The Baal Shem Tov, or Besht —  the founder of Chasidism — 
met the soul of the Messiah during an ascent to heaven. 
The Besht asked him, "When will the Master come?" 
The Messiah answered, "When your wellsprings break forth to the outside!" 
(from a letter written by the Besht to his brother-in-law about one of his soul ascents) 

Egalitarian Ushpizin: The Ushpizata

It's a kabbalistic tradition to invite seven ancestors into the Sukkah, representing the seven qualities of the lower Sefirot of the Tree of Life. Each night of Sukkot is focused on a different ancestor among the seven. Following the kabbalistic order, which is not chronological, the seven days correspond to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David — all men. I wrote the following liturgy for inviting the mothers and the fathers to the sukkah

This liturgy uses a combination of Hebrew and Aramaic that parallels what is found in the traditional Sefardic version of Ushpizin (the word "ushpizin" means guests in Aramaic). You can read the English translation below, and download a 2-page pdf of the liturgy here. For an explanation of the order and description of the mothers given in this liturgy, read this page.

For 5776 (2015), Noam Sienna calligraphed the order of the Ushpizata and Ushpizin according to this liturgy – you can see the picture below. Please print it out and hang it on your sukkah wall!

The prayer found at the very end of the liturgy comes from the Sefardic tradition, and it has a very eco-centric feeling. I've emphasized that by adding one phrase to the text, "healing the heavens", which is especially appropriate for Sukkot, when we pray for rain and make ourselves vulnerable to the sky. You can download and print out just this earthprayer here, 4 per page.

Behold we come here to fulfill the mitzvah to dwell in the sukkah, as YHVH our God commanded in the Torah: "Seven days you will dwell in sukkot, so that your generations will know that I made Israel's children dwell in sukkot when I brought them from Egypt."

For the sake of uniting the Holy One and the Shekhinah, to unify the name Y"H with V"H in complete unity, I invite to my meal, in the name of all Israel, the exalted guests, ushipizin ila'in v'ushpizata ila'ata.

By the power of this commandment, may there be drawn down to Rachel our mother from the Upper Mother [Binah], from the place of Leah our mother, the Encompassing Light of

[Day One] Love within Love. [Day Two] Love within Judgment. [Day Three] Love within Beauty. [Day Four] Love within Eternal Victory. [Day Five] Love within Majesty. [Day Six] Love within Foundation. [Day Seven] Love within Sovereignty.

[Day One] Come in Abraham, merciful one, holy father. Come in Ruth, devoted kallah-daughter. Come in with them, Isaac, Jacob, Moshe, Aaron, Yosef and David, Sarah, Rebecca, Miriam, Deborah, Tamar and Rachel.

[Day Seven] Come in David, anointed king. Come in Rachel, mother weeping for her children. Come in with them, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moshe, Aaron and Yosef, Ruth, Sarah, Rebecca, Miriam, Deborah and Tamar.

"These seven days (levels) will dwell in the Sukkot..." Sit, sit exalted guests, sit, sit holy guests, sit in the shadow of exalted faith, in the shade of the Holy One.

God full of compassion, make Your Presence, Shekhinah, rest among us, and spread over us a sukkah of compassion and peace. Encompass us with the radiance of the Shekhinah, heal the heavens from our wounding actions and purify us from our sins. As an eagle awakens its nest, may You awaken the flow of life-energy to flow upon Your world, to give life to all, and water them. Give the hungry their food in its time*, and grant us merit to dwell many days on the earth. Blessed be Yah for all time, Amen, Amen.

Blessed be You, Adonai, Our God, Ruler of all space, all