Page 48 - HaMizrachi # 23 Sukkot Simchat Torah 2020 USA
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A GUIDE TO THE
Hoshanot Prayers
oshanot are the special prayers recited obligations to remember and to keep Shab-
Heach day of Sukkot while holding the bat, the 2,000-cubit Shabbat boundary,
lulav and etrog. The name comes from the the special Shabbat food and clothes, two
refrain of אָנ ע ׁ ַ שֹוה, meaning “please save.” loaves of bread at each meal, and more.
The Mishnah (Sukkah 4:5) describes how (On Shabbat, we do not carry a lulav and
on each day of Sukkot, the kohanim would etrog or circle the bimah.)
lead the people in a circle around the miz-
ְ
beach reciting אָנּ ה ָ עיִשׁוֹה and on the seventh ך ָּֽ ת ִ מ ֲ א ן ַ עַֽ מ ְ ל – This hoshanah refers to G-d’s
day of Sukkot – Hoshanah Rabbah – they various ‘traits’ – truth, greatness, splendor,
would circle seven times. The Midrash kindness, goodness, unity, power, etc. It
describes how we emulate this ceremony also mentions His covenant and the Beit
as a sign we have emerged victorious from HaMikdash which, while not traits, are still
our judgment on Yom Kippur, just five days relevant to the holiday.
earlier.
ְ
י ִ עּו ׁש ךֹר ֱ ע ֶ א – The theme of this hoshanah is
The hoshanot were composed by the great that we should arrange our prayers in ad-
liturgical poet Rabbi Elazar HaKalir and vance, rather than wait till times of trouble.
are, for the most part, arranged according This prayer references the recently-com-
to the aleph-bet. Each day, one hoshanah is pleted Yamim Noraim.
read with seven being read on Hoshanah
Rabbah. Each hoshanah has its own theme. הָּֽי ִ ת ׁ ְ ש ן ֶ ב ֶֽ א – This hoshanah mentions
Unlike most prayers, the order of the Yerushalayim in general and the Beit Ha-
hoshanah varies depending on what day Mikdash in particular – the foundation
of the week Sukkot begins. This year, since stone, the threshing floor purchased for the
Sukkot begins on Shabbat, the order is as land upon which to build the Beit HaMik-
follows: dash, the trees imported from Lebanon to
make panels, etc. Salem refers to the name
ה ָֽ רּוצְנ ם ֽ ֹא – This hoshanah is recited on of Yerushalayim until the times of Avraham
Shabbat and its theme is Shabbat – the Avinu, while Zion is the Temple Mount.
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