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pp. 812-813

Sukkot

Ushpizin

אושפיזין

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On entering the sukka and before saying Kiddush, many have the custom to welcome “guests” from the biblical past, who are said to join us as we sit in the sukka:

Hebrew

אַזְמִין לִסְעוּדָתִי אֻשְׁפִּיזִין עִלָּאִין
אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק יַעֲקֹב מֹשֶׁה אַהֲרֹן יוֹסֵף וְדָוִד.

Sephardi

Azmin lis'udati ushpizin ila'in
Avraham Yitzchak Yaakov Moshe Aharon Yosef ve-David.

English

אַזְמִין I invite to my meal the exalted guests, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David.

On the first day

Hebrew

בְּמָטוּ מִנָּךְ אַבְרָהָם אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאָה דְּתֵיתֵב עִמִּי
וְעִמָּךְ כָּל אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאֵי: יִצְחָק יַעֲקֹב מֹשֶׁה אַהֲרֹן יוֹסֵף וְדָוִד.

Sephardi

Bematu minach Avraham ushpizi ila'ah deteitev imi
ve-immach kol ushpizi ila'ei: Yitzchak Yaakov Moshe Aharon Yosef ve-David.

English

I pray you, Abraham, exalted guest, that all the other exalted guests may sit here with me and you: Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David.

On the second day

Hebrew

בְּמָטוּ מִנָּךְ יִצְחָק אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאָה דְּתֵיתֵב עִמִּי
וְעִמָּךְ כָּל אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאֵי: אַבְרָהָם יַעֲקֹב מֹשֶׁה אַהֲרֹן יוֹסֵף וְדָוִד.

Sephardi

Bematu minach Yitzchak ushpizi ila'ah deteitev imi
ve-immach kol ushpizi ila'ei: Avraham Yaakov Moshe Aharon Yosef ve-David.

English

I pray you, Isaac, exalted guest, that all the other exalted guests may sit here with me and you: Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David.

On the third day

Hebrew

בְּמָטוּ מִנָּךְ יַעֲקֹב אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאָה דְּתֵיתֵב עִמִּי
וְעִמָּךְ כָּל אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאֵי: אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק מֹשֶׁה אַהֲרֹן יוֹסֵף וְדָוִד.

Sephardi

Bematu minach Yaakov ushpizi ila'ah deteitev imi
ve-immach kol ushpizi ila'ei: Avraham Yitzchak Moshe Aharon Yosef ve-David.

English

I pray you, Jacob, exalted guest, that all the other exalted guests may sit here with me and you: Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David.

On the fourth day

Hebrew

בְּמָטוּ מִנָּךְ מֹשֶׁה אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאָה דְּתֵיתֵב עִמִּי
וְעִמָּךְ כָּל אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאֵי: אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק יַעֲקֹב אַהֲרֹן יוֹסֵף וְדָוִד.

Sephardi

Bematu minach Moshe ushpizi ila'ah deteitev imi
ve-immach kol ushpizi ila'ei: Avraham Yitzchak Yaakov Aharon Yosef ve-David.

English

I pray you, Moses, exalted guest, that all the other exalted guests may sit here with me and you: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Aaron, Joseph, and David.

On the fifth day

Hebrew

בְּמָטוּ מִנָּךְ אַהֲרֹן אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאָה דְּתֵיתֵב עִמִּי
וְעִמָּךְ כָּל אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאֵי: אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק יַעֲקֹב מֹשֶׁה יוֹסֵף וְדָוִד.

Sephardi

Bematu minach Aharon ushpizi ila'ah deteitev imi
ve-immach kol ushpizi ila'ei: Avraham Yitzchak Yaakov Moshe Yosef ve-David.

English

I pray you, Aaron, exalted guest, that all the other exalted guests may sit here with me and you: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joseph, and David.

On the sixth day

Hebrew

בְּמָטוּ מִנָּךְ יוֹסֵף אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאָה דְּתֵיתֵב עִמִּי
וְעִמָּךְ כָּל אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאֵי: אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק יַעֲקֹב מֹשֶׁה אַהֲרֹן וְדָוִד.

Sephardi

Bematu minach Yosef ushpizi ila'ah deteitev imi
ve-immach kol ushpizi ila'ei: Avraham Yitzchak Yaakov Moshe Aharon ve-David.

English

I pray you, Joseph, exalted guest, that all the other exalted guests may sit here with me and you: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and David.

On Hoshana Raba

Hebrew

בְּמָטוּ מִנָּךְ דָּוִד אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאָה דְּתֵיתֵב עִמִּי
וְעִמָּךְ כָּל אֻשְׁפִּיזִי עִלָּאֵי: אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק יַעֲקֹב מֹשֶׁה אַהֲרֹן יוֹסֵף.

Sephardi

Bematu minach David ushpizi ila'ah deteitev imi
ve-immach kol ushpizi ila'ei: Avraham Yitzchak Yaakov Moshe Aharon Yosef.

English

I pray you, David, exalted guest, that all the other exalted guests may sit here with me and you: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and Joseph.

On the last day of Sukkot, on leaving the sukka:

Hebrew

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ.
כְּשֵׁם שֶׁקִּיַּמְתִּי וְיָשַׁבְתִּי בְּסֻכָּה זוֹ
כֵּן אֶזְכֶּה לַשָּׁנָה הַבָּאָה לֵישֵׁב בְּסֻכַּת עוֹרוֹ שֶׁל לִוְיָתָן.

Sephardi

Yehi ratzon milfanecha Adonai Eloheinu veilohei avoteinu.
Keshem shekiyamti veyashavti besukkah zo
Kein ezkeh lashanah haba'ah leishev besukkat oro shel Livyatan.

English

May it be Your will, LORD our God and God of our fathers, that as I have fulfilled [Your commandment] and sat in this sukka, so next year may I have the privilege of sitting in the sukka made of the skin of Leviathan.

Commentary

Ushpizin, the Aramaic for “guests,” reflects a Jewish mystical tradition that on Sukkot, seven great figures from the biblical age, from Abraham to David, visit us as we sit in the sukka, a different guest entering first each day. Each of the seven figures suffered some form of exile from home to a temporary dwelling, and as we sit in the sukka we remember their fate, their faith and the continuity of the Jewish journey. We also remind ourselves of the importance of hospitality, said by the sages to be “greater even than receiving the Divine Presence” (Shabbat 127a). It is a mitzva to invite guests to join us in the sukka, especially the poor and lonely, in keeping with the command to rejoice on the festivals together with “the stranger, the orphan, and the widow within your gates” (Deut. 16:14; see Maimonides, Laws of Festivals 6:18). The skin of Leviathan: A reference to the saying in the Talmud that at the End of Days, God will make a sukka for the righteous from the skin of Leviathan (Bava Batra 75a).