Sukkot and the Clouds of Glory
If Sukkot is an unfamiliar word, that is a good place to begin. Sukkot—often called the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles—is a Jewish festival rooted in Israel’s wilderness story. Leviticus commands Israel to live in temporary shelters, sukkot (singular sukkah), for seven days. But what, exactly, are those shelters meant to remember? In this guest dispatch, J. Aharon begins with that question and follows it from Leviticus through a classic rabbinic interpretation to the clouds of God’s presence and, finally, the Gospel account of Jesus’ transfiguration. You do not need to know the festival in advance. The biblical texts themselves lead the way.
Why does God command Israel to live in sukkot for seven days? In the Torah reading for Sukkot—that is, the section of the Torah read publicly in synagogue for the festival—Jewish people read the following instruction concerning Sukkot: “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, I the Lord your God.” (Lev 23:42–43)
During Sukkot, Jewish people live in sukkot (“booths”) to remember that the Israelites lived in sukkot while wandering in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. This is the plain reading of the text and is reflected in one classic rabbinic interpretation. However, Rabbi Akiba offers another interpretation worth considering: In order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in sukkot (Lev 23:43). R. Eliezer says: “They were real sukkot.” R. Akiba says: “They were the clouds of glory” (Sifra 17:11). Jeffrey L. Rubenstein cites this passage from Sifra 17:11, ed. I. Weiss, 103a–b, in “The Sukkah and Its Symbolism” (TheTorah.com, October 8, 2014).
Booths or Clouds of Glory?
Why would Rabbi Akiba understand sukkot as the clouds of glory rather than literal booths? Apart from Leviticus 23:42–43, the Torah does not otherwise describe the Israelites as living in sukkot. Instead, it repeatedly reports that the Israelites lived in ohalim (אֹהָלִים, “tents”). (Examples include Exodus 16:16; 33:8; Numbers 11:10; 16:17; Deuteronomy 1:27; 5:30; 11:16.) We find this language even in the Ma Tovu, a traditional Jewish prayer whose opening words come from Numbers 24:5: “How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel!” (Num 24:5). Rather than saying sukkot, Balaam uses the language of “tent,” ohel (אֹהֶל), and “dwelling,” mishkan (מִשְׁכָּן).
God also says that He caused Israel to live in sukkot (Lev 23:42–43). God is the one who made Israel dwell in sukkot, which “suggests something a little more miraculous than a basic booth.” Rachel Scheinerman makes this observation in her 2022 video, “Clouds of Glory: The Real Meaning Behind the Sukkah”. Given that Leviticus 23:42–43 uses sukkot instead of ohalim and says that God made Israel dwell in sukkot, we can explore Rabbi Akiba’s reading that sukkot refers to the clouds of glory.
God’s Sukkah
The psalmist declares, “He made darkness His screen; dark thunderheads, dense clouds of the sky were His pavilion round about Him” (Psalm 18:12). The Hebrew word for “pavilion” is sukkah (סֻכָּה). This image of God surrounded by clouds is also evident in Psalm 97:2: “Dense clouds are around Him, righteousness and justice are the base of His throne” (Psalm 97:2).
God guided Israel through the wilderness in a pillar of cloud:
The Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud by day, to guide them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, that they might travel day and night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. (Exodus 13:21–22)
Probably the most relevant passage connecting a sukkah with the clouds of glory is Isaiah 4:5–6:
[T]he Lord will create over the whole shrine and meeting place of Mount Zion cloud by day and smoke with a glow of flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the glory shall hang a canopy, which shall serve as a pavilion [סֻכָּה, sukkah] for shade from heat by day and as a shelter for protection against drenching rain.
This is a messianic vision in which God’s cloud will serve as a sukkah over Mount Zion, protecting the people.
So which interpretation is right? Does Israel build sukkot to remember the actual booths they dwelled in, or to remember the clouds of glory, God’s protective and guiding presence?
I think the answer is both. In Judaism, traditions can have various symbolic meanings, and by using sukkot rather than ohalim (“tents”), the Torah allows Jewish people to remember both literal booths and the clouds of glory.
Sukkot and Yeshua
For readers unfamiliar with the name, Yeshua is the name used here for Jesus.
This becomes especially relevant when reading Matthew 16:28–17:5. Yeshua tells His disciples:
“Amen, I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
After six days, Yeshua takes with Him Peter and Jacob and John his brother, and brings them up a high mountain by themselves. Now He was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Yeshua. Peter responded to Yeshua, “Master, it’s good for us to be here! If You wish, I will make three sukkot here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While He was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice from out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
Yeshua tells His disciples that some of them will see Him coming in His kingdom before they die, and six days later, He shows them. He takes Peter, Jacob, and John up a mountain to give them a taste of the kingdom. He reveals His glory to His disciples and is joined by Moses and Elijah. Peter responds by offering to make three sukkot for them. As he is speaking, God offers Peter and the other disciples a sukkah, “a bright cloud,” His presence, and communicates that they must listen to Yeshua, evoking God speaking out of the cloud at Sinai and the sukkah in Isaiah’s messianic vision.
Dwelling in God’s Presence
As Jewish people dwell in sukkot today and for the rest of the feast, they can remember both the temporary dwellings the Israelites lived in as they wandered through the wilderness and the clouds of glory. The insecurity of their sukkot reminds them of their dependence on God, while the clouds of glory remind them of God’s comforting and protective presence.
Chag Sukkot Sameach! (Happy Sukkot!)
