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Hoshana Rabbah: Customs of the Seventh Day of the Festival

The Magnitude of This Day

The seventh day of Sukkot is called Hoshana Rabba. We spend the day engrossed in Torah study and supplication.

The Midrash says: "Hashem said to Avraham Avinu: I am unique in My world and you are unique in your world. In the future, I will give your children a special day to repair their sins, this is Hoshana Rabbah. If the sins of your children have not been fixed on Rosh Hashanah, they will be fixed on Yom Kippur. And if not, they will be fixed on Hoshana Rabbah. "

Remaining Awake

The holy people of Israel have the custom of staying up all night on Hoshana Rabbah. They learn Torah, following the commandment "Krieh Moed" and read Chumash Devarim, the Midrash Rabbasur the Parsha of Vezot Habracha and then they recite the whole book of Tehillim with a few paragraphs of supplication until the morning.

The texts that are to be read that night should be done during the first half of the night, and thus the congregants should come to the Beit Haknesset at least two and a half hours before the middle of the night, so that they will have finished reading Chumash Devarim by Chatzot, (middle of the night), not like in some communities, wherein they only begin late by night and they thus miss the main "Tikun" of the night.

If one knows that one will not be able to stay awake all night, one should do as follows: one should read at the beginning of the night, all the texts mentioned except Tehillim. Then one should go and rest on his bed, in the Sukkah. When one gets up, one should wash one's hands, recite the blessing and the blessings of the Torah. Then, one should recite Tehillim with the congregation and during the morning prayers, one should not repeat the blessings of the Torah. If one eats a little cake during the night, one must take care not to eat a quantity of a Kabeitza [54g] outside the Sukkah, as explained below.

The Morning Blessings

One who has been awake all night should recite the morning blessings and the blessings of the Torah at daybreak, except for the blessing of "Al netilat yadaim”. One must wash one's hands without a blessing. One should also not say the blessing "Asher yatzar" unless one has satisfied one's needs. However, there are some Ashkenazim who have the custom of listening to the morning blessings and the blessings of the Torah from someone who has actually slept, who will thus acquit them from their obligation. The custom of the Sephardim is different, everyone says the blessings, and even the Ashkenazim may recite them themselves.  

Dawn (Amud Hashachar)

The moment of dawn is 72 minutes before sunrise (Netz hachama), and one who says the blessings of the Torah before this time, is reciting a blessing that is not necessary, thus saying Hashem's name in vain, according to the Shulchan Aruch and the majority of decision-makers. However, according to the strict law, one may recite the morning blessings from the middle of the night (Chatzot).

Morning Prayer

One should be as strong as a lion and not fall asleep during the reading of Shema and the Amida, so as not to lose one's merit. The one who is leading the prayers should not use tunes that might lengthen the duration of the prayers, but rather he should pray word for word, slightly quickly, so that the congregants do not fall asleep.

After the recitation of Hallel, it is customary for the congregants to go around the Bima seven times with their Lulavim. By making these Hakafot around the Bima that resembles the Mizbeach, we will be able to bring down our enemies and eliminate them, in the same way that the Bnei Israel went around Jericho seven times until the walls collapsed. (Chazon Ovadia Sukkot, p.436)

The Mitzvah of Hitting the Aravot

After the Musaf prayer, five Aravot tied together, the length of at least three tefachim (24 cm), are taken and struck exactly five times, on the ground, in order to perpetrate the use that the Neviim established for the people.

With each blow on the ground, one should think of one of the following five letters, in this order: Mem-Nun-Tzadik-Fe-Kaf (sofit).

To the extent that some say that the Mitzvah of Aravot is accomplished by shaking them, and others hold that it is necessary to strike the ground with them, it is good to be stringent and to perform it in both ways.

Nishmat Kol Chai

The custom is that after this Mitzvah is performed, one returns to the synagogue to open the Heichal and sing the passage "Nishmat Kol Chai" until "Or me olam v'ad olam ata Kel". Then the following sentence is uttered: "Harei anachnu mekablim aleinu bli ness kabalat gemura lomar nishmat kol chai beyom hoshana raba leshana haba, baet hazot achar tefilat Shacharit or Mussaf. Veyehi ratzon milifnei Avinu shebashomayim shehytam otanu besefer chaim tovim, venenke venimye shanim rabot neimot, venagila venenkecha biyechuatecha''; 'Here we take upon ourselves, without promise, the important charge of saying Nishmat Kol Chai on the day of Hoshana Rabbah for the coming year, at that time after the morning prayer and Musaf. May it be the will of our Father who is in Heaven, that He inscribe us in the book of life and that we deserve to live long and good years, and that we rejoice in your deliverance.

Rav Hagaon David Pardo writes that anyone who has worries should say that he will take it upon himself to say "Nishmat Kol Chai" as soon as Hashem saves him from his troubles.

‘Shnayim Mikra Vechad Targum’

On the day of Hoshana Rabbah, one should read the Mikra twice (that is to say the verses of the Torah) and once the Targum (translated part of the text, written on the sidelines of the Parshah, called Targum Onkelos) of the Parsha "Vezot Habracha". If one forgot or did not have the opportunity to do so, one should read them the night of Simchat Torah or the morning before the prayer.

Leaving the Sukkah ...

Before going to the synagogue to pray on the evening of Simchat Torah, one should return to the Sukkah and say: "Yeh ratzon milfanecha Hashem Elokai vElokei avotai shebizkchut kium mitzvat Sukka zot shekiamnu nichie venizke leshana haba leshev beSukkat oro shel Leviathan”. "May it be Your will Hashem our G-d and G-d of our fathers that by the merit of the fulfillment of this Mitzvah of Sukkah that we have fulfilled, that me merit next year to sit in the sukkah made of the skin of the Leviathan (the sukkah of Moshiach)". As it is said (Iyov 30:21): "Will you hide his skin of darts and his head of barbed harpoons?" (Kol Bo, Rama Chapter 667)