Should Only the Native Born in Israel Dwell in Booths on Sukkot?
Many Jews who are still in exile build their sukkot. But should they build them? Or, only the native born in Israel are to dwell in booths on Chag Sukkot?
Dwell in booths for seven days, all born in Israel shall dwell in booths, so that your generations know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Yehovah your Elohim. (Lev 23:42-43)
In the article The Appointed Times of YHVH—the Festival of the Booths we noted that the phrase all born in Israel shall dwell in booths is a matter of debate as to how to interpret it. We also said that some hold the view that according to this verse only the native, that is born in Israel and by extension living in Israel, are required to build and dwell in booths, but others extend the command to all Jews including those in exile.
In this article, however, we will open this debate and try to seek a conclusive answer to the matter.
The word in question, as the reader may suggest, is the Hebrew word behind “native born” as found in Lev 23:42. The Hebrew word is the noun אֶזְרָח ezrach, and has the meaning of a spontaneous growth, in the sense of springing up. It can refer to trees or persons; hence, it is usually translated as “native born” or “home-born in the land.” The noun comes from the verb זָרַח zah-rach, which means properly to irradiate or shoot forth beams. The verb has seventeen appearances in the Tanak and most of the time it is used as to rise (as the sun) in a literal sense or referring to YHVH in an allegorical way. Once it is used to mean specifically to appear (as a symptom of leprosy). So, its literal meaning is to irradiate and by extension to arise as the radiating sun rays arise.
The noun ezrach, which come from the verb zarach, is used twenty-five times in the Tanak, but only two times outside of the Torah: in Ezekiel and Psalms. In all occurrences but in Psa 37:55 it refers to the command in the Torah that there is one law for the native born (ezrach) and for the sojourner, meaning we are commanded to treat the sojourner as ourselves without showing partiality or discrimination. Although this is a correct application for this word in the textual context, for the purpose of our study we cannot tell with certainty what exactly it means, since it could be interpreted to mean “born in the land of Israel” but also “born Israelite by blood.”
Therefore, to answer the question we need to find an application of ezrach where this word is used with its literal meaning. Once we have done this, we will return to our verse in Leviticus 23 in order to get a better understanding of what we are commanded to do. The problem is that there is no such a verse. However, there is a verse where ezrach is used with an unusual application and this is Psa 37:35, as we read,
I have seen the fearful wicked, and spreading himself like a green tree (ezrach ). (Psa 37:35)
Here ezrach is translated in JPS (Jewish Publication Society translation) as “a leafy tree” and in KJV: “a green bay tree.” Since a human being cannot be a literal tree, we understand that ezrach is used allegorically. From the context of Psalm 37 we find that “the wrongdoer” is likened to “a tree” and is also likened to “grass” and “green plants” in verse 2; in verses 9, 34, and 38 we see that “the wrongdoers” are cut off.
What did make the JPS translators render ezrach as “a leafy tree?” Given the literal meaning of the verb zarach from which ezrach comes from, namely to irradiated and to arise, the noun ezrach could mean something that grows or springs up. Hence, the choice of the translators to render ezrach as “a green tree” in the sense of a young green tree that is growing spontaneously. The meaning here is that as the young green trees grow and spread rapidly, so do the wicked wrongdoers.
How does this finding help us to understand our verse in Leviticus 23 regarding building and dwelling in a booth for the Festival of Sukkot?
It can help a lot, since we have learned how to do textual criticism. As it is natural for a tree to grow and spring up in the land where it has been planted, it is natural for YHVH to call a person born in His Land Israel ezrach, that is native born or home-born. Now, let us return to our verse and read it again.
Dwell in booths for seven days, all born in Israel shall dwell in booths, so that your generations know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Yehovah your Elohim. (Lev 23:42-43)
And since the Festival of Sukkot is one of the three pilgrimages when all males are required to come to Jerusalem and dwell in booths for seven days, we may also interpret ezrach to mean “native-born and living in Israel.” The grafted-in like Eliyahu, Ovadyah, Uriyah, and many others who joined Israel and lived in Israel, were as the native-born.
The reader may ask the question as to whether the Jews who are still in exile in Europe, the Americas, and elsewhere are required to built and dwell in booths in “their” lands.
The answer is given by YHVH Himself right there after the command: so that your generations know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. Only those who come back into the Land are like evergreen trees planted again in the set-apart land of YHVH. They need to know, that is to remember when they were in exile. Those who are still in exile, they have nothing to remember.
This article is a part of series of articles dedicated to the Appointed Times of YHVH and how His Messiah Yeshua has fulfilled them. For the rest of the set-apart days of the Creator, please, visit The Appointed Times of YHVH.
Navah
May we merit seeing the coming of our Mashiach speedily in our days.