Hoshana Rabbah

Culture of origin: Jewish · Cultural

Holiday sources: Israel · Judaism

Hoshana Rabbah, "the great Hoshana", is the seventh and last day of Sukkot. Tradition holds that the judgment opened on Rosh Hashanah and sealed on Yom Kippur is finally given out on this day. In the synagogue worshippers make seven circuits with the four species while reciting the Hoshanot prayers, and then beat bundles of willow branches on the ground.