OBJECTS OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL. 557 



Jtmina, Turkey, in the seventeenth century. Length, 3 feet 10 inches; 

 width, i foot 7 inches. (Plate 24. U.S.N.M. No. 154601.) 



40. Serviette.— Used at the Passover meal or Seder. Woolen, 

 with lace edge worked in silver and silk. Made in Chios in the six- 

 teenth centurv. Length, 4 feet 3 inches; width, 1 foot 7i inches. 

 (Plate 25. U.S.N.M. No. 154598.) 



(c) TABERNACLES. 



41. Curtain for the booth or tent (sukkah) of the Feast of 

 Tabernacles.— Made of linen and silk, with gold threads in the edge, 

 b}' the Beduins of Jerusalem in the eighteenth century. Length, 10 

 feet 2 inches; width, 6 feet 4 inches. (Plate 26. U.S.N.M. No. 

 154590.) 



42. Curtain tie. — Linen with edges embroidered in gold and silk. 

 Made by the Jews of Smvrna, Asia Minor, in the seventeenth century. 

 Length, 8 feet; width, 8^ inches. (Plate 27. U.S.N.M. No. 154617.) 



The Feast of Tabernacles takes place on the 15th of Tishri (September- 

 October), and continues, according to Leviticus xxiii, 39-43, seven 

 days, with an eighth day for the conclusion of the feast, to which is 

 added the feast of the "Rejoicing of the Law," thus extending it to 

 nine days. It is celebrated in remembrance of the wandering of the 

 Israelites through the desert where they dwelt in booths or tents \ In 

 ancient times the feast was coincident with the harvest season and was 

 a feast of thanksgiving.^ It was one of the most important and 

 joyous of the three pilgrimage festivals. The most characteristic fea- 

 ture of the celebration of this feast is the dwelling in booths or tents, 

 whence is derived its Hebrew name, SiiMoth, or more fully hag ha- 

 suJckoth^ the feast of booths. The booth has three sides of wood, usu- 

 ally boards or planks, while the fourth side, on which is the entrance, 

 is hung with a curtain. It must be erected in the open air and covered 

 with green branches and leaves, affording protection against the sun 

 by day, but permitting a small portion of the sky to be seen and the 

 stars to show at night. Inside it is usually adorned with draperies and 

 garlands. Being the "dwelling place " ^ during the festival, the meals 

 are taken in the booth and especially pious people even sleep in it. 

 Sick and feeble people, however, are exempt from the obligation of 

 "dwelling in tents," and the precept is generally suspended in inclem- 

 ent weather. Another of the important ceremonies connected with the 

 observance of the Feast of Tabernacles is the use of palm branches 

 {lulah), bound up with myrtle and willow branches, and a kind of cit- 

 ron {ethrog)^ for which see the Report of the U. S. National Museum 

 for 1896, page 996. 



^ Compare Leviticus xxiii, 43. 

 ^ Leviticus xxi'ii, 39; Exodus xxiii, IH; xxxiv, 22. 

 * Leviticus xxiii, 42. 

 NAT MUS 99 39 



