The "Hag" or Pilgrimage of the Jews

 The "Hag" or Pilgrimage of the Jews 

OSTB: Here is some trivia about the 'Hag' or pilgrimage rites of the Jews that I found. Some links and Hebrew Bible (Torah) references are given. I hope I do not offend any Jews. This is just information that I found. 

The Jewish people have a ‘hag’ pilgrimage. Here are some Jewish references:

The Hebrew Bible stresses the religious importance of pilgrimage ("Hag" in Hebrew) to their sacred Temple. 

The Hebrew Bible (Torah) refers to HAG HA-SUKKOT (“Feast of Booths,” Leviticus 23:34), recalling the days when the Israelites lived in huts (sukkot) during their years of wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt. 

As part of the Jewish celebration, a seven fold circuit of the synagogue is made on the seventh day of the festival, called by the special name Hossana Rabba. Hossanna means a deliverance, we have arrived, an arrival in front of the “Lord” (Rabba / Rabb).

The Torah declares, “Celebrate Haj Sukkot for seven days after you have harvested the (fall) produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. For seven days celebrate the (pilgrimage) festival to the Lord your God.

The Haj of Sukkot was chosen by Prophet Solomon to dedicate the First Temple in Jerusalem (Bible, 1Kings 8:2). 

Haj Sukkot was so important during the centuries when Solomon's Temple stood that the holy day week of Sukkot was often called simply "the Hag” (1 Kings 8:3; 8:65; 12:62; 2 Chronicles 5:3; 7:8) because of the very large numbers of Jews who came up to the Temple in Jerusalem.

There are several ritual practices in the Jewish Hag Sukkot.

Here is a quick listing of some practises from the Jewish Hag:

Three times a year Jews were commanded to make a 'Hag' pilgrimage (Hag ha-matzot, Hag ha-sukkot, Hag ha-shavuot) to Jerusalem.

Only those who could afford it and were capable of traveling to the Temple were obligated to go. 

Pilgrims had to purify the body with water before going on the Jewish Hag.

The Hag pilgrims had to encircle the Jewish Temple seven times anti-clockwise. 

The Hag pilgrims were obligated to offer “korban” or animal sacrifice.

Jewish women in menses should refrain from circling the Temple. 

It is preferable to enter the Temple complex barefoot.

References:

http://www.judaism-islam.com/similarities-between-masjid-al-haram-and-the-jewish-temple/

https://www.islamicity.org/10724/islamic-hajj-jewish-haj-and-near-east-peace/

Circumambulating the holy of holies seven times

On the seventh day of the Hag Sukkot the Jewish rites required the Jewish pilgrims to circle the ‘holy of holies’ within the huge Temple courtyard seven times (Mishnah Sukkah 4:5) in an anti clockwise direction.

Why seven times? Each of the seven circumambulations on the seventh day of the Haj Sukkot was done in honor of the seven “Jewish prophets”: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and David.

Animal sacrifice: The Hebrew korban

Korban (Hebrew) is the Jewish ritual sacrifice of kosher animals toward the end of most Jewish ritual reenactments including the Hag Sukkot and other hag festivals.

In Judaism, the korban (קָרְבָּן qorbān), also spelled qorban or corban, is any of a variety of sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah. The plural form is korbanot, korbanoth or korbans.

The term Korban primarily refers to sacrificial offerings given from humans to God for the purpose of doing homage, winning favor, or securing pardon. The object sacrificed was usually an animal that was ritually slaughtered and then transferred from the human to the divine realm by being burned on an altar

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korban).

The Jewish Temple

 

The picture above is a model of the Jewish Temple or Bayt ha-Mikdash (Hebrew) that is alleged to have existed during the time of Solomon and which is now being planned to be reconstructed in Jerusalem. 

The picture is of an actual model of the Jewish Temple that has been designed based on textual  descriptions and archaeological excavations in Jerusalem. Modern day Jews in Israel hope to rebuild this same Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

The Jewish Temple has a huge squarish courtyard with multiple entrances.  In the middle of the courtyard is a “holy of holies” called Kodesh HaKodashim with an almost cubical structure in the center.  

Here is a listing of some characteristics of the Jewish Temple. 

The Jewish Holy Temple or Bayt ha-Mikdash stood in the city of Jerusalem, Israel. It is the holiest place in the world for Jews. 

Both Jewish men and women could all come to worship at the Temple. In all other Jewish synagogues around the world men and women are segregated during worship.

The Kodesh HaKodashim is the Jewish “Holy of Holies” which was the most sacred point of the Jewish Temple or the Bayt ha-Mikdash. It was a cube shaped sanctuary within the Jewish Temple. 

Wherever a Jew is located in the world, they are obligated to pray facing the holy of holies Kodesh Ha-Kodashim located in the Temple.

The Foundation Stone or the Even-Ha-Shetiya is the name of the rock that is believed by the Jewish rabbis to be the location of the Holy of Holies. According to Jewish tradition it is the site where Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac, it is the rock from which Earth was formed, it was close to the stone that God gathered the earth that was formed into Adam.

OSTB : Just some trivia about the Jewish "hag" rituals.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.