The Lord said, “This is not to be to you a fast as the Day of Atonement; eat, drink, be merry, and sacrifice peace-offerings thereon.”  The Bible says, “Seven days unto the Lord”; therefore we should in all our merriment devote a few serious thoughts to Him.

The Feast of Tabernacles is held in the autumn, after the fruits of the field have been garnered in the storehouses, according to the words of the Bible, “The Feast of Tabernacles shalt thou hold for thyself seven days when thou hast gathered in the produce of thy thresh-floor and thy wine-press.”

This dwelling in booths is also to bring to mind the manner in which the Israelites lived for forty years after they left Egypt.  With merely temporary walls to protect them from summer’s heat and winter’s cold, from wind and storm.  God was with them through all their generations, and they were protected from all evil.

According to the opinion of some of the Rabbis, the Israelites did not really dwell in booths in the wilderness, but were surrounded by clouds—­by seven clouds.  Four clouds, one at each of the four sides; a fifth, a shadow, to protect them from the hot rays of the sun; the sixth, a pillar of fire to give them light by night (they being able to see as clearly by night as by day); and the seventh, to precede their journeying and direct their way.

The children of Israel departed from Egypt in Nissan (April), and obtained immediately these booths, which they made use of for forty years.  Thus they were in booths during the entire cycle of the year, and we could as easily commemorate this fact in the spring as in the fall, in the summer as in the winter.  Why, then, has God made autumn, and neither spring nor summer, the season of observance?  Because if we dwelt in booths in the summer, it would be a question whether we did so in obedience to God’s behest or for our own gratification; for many people seek airy retreats during this season; but in the fall, when the trees lose their leaves, and the air grows cold and chilling, and it is the time to fix our houses for the winter, then by inhabiting these temporary residences, we display our desire to do as our Creator has bidden us.

The Feast of Tabernacles is also the Feast of Ingathering, when we should thank God for the kindness shown us and the treasure with which He has blessed us.  When the Eternal has provided man with his sustenance, in the long evenings which follow he should meditate and study his Bible, and make this indeed a “feast to the Lord,” and not entirely for personal gratification.

The four species belonging to the vegetable kingdom which we use in this festival, are designed to remind us of the four elements of nature, which work under the direction and approval of the Most High, and without which all things would cease to exist.  Therefore the Bible commands us on this “feast of the Lord,” to give thanks, and bring before Him these four species, each typifying one of the elements.