About the Festival

At Sukkot on the Farm, we camp, eat, and pray next to the fields at Green Oaks Creek Farm to immerse ourselves in the essence of this harvest holiday.  In our community-built sukkah, we create Shabbat and Sukkot ritual; eat gourmet food freshly harvested from the fields; explore the connections between Jewish spirituality, nature awareness, and food issues of today; and gather around the campfire for song and celebration. Friday afternoon will be our Do-It-Yourself Crafting and Skills Fair, Friday night and Saturday morning join our inspiring Shabbat services, and Saturday night stand in ceremony in our Sukkot Simchat Beit HaShoevah ritual where we honor the elements and the waters and culminate with a community wide dance party!  This is a family friendly event and special childrens’ and teen programming will be provided for our younger attendees to make this festival relevant and fun for the entire family!

The festival will include optional services and other spiritual offerings, music, movement, classes, communal meals in the sukkah, plus time to connect in small groups, commune with nature, and for your own personal exploration on the farm.

What’s included in this festival: Three delicious, organic, super-local meals a day, with food right from the farm, starting with Thursday dinner and concluding with Sunday breakfast, Shabbat celebration and Sukkot ritual, including the waiving of the four species and a water drawing ceremony.  Special programming for kids, including hikes, crafts, and fun Jewish learning. Camping, learning sustainability skills and Jewish earth-based teachings, farm tours, daily prayer and meditation opportunities, yoga and much more. See our offerings page to get an idea of what to expect!  You need only bring personal gear and be prepared to help co-create this event by helping cook a meal with your tribe and providing an offering if you wish. Food will be kosher and vegetarian.

About the Holiday

Sukkot is the third in the Jewish cycle of Pilgrimage Festivals, honoring the end of the yearly agricultural cycle.  During Sukkot, we wave the four plant species in celebration of the earth’s abundance and honor the waters that make this season possible.

During the Intermediate days of Sukkot, gatherings of music and dance, known as Simchat Beit HaShoeivah, take place. This commemorates the Water Libation Ceremony in which water was carried up the Jerusalem pilgrim road from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple in Jerusalem.

When the Temple in Jerusalem stood, a unique service was performed during the Sukkot holiday: the Nisuch ha-Mayim (“Pouring of the water”) or Water Libation Ceremony. Sukkot is the time when G-d judges the world for rainfall, according to the Talmud, therefore this ceremony, like the waving of the Four Species, invokes God’s blessing for rain in its proper time. The water for the libation ceremony was drawn from the Pool of Siloam in the City of David and carried up the Jerusalem pilgrim road to the Temple. The joy that accompanied this procedure was palpable – as the book of Isaiah states, “and you shall draw waters with joy from the wells of salvation.” (Isa. 12:3).

After the water libation ceremony every night, tens of thousands of spectators would gather to watch the Simchat Beit HaShoeivah (Rejoicing at the Place of the Water-Drawing), as the most pious members of the community danced and sang songs of praise to God. The dancers would carry lit torches, and were accompanied by the harps, lyres, cymbals and trumpets of the Levites. According to the Mishnah Sukkah, “He who has not seen the rejoicing at the Place of the Water-Drawing has never seen rejoicing in his life.” At Sukkot on the Farm, we will recall Simchat Beit HaShoeivah with music, dance and great local, organic food on the farm! Connect to the Land, your Food, and the Source…