Sukkot in the context of "Second Jewish Temple"

The palm branch, or palm frond, is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life originating in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. The palm (Phoenix) was sacred in Mesopotamian religions, and in ancient Egypt represented immortality. In Judaism, the lulav, a closed frond of the date palm is part of the festival of Sukkot. A palm branch was awarded to victorious athletes in ancient Greece, and a palm frond or the tree itself is one of the most common attributes of Victory personified in ancient Rome.

In Christianity, the palm branch is associated with Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, celebrated on Palm Sunday, when the Gospel of John says of the citizens, "they took palm branches and went out to meet Him" (12:13 HCSB). Additionally, the palm has meaning in Christian iconography, representing victory, i.e. the victory of the spirit over the flesh (Revelation 7:9).

Shalom Koboshvili (1876 – 1941) was a Georgian artist who specialised in drawings and paintings of Jewish life in Georgia. Born to a poor family of Jews in Akhaltsikhe, Koboshvili was originally intended for the Rabbinate, but quit religious training at an early age. His interest in art was discouraged by his family, and he was originally apprenticed as a printer. All his knowledge of art was effectively self-taught. After a varied career (in which around 1910 he is said to have met with the artist Niko Pirosmani) he eventually became in 1937 a watchman at the newly established Jewish Historic-Ethnographic Museum in Tbilisi. His work there apparently inspired him to devote himself to painting and all his surviving work dates from the period 1937–1941, the year of his death.

Koboshvili's work, which is all in a competent but naive style, is entirely devoted to scenes of Jewish life; sometimes painted in oils, sometimes in water colours on paper. There are scenes relating to Jewish marriages, to Jewish festivals (including Sukkot and Yom Kippur), and to scenes of Jewish life in Georgian villages and on Jewish kolkhozes.

The Second Temple (Hebrew: בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ‎ הַשֵּׁנִי‎, romanized: Bēṯ hamMīqdāš hašŠēnī, lit. 'Second House of the Sanctum') was the temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod the Great around 18 BCE, consequently also being known as Herod's Temple thereafter. Defining the Second Temple period and standing as a pivotal symbol of Jewish identity, it was the basis and namesake of Second Temple Judaism. The Second Temple served as the chief place of worship, ritual sacrifice (korban), and communal gathering for the Jewish people, among whom it regularly attracted pilgrims for the Three Pilgrimage Festivals: Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot.

In 539 BCE, the Persian conquest of Babylon enabled the Achaemenid Empire to expand across the Fertile Crescent by annexing the Neo-Babylonian Empire, including the territory of the former Kingdom of Judah, which had been annexed as the Babylonian province of Yehud during the reign of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, who concurrently exiled part of Judah's population to Babylon. Following this campaign, the Persian king Cyrus the Great issued the "Edict of Cyrus" (sometimes identified with the Cyrus Cylinder), which is described in the Hebrew Bible as a royal proclamation that authorized and encouraged the repatriation of displaced populations in the region. This event is called the return to Zion in Ezra–Nehemiah, marking the resurgence of Jewish life in what had become the self-governing Persian province of Yehud. The reign of the Persian king Darius the Great saw the completion of the Second Temple, signifying a period of renewed Jewish hope and religious revival. According to the biblical account, the Second Temple was originally a relatively modest structure built under the authority of the Persian-appointed Jewish governor Zerubbabel, who was the grandson of the penultimate Judahite king Jeconiah.

The Three Pilgrimage Festivals or Three Pilgrim Festivals, also known by their Hebrew name Shalosh Regalim (Hebrew: שלוש רגלים, romanized: šālōš rəgālīm, or חַגִּים, ḥaggīm), are three major festivals in Judaism—two in spring; Passover, 49 days later Shavuot (literally 'weeks', or Pentecost, from the Greek); and in autumn Sukkot ('tabernacles', 'tents' or 'booths')—when all Israelites who were able were expected to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem as commanded by the Torah. In Jerusalem, they would participate in festivities and ritual worship in conjunction with the services of the kohanim (priests) at the Temple.

All three coincide with important harvest times in the Land of Israel: Passover with the barley harvest, Shavuot with the harvesting of the wheat, and the eighth day of Sukkot marks the conclusion of the fruit harvest.

Maariv or Maʿariv (Hebrew: מַעֲרִיב, [maʔaˈʁiv]), also known as Arvit, or Arbit (Hebrew: עַרְבִית, [ʔaʁˈvit]), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening Shema and Amidah.

The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, followed by the communal recitation of Barechu. The three paragraphs of the Shema are then said, both preceded and followed by two blessings; sometimes, a fifth blessing is added at the end. The hazzan (cantor) then recites a half-Kaddish. Everyone says the Amidah quietly, and, unlike at the other services, the hazzan does not repeat it. The hazzan recites the full Kaddish, Aleinu is recited, and the mourners' Kaddish ends the service; some groups recite another Psalm before or after Aleinu. Other components occasionally added include the counting of the Omer (between Passover and Shavuot) and, in many communities, Psalm 27 (between the first of Elul and the end of Sukkot).

Lulav (Hebrew: לוּלָב‎ [luˈlav]) is a closed frond of the date palm tree. It is one of the Four Species used during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The other Species are the hadass (myrtle), aravah (willow), and etrog (citron). When bound together, the lulav, hadass, and aravah are commonly referred to as "the lulav".

Mount Gerizim (/ˈɡɛrɪzɪm/ GHERR-iz-im; Samaritan Hebrew: ࠄࠟࠓࠬࠂࠟࠓࠩࠆࠝࠉࠌ, romanized: ʾĀ̊rgā̊rīzem; Hebrew: הַר גְּרִזִים, romanized: Har Gərīzīm; Arabic: جَبَل جَرِزِيم, romanized: Jabal Jarizīm, or جَبَلُ ٱلطُّورِ, Jabal at-Ṭūr) is one of two mountains near the Palestinian city of Nablus and the biblical city of Shechem, located in the north of Palestine’s West Bank. It forms the southern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the northern side being formed by Mount Ebal. The mountain is one of the highest peaks in the West Bank and rises to 881 m (2,890 ft) above sea level, 70 m (230 ft) lower than Mount Ebal. The mountain is particularly steep on the northern side, is sparsely covered at the top with shrubbery, and lower down there is a spring with a high yield of fresh water. The mountain is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the place where, upon first entering the Promised Land after the Exodus, the Israelites performed ceremonies of blessings, as they had been instructed by Moses.

In Samaritan tradition, it is the oldest and most central mountain in the world, towering above the Great Flood and providing the first land for Noah’s disembarkation. Samaritans believe that Mount Gerizim is the location where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac. Jews, on the other hand, consider the location of the near-sacrifice to be Mount Moriah. Samaritans regard Mount Gerizim, rather than Jerusalem's Temple Mount, as the location chosen by God for a holy temple. A Samaritan Temple was located on Mount Gerizim from the 5th century BCE until it was destroyed in the 2nd century BCE. Mount Gerizim continues to be the centre of Samaritan religion, and Samaritans ascend it three times a year: at Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot.