Leviticus 23: Holiday. Celebrate.

This chapter is the first comprehensive list of all the holidays since Exodus chapters 23 and 34. There are a few differences between the lists. The Leviticus list first discusses Shabbat and then lists the holidays in chronological order with Passover first followed by Shavuot, Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. The Exodus lists only included the three festival holidays. In those chapters, Passover is given the most detail including the reason behind the festival and the special commandments. Sukkot and Shavuot are only referred to by their agricultural names and very little else. The book of Exodus was focused on the exodus, so it makes sense that Passover would have top billing. Leviticus 23 also explains the korbanot for each holiday. This makes sense given that the book of Leviticus focuses on the Mishkan and sacrificial rites. In addition to a more extensive list of the specific mitzvot of Sukkot, Leviticus 23 also gives the reason for the holiday. “חַג לַי יָ תָּחֹגּוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים בַּשָּׁנָה; חֻקַּת עוֹלָם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי תָּחֹגּוּ אֹתוֹ. בַּסֻּכּוֹת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים; כָּל־הָאֶזְרָח בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשְׁבוּ בַּסֻּכּוֹת. לְמַעַן יֵדְעוּ דֹרֹתֵיכֶם כִּי בַּסֻּכּוֹת הוֹשַׁבְתִּי אֶת־בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּהוֹצִיאָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם; אֲנִי לַי יָ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם.” (ויקרא כ״ג:מא–מג) — “You shall observe it as a festival of God for seven days in the year; you shall observe it in the seventh month as a law for all time, throughout the ages./You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths/in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (verses 41–43). Two interesting questions here. The first is what are the sukkot? The Torah never actually mentions that the Israelites lived in sukkot, usually they are in tents. The second question is why does the Torah command that sukkot be “a law for all time, throughout the ages”? Some commentators explain that the protective sukkot were actually the clouds of glory protecting the people. This answer helps answer the second question along with the comparison between Passover and Sukkot. Passover is the historical holiday remembering the Exodus. There may come a time in the future when remembering the Exodus is overshadowed by a greater redemption with Moshiach. Sukkot, though, is eternal. The protection of the sukkot occurred during the wilderness, but Sukkot does not commemorate a specific event. Instead, the commemoration is about God protecting the people during a transition period. That message is eternal. God will always be there to protect his people between any exodus and any redemptive period.BONUS- Chanukah is obviously not in the Torah because the victory over the Greco-Syrians happened well into the second Temple period. However, there are a few hints for the holiday in the Torah. Chapter 23 discusses all of the holidays (except for Purim and Chanukah). So where is the hint? The very beginning of chapter 24 God commands Ahron and his sons to light the Menorah in the Mishkan. The hint then is in the juxtaposition of the list of holidays and the Menorah lighting- the main mitzvah of Chanukah- in the very next verse.