Hoshana Rabba

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Big day in Jerusalem today! The seventh day of Sukkot is called Hoshana Rabba.
So three friends and I took the early bus to town and got to the Western Wall early, before the tourists woke up. Only the devout worshippers were at the Wall.


Just inside the Old City wall's Dung Gate, the separation started. The sign says "Men's section//Women's section."
This walkway leads to the security checkpoint: your bag is searched and you walk through a metal detector.


We were well protected.  See all the men in uniform? 



Hoshanah Rabbah is also know as "the day of the beating of the arava [willow branches]."
As you see, several men were selling them.


Almost 2,000 years ago the Mishnah (the first part of the Talmud) said, in tractate Sukkah 4:2,
 "How was the mitzvah of aravah fulfilled? There was a place below Jerusalem called Motza. They would go down there and pick branches of willows and would then come and place them alongside the altar with the heads (of the willow branches) bent over the altar. They then sounded the shofar . . . . Each day they would circle the altar once and say, 'Ana Hashem hoshiah na (Please, God, bring us salvation), Ana Hashem hatzlichah na (Please, God, bring us success)' . . . . On that day [Hoshana Rabbah] they circled the altar seven times. When they had finished they would say, "Beauty is yours, O altar, beauty is yours."


And till today, the men still circle the Torah scrolls seven times, holding the Four Species. The man shown above holds the etrog, myrtle, willow, and palm together, near the heart.


The man in the center is doing the shaking of the lulav left, right, forward, backward, up, and down, to show that God is present everywhere.


See the aravah or willows the men have thrown on top of the holy ark where the Torah is? 
Just like the Talmud said to do!


And we heard the call of the shofar!

The male-female divider was thankfully moved a bit more to the left today, to give women more room near the Wall.



The Four Species are often transported in a transparent, flexible plastic carrying case. I think a white stick is included in the set to prevent too much bending. 
These boys were having a sword fight with those sticks.


A little boy was playing at beating a willow on the ground.

Prayers for water and divine blessing throughout the year are very fervently said today.

It is said that during the Festival of Sukkot, the entire world is judged concerning water, fruit, and produce. The seventh day of the Festival, Hoshana Rabbah, is the day on which this judgment is sealed.

At the end of the prayers, in an ancient rite of deep mystical significance, five willows bound together are beaten five times on the ground, symbolically "sweetening" God's judgment.
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A new weekly bloggers' meme, "That's My World Tuesday," starts today, conceived by the folks who brought you SkyWatch Friday. Have a look at MyWorld to enjoy guided mini-tours.

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