Sukkot is…related to the way the Jewish people lived while wandering in the desert for 40 years (Leviticus 23:42-43). As they moved from one place to another they built tents or booths, called sukkot, that gave them temporary shelter in the desert.
Hence, the sukkot (booths) that Jews build during the holiday of Sukkot are reminders both of Israel’s agricultural history and of the Israelite exodus from Egypt.
Faith
Egypt Bans Picking & Export of Palm Leaves Needed to Celebrate Jewish Holiday of Sukkot
- Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:19am by
Billy Hallowell
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Egypt has made a curious and, some would say, hostile move to forbid the picking and exporting of palm fronds — an essential element used to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. This has left Israel scrambling to make up for an unanticipated shortage.
The large palm leaves are waved and blessings are said during the seven-day celebration, beginning October 12, which commemorates the ancient story of the Jewish peoples’ exile from Egypt. About.com has more:
According to CNN, Israel‘s Agriculture Ministry is taking action to try and ensure that there will be enough palm fronds in time for next month’s celebrations. The ministry said:
“As a result of the new circumstances, the Minister of Agriculture, Orit Noked, encourages Israeli palm tree growers to significantly increase the number of lulavs to be given for the Sukkot holiday. At the same time, we will advance alternatives to importing palm trees so that everyone can observe the obligations of Sukkot.”
The ministry claims that Egypt notified Israel about the decision earlier this week and that no official reason was given for the policy change. Since Egypt supplies about 700,000 of the nearly two million fronds that are imported each year, finding them elsewhere will be a major task. Israel has said that replacing these fronds will likely be more expensive.
One wonders why this decision has been made, but considering the major political changes going on in Egypt, it’s no surprise that this less-than-friendly gesture was made. This policy reversal comes after an Egyptian state-run newspaper compared Israeli generals to Nazis and after the Israeli embassy was stormed last month, among other hostile occurrences between the two Middle Eastern nations.
Of course, it’s possible that the holiday serves as a reminder of rocky relations — be they ancient — between the two nations. This, teamed with recent events, may be further sparking a negative response from Egyptian authorities.
(h/t CNN)
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Comments (89)
biglipnagger
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:45amIt is only a matter of time that muslims start playing this nonsense here. Know the people around you and keep an eye on the “friendly-neighborhood” muslim. Remember Scotland a few years ago-doctors arrested in terror plot. They have been saying over and over that they will kill us-one way or the other. Sound paranoid? 1. Ask your doc where he or she went to medical school.
2. THEN, if it isn’t a US med school
3. look on the med schools website and look at student groups. the “MSA” or “muslim student association”
4. Look up muslim student association specifically the attachment to the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD.
They are one and the same.
Choose your doc wisely
Report Post »blue_sky
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 1:49pm“It is only a matter of time that muslims start playing this nonsense here”
Yep, if visas to muslim “students” and “refugees” continue.
On a better note
Report Post »our USA trade unions would love to copy Egypt and erect tariffs with Asia so they can force USA consumers to buy over-priced or inferior USA-made products. And public at large wont mind tariffs that help American Labor until you explain to them that students and seniors would be forced to pay $50 for a pair shoes instead of usual $10.
Nigel2
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:43amTalk about a small minded childish stunt. Didn’t they ever see the Grinch that stole Christmas?? You can’t stop a holiday just by removing a symbol of it. Suzzie Who has a message for you akmed!!
STUPID ARABS!!
Report Post »crackerone
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 1:31pmParking lot’s come to mind.
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 6:37pmI think it was Cindy Lou Who (who was no more than 2) — but I get the point & good one it is.
Report Post »Johnny916
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:40amI’m a secular born Jew but I always wonder what these groups think when these groups hate the Jews. Why?
Report Post »Erabin
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 12:13pmWell, are you willing to CRITICALLY confront why so many nations dislike Israel and not immediately call people criticizing Israel anti-semitic?
Furthermore, are you willing to accept that people who speak out against Israel do not necessarily speak out against Jews?
Also, are you willing to accept that Israel is not the benevolent and just state it is so often portrayed as?
Hit up Google. Look how they treat their own Arab citizens. Learn how the more orthodox Rabbis see other religions. See how they encroach on Palestinian land, not worrying about a backlash because the nation with the largest military in the history of the world has their back.
Israel’s situation is not easy, of course. But the methods they use are questionable at best.
Report Post »tamalezebra
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 1:02pmHave you seen how tiny Israel is compared to the entire middle east. Get real! Why would Arabs want it anyway? Because it has flourished with the Jews there unlike the rest of the middle east that kills anything that creates happiness. Why do they bother giving birth to babies is my question. So they can strap a bomb to them, birth 1 kill 20? I pick Isreal.
Report Post »masorrell
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 1:32pm@ERABIN – You sir, or madam, whichever you prefer, are uneducated. Please educate yourself on the history of Israel and the hostile Arabs. If the Arabs would leave Israel alone, Israeli‘s wouldn’t have to keep kicking your butts… LEAVE THEM ALONE.
