The cycle of Torah readings is mostly the same for all denominations during the year, but the selection differs more  for the festivals. On the Shabbat during Succot, Orthodox shuls read Exodus 33, in which Moses and God reconcile (read by  Reform communities on Yom Kippur morning). The Reform lectionary prefers those parts of Deuteronomy which talk about protecting Israel or the laws of Succot on Shabbat Chol Hamo’ed Succot.

Both traditions, though, choose the same haftarah from Ezekiel, which speaks of the end of days and the last great battle of the future, the battle of Gog and Magog against the people of Israel. It’s a vision of the destruction of Gog so that the Israelites will be safe forever and God will be recognised everywhere. Rabbi Akiva thought this apocalyptic war would  herald the Messiah.

So in the middle of Succot, as we eat in the succah and shake the lulav, we are also looking to the future and attempting to bring about the Messianic Age, not through war but through acts of justice, love and kindness, starting perhaps with the tradition of hospitality, of inviting guests into our succah, to share the harvest of the land together.

There is  also a tradition of reading the Book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) on Shabbat Chol Hamo’ed Succot. Kohelet is almost the opposite of the apocalyptic imagery of Ezekiel. The narrating voice is that of an older man, wealthy and world-weary, who sees the world in philosophical terms and notes that there is nothing new under the sun.

It’s often been described as existentialist and the opening lines of chapter three have been famously set to music by Pete Seeger: “To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

What’s the link between the war of Gog and Magog and Kohelet contemplating the cycle of life? Ezekiel looks at linear time — we need to do the work involved in making the world a better place. But if we ignore the natural rhythms of the world, then we can do more harm than good.   

Kohelet is a megillah for our harvest festival, about the rhythms of life and death over which we have no control. While we need to find our place in the world as it is, if everything is truly futile or like mere breath, as Kohelet tells us, we will never make life better for anyone. Our lives are a spiral, heading round the circle of life, and heading upwards in our attempts to change things. We need Ezekiel’s fire and Kohelet’s peace as we sit in our succah this Shabbat.