eighth day as Shmini Atzeret or Simchas Torah (depending on if you are in the diaspora or Israel).

These first holidays of the year begin when the sun is in the constellation of Virgo. Virgo consists of a woman holding a sheaf of corn (grain). Rosh Hashanna can also be thought of as a harvest moon. The House of Virgo, is also known as the "House of Bread" because this is the time of the grain harvest. House of Bread in Hebrew is Beit Lekhem or "Bethlehem". This holiday clearly serves as the basis for the Christian myth of the sun (son) being born of a virgin in Bethlehem.

In old days when we were an agricultural based society, during the harvest shelters were built in which to store grain, feed, and to shelter beasts of burden. Often nomadic herdsmen hired to work the harvests would sleep in these shelters or build their own. The Torah's command to build a sukkah is a remembrance for when we were nomadic herdsmen wandering through the wilderness of Sinai.

Symbolically, the sukkah is a representation of the body which is merely a temporary structure for

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