Report Post »M13
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 1:39pmIf the arab citizens of Israel are mistreated so bad, maybe they should move over to Gaza or the west bank. Just because you google something doesn’t mean anything .Take the time to research before you make yourself look like an idiot again.
Report Post »Marci
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 1:52pmErabin–regardless of your dribble, the number one goal of those surrounding Israel is to eradicate it and wipe it from the face of the earth. No matter what your stance on Israel, if you support that in ANY way and justify the nonsensical stance that as a surrounded nation they are hostile, you are out of your mind. If we were completely surrounded by nations who vowed to wipe us off the earth, my guess is you would find a way to make it our fault too. No one gives a damn if you hate Israel, your choice, but it makes no sense why your position is so strongly held that you ignore the WRITTEN charter of those nations to erase them from existence. Why is that? No one thinks of you as an anti-Semite, but rather a frothing foaming at the mouth minion who takes that stance in conjunction with most likely hating the U.S. too and seeing us as evil. They usually go hand in hand and sanity never plays a part in the matter—nor does basic common sense.
Report Post »W@nd@
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:30amThis is the path Egypt was put on by Nassar years ago!
Look where they were as a nation before Nassar,
where they are today by stark comparison!
They will further be debased as a country that will
wax poorer and poorer..because they choose to live this way!
This is the curse in operation! poverty, lack, hate and isolation!
Egypt was thriving with a very different cultural base
Report Post »now the only ones left from that base are the Coptic Christians!
(the oldest living sect of Christianity in the world)
about 10 Million in Egypt, who is pushing for Coptics to leave!
It would be in their best interest to do so!
Coptics are the shop keepers, business owners etc in Egypt
educated, motivated and blessed!
Some have already have been killed, others targeted!
Apparently the Egyptians are intent to travel this path.
Palm frond thing just points to their hatred of Isreal
Actions against Coptics point to their hatred of Christians
Hatred, a dibilitating state to live in!
Yet, the middle-east as a whole,
holds this mindset concerning Jews and Christians…
When they have their caliphate,
where do you think all those “foreigners” will go?
out of the area? but muslims are all over the world now?
with their population explosion…
mene, mene, tekal, tekal,
do you see the handwriting on the wall?
I guarantee you the politicians don’t…
olddog
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:26amThe Leftists in California have lots of palm trees, I guess they will stop harvesting and exporting also.
Report Post »You know if we impeach obama right now we may have a chance of saving America..
JMorcan
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 1:28pm“You know if we impeach obama right now we may have a chance of saving America..”
No way, it’s too late. Hope you’re prepared to live in a third-world country.
Report Post »1000-yd-stare
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:25amEuck Fgypt.
Report Post »oldguy49
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 12:57pmthey don’t need to sell palm fronds……….they get OBAMA money !!!
Report Post »Applehead
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 3:13pmWho cares! I don’t care whats happening in Italy, Germany, France or Spain either!!! I guess I’m to American and into minding my own bees wax!
Report Post »jerrygar
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:24amTypical punk mu-slimes. Screw ‘em. It’s their lo$$. Israel will survive this & anything else the arab pukes throw at them.
Report Post »hillbillyinny
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:22amAs an adolescent when I heard the end times senarios in my church I thought, “I will be long gone before all this happens.” During my 20‘s through 50’s when I read the Bible through several times, I read Daniel, Ezekial, Jeremiah, Isaiah, parts of Matthew and all of Revelation and thought, “This all really goes together in to a ‘plan.’”
When I read the LEFT BEHIND series I thought, “Interesting possibilities,” but I disagrees with some major parts–I don’t believe in the “rapture.” Rather, I believe that the Church (the people) will be present during the Tribulation, some will suffer but that as a group we true Christians AND the Jews will be provided for and protected just as the Israelites were protected and provided for during the Ten Plagues and in the desert on the way to the Promised Land.
When my mom said that I and Israel were both born in 1948, so if prophecy as we understand it is correct, my generation will not have died out before the Glorious Second Coming of the Messiah, the Word.
Now I feel like I’m watching the end times, in REAL TIME! Persecution, power grabbing, deception, control, bait-and-switch (“change”), and falling away of true Christianity.
Maranatha, even so come quickly Lord!
Report Post »palerider54
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:21amCut off all financial aid to Egypt, quit visiting and spending any tourism dollars in Egypt
Maybe then they would want to sell some palm leaves..
Stand for Israel.
Report Post »masorrell
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 1:34pmAmen brother…preach it. And that goes for all muslim countries…
Report Post »drphil69
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:18amI’m sure our southern states would be glad to export palms to Israel. Then Israel won’t need to buy from their enemy.
