Today is the end of the joyous Jewish celebration called Sukkot, which we call Feast of Tabernacles. I had the privilege of interview Messianic Rabbi Charlie Kluge of Gesher Shalom Synagogue in Orlando, the author of our new book called, The Tallit: Experience the Mysteries of the Prayer Shawl and Other Hidden Treasures.
I urge you to listen to the podcast below. Rabbi Kluge is a wealth of information about how today (ending at sundown) is the eighth day of Sukkot—an extra day to spend time with God and to call a solemn assembly. The Jews call it Shimini Atzerit, which means eighth assembly.
It also coincides with Simkatorah which is sometimes celebrated on the eighth day, and sometimes the ninth day. It is a joyful time of the ending of reading the Torah, and starting over in the new year to read the Torah passages again.
A couple of years ago, when I had attended The Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, I had the privilege of being at the Western Wall at sunup with more than 10,000 people, most of them Orthodox Jews who were celebrating Simkatorah. Rabbi Kluge explained this much better than I can. I urge you to listen to him. Later, I am going to invite him back to do another podcast on the mysteries of his book, The Tallit.
Like me, I know many of my readers are interested in learning more about our Jewish roots, and to understand and enjoy the wonderful meanings in the Jewish holidays. If you know others who also enjoy this, be sure to forward this and encourage them to listen. If you don’t already subscribe to my podcast, or “like me” on Facebook, please take time to do so today.
Stephen Strang