in Succoth, the Feast of Booths, or as some versions of the Bible
call it, the Feast of Tabernacles. The booths themselves, still
built in the backyard or on the roof on Succoth by Orthodox
Jews, are survivals of the little shacks of leaves and sticks that
sheltered the grape pickers. The roof is left flimsy, with the sky
looking through, so that the Shekinah can descend and cover
with her wings of glory the husband and wife as they sleep
together under the leaves and stars and moon on the nights of
the festival.

So we can think of the separate songs of The Song of Songs
being sung by a row of girls just come to womanhood and a row
of boys just come to manhood, dancing a dance, not unlike a
modern hora, on opposite sides of the living waters, while the
king and queen of the festival, whom they have chosen from
amongst themselves, march to the fulfillment of the marriage of
Heaven and Earth.

This is by no means an eccentric or even mystical or Hasidic
interpretation. Furthermore, scattered about the Bible are
many passages which might refer to the same rite. To conflate:
In the shadow of the lingam and yoni, the massebah, on the
feast of oil and wine, from the arbors of Asiph, from the
embracing lovers, joy spread like a sweet incense in the fire of
communion. Then the virgins of Israel, adorned with taborets,
went forth in the dances of them that make merry. Then the
winepress was trod with joy and gladness. There was shouting
at the vintage. When the daughters of Shiloh came out to dance
in dances, the men came from the vineyards, and every man
took a bride.

Most especially the psalms which culminate in the eighty-
fourth embody the other aspect of the rites of the harvest, the
procession with palm, willow, and myrtle branches up to the
temple, in memory of the day when Solomon--Shlomoh
--"Peace"--consecrated the temple to Jehovah--another mar-
riage of Heaven and Earth. It is fascinating to go through the
Bible with a good analytical expositor's concordance and look
up all the references to tabernacles and the key words like tab-
orets, vineyards, and winepresses. Put together, they form a
pretty clear picture of the ancient rite, even down to small

-3-