Hoshana Rabba: The Sealing of the Verdict The entire days of the month of Elul, leading up to the holy days of Rosh Hashana and the ten days of repentance, seem to come to a dramatic end with the final blowing of the Shofar at the culmination of the Yom Kippur services.
After this dramatic and awe inspiring period we then let go with a deep feeling of relief and enjoy a few days of respite before entering into the seemingly independent festival of Succos.
Indeed, Succos is a great contrast to these days and Yom Kippur. While Yom Kippur is a day of fear and awe, trembling before G-d, Succos is a holiday of Simcha, happiness, and rejoicing with G-d. However, at the end of the festival of Succos we celebrate Hoshana Rabba which although is a mixture of a regular week day and a holiday, is in actuality, one of the most important days of the year. It is the final sealing of ones verdict for the year.
Hence, the period between Yom Kippur and Hoshana Rabah are extremely significant by virtue of the link between these two holidays. We know that the two critical components of Avodas Hashem, service of G-d, is through Yirah, fear, and Simcha, joyfulness. Yom Kippur is the epitome of fear while joyfulness is the essence of the holiday of Succos. When implemented properly they enhance each other, being that they are the opposite extremes.
There is a famous question asked by most of the commentaries: the holiday of Succos commemorates the Exodus, the Jews leaving Egypt, which occurred during the Jewish month of Nissan (Passover time). Therefore, why is Succos celebrated now during the Hebrew month of Tishrei, a half a year away?
Now, we see that it is celebrated during this month of Tishrei, because the Torah deliberately wanted to link the holidays of Yom Kippur and Succos together. Being that Hoshana Rabba is the sealing of the final verdict before G-d, we want to stand in perfection before Him. With these two components, the fear of Yom Kippur and the joyfulness attained over the holiday of Succos, we can ultimately reach this perfection in the Service of G-d, to stand before Him in judgment, ensuring a favourable verdict in the final sealing of judgment. |