Report Post »palerider54
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 4:36pmAmen Brother,
Now, lets apply that same logic to where we get our oil from, and who we refine it into gasoline for.
WHY ARE WE FINANCING OUR ENEMIES?
Report Post »jakartaman
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:15amArabs are just very small people!
Report Post »kindling
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:02amMaybe it will be like us in the US making fake Christmas trees. One day they will get out their fake palm fronds.
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:59amThey depended a lot on tourism. Anyone want to go visit? There are going to be famines, it’s part of the end day deal. We need to look no closer than Texas to know we are going to have problems too.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:59am“no official reason was given for the policy change”
Report Post »—————————————————————–
I think most intelligent people can guess why.
marthasusan40
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:58amThis is only the beginning. We must continue to pray for Israel and its people..remember this, History has proven that Nations that have blessed the Jewish people have had the blessing of God…..and those that have not..well…lets hope we are not among them..
Report Post »Doni609
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:57amNothing like really small people performing reall small acts.
Report Post »tricia
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:57amDoes Obama and the United States need anymore proof, that the people of Muslim countries are against FREEDOM of religion. It was the people who took over Egypt, correct Obama??????
Report Post »They are intolerant and tyranical in their beliefs
Sanction them Mr President!!!!!!!!!!
Sandy
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:55amThese people wanted ‘freedom’……. funny they are getting exactly the opposite.
Report Post »BIGJAYINPA
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:00amI find it curious that Egypt refers to Jewish Generals as “Hitler Like”. I do belive it was the Muslim Brotherhood that had the extremely close ties with Mr Hitler and the Third Reich. Curious how that part of History gets ignored, isn’t it??…Just sayin’
Report Post »robertwbennett
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:30amSandy, that is the nature of Islam… You don’t get what you want. You get what the mullahs want you to have. A beard, a turban, a wife you can beat when the mood strikes you. Sounds like hell to me. A full 50% of the Earth’s population should reject this out-of-hand. The rest of us, who love our mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives should be right behind them.
Report Post »canuckistani
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:31amThis is to Bigjayinpa….
The use of “Hitler” in any discourse is an immediate earth scorcher. There was only one Hitler. He’s dead and countless others died trying to get him.
But is it wrong to rationally compare the tactics of one regime to another? If afraid to do so, you are afraid of reason. Saudi Arabia is as fascist as Nazi Germany was in their social framework, and fair game for comparison. Israel should also be reviewed as critically if they are seen to be deviating from their founding principles. Leave Hitler out of it, but don’t run away from the challenge.
The Egyptians are wrong pretty much on everything, but Israel is no longer the Israel we loved and, like the US, chooses to ignore their creep into the situations we condemn the foes of Israel of revelling in.
Walls, annexations, intransigent dealings, undermining the Turkey project, conjuring of facts with respect to Iran, and a prerilously bad choice to pander to the “halachah” orthodoxy attempting theocracy.
While not fascist, they are not examples of an exemplar nation either. We should demand better.
The US has been the best friend to Israel ANY nation could ever hope for in history. Under BHO, the tactics have changed, but the objectives are still the same. We would be wise to remember that.
Report Post »NHwinter
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:54amI can’t imagine what it feels like living in Israel and being surrounded with so much hate and determination to destroy it. What is happening now is 100% worse than Hitler. The evil is overwhelming. I pray countries will speak up and defend Israel, including our pathetic president.
Report Post »NHwinter
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:58amIsn’t it interesting that the countries, and the people in America, that speak and act more like Hitler, call Israel and others to be like Hitler. Amazing!
Report Post »Erabin
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 12:05pm“What is happening now is 100% worse than Hitler.”
You’re off your rocker.
Report Post »Steelhead
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:51amI’ve cut Sukkot greens for Jewish groups for years and not one of those greens were palms. I’m sure they will live through this
Report Post »AxelPhantom
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:51amWhat if people in Florida (or Houston) each picked a few fronds off their trees and the Temples there were to arrange for shipping?
Report Post »paleoman
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:43amWith in afew years these people will be starving. What abunch of fools.
Report Post »team1blazer
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:37amDoesn’t the US have a lot of palm fronds we could ship? Sounds like a great free enterprise opportunity. Naw, the Muslim in chief would probably put the kiabosh on any attempt to help Israel.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:56amI think the short notice here will be a problem .. this year … I live in Florida and we have lots of palm trees .. I don’t know if these are from a special kind of tree or not .. but I would donate the trimmings of my tree to them.
Report Post »rabblechat
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:34amconsidering they aren’t a major exporter of oil, and tourism is down since the overthrow, this may be a nearly fatal self educed blow to the Egyptian economy.
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:04amwe can only hope.
Report Post »The only people who’ll visit egypt anymore will be the goat and camel lover crowd…
Wonder how soon our king will go?
Freedom Keeper
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:29amWe must continue to pray for Israel and Jewish people. Unfortunately this is only the beginning….
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