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Post by alon on Oct 7, 2017 21:30:19 GMT -8
Hoshanah Rabbah (Aramaic הוֹשַׁעְנָא רַבָּא), the seventh and last day of Sukkot is celebrated by many Jews and Messianics as a holiday in itself. It’s still counted among the days of Chol Ha’moed, the intermediate days of the festival. The name means “the great salvation,” also known as “the great hoshanah.” A hoshanah is a series of seven liturgical poems calling upon El Elohe Yisro’el to rescue and redeem the Jewish people, primarily by sending rain.
Talmudic Rabonim saw it as a mini-Yom Kippur, a day on which the entire Jewish community is judged whether worthy of the seasonal rains. All seven hoshanot prayers are recited in seven hakkafot (processions) around the sanctuary. Then there si a special ritual where the lulav (willow branches) are struck upon the ground. This is symbolically an attempt to rid ourselves of any remaining sins. The leaves represent these transgressions.
For Meshiachim this day holds a special meaning, for it was on this day at the Water ceremony that Yeshua stood up and said He was the Mayim Chayim- the Living Waters:
Yochanan 7:37-38 (OJB) Now on the last day of the Chag [festival], Hoshana Rabbah, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink. [Lv 23:36; Isa 55:1; 12:3; 49:10] The one with emunah [trust] in me, as the Kitvei Hakodesh [Holy Writings] said, ‘Out of the midst of him, rivers of MAYIM CHAYYIM [Living Waters] [Zech 14:8] will flow.’ [Prov 18:4; Isa 44:3; 58:11; 43:19f, Ezek 47:1-12; Joel 4:18; Song 4:15].
The traditional greeting is “piska tava,” meaning (in Aramaic) “a good note,” which refers to the final inscription and sealing of the Book of Life.
There is a lot to this service, so anyone wishing to enhance their observance by including some of the traditional aspects of Hoshanah Rabbah is encouraged to do a search. You’ll find a lot of information. You don’t have to do everything any particular sect does. And you don’t have to do any of it either, before I get strung up here. However as I said it can enhance your understanding as well as your worship to look deeper at this and maybe incorporate some of it into this last day of Sukkoth.
Dan C
Talmudic Rabonim saw it as a mini-Yom Kippur, a day on which the entire Jewish community is judged whether worthy of the seasonal rains. All seven hoshanot prayers are recited in seven hakkafot (processions) around the sanctuary. Then there si a special ritual where the lulav (willow branches) are struck upon the ground. This is symbolically an attempt to rid ourselves of any remaining sins. The leaves represent these transgressions.
For Meshiachim this day holds a special meaning, for it was on this day at the Water ceremony that Yeshua stood up and said He was the Mayim Chayim- the Living Waters:
Yochanan 7:37-38 (OJB) Now on the last day of the Chag [festival], Hoshana Rabbah, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink. [Lv 23:36; Isa 55:1; 12:3; 49:10] The one with emunah [trust] in me, as the Kitvei Hakodesh [Holy Writings] said, ‘Out of the midst of him, rivers of MAYIM CHAYYIM [Living Waters] [Zech 14:8] will flow.’ [Prov 18:4; Isa 44:3; 58:11; 43:19f, Ezek 47:1-12; Joel 4:18; Song 4:15].
The traditional greeting is “piska tava,” meaning (in Aramaic) “a good note,” which refers to the final inscription and sealing of the Book of Life.
There is a lot to this service, so anyone wishing to enhance their observance by including some of the traditional aspects of Hoshanah Rabbah is encouraged to do a search. You’ll find a lot of information. You don’t have to do everything any particular sect does. And you don’t have to do any of it either, before I get strung up here. However as I said it can enhance your understanding as well as your worship to look deeper at this and maybe incorporate some of it into this last day of Sukkoth.
Dan C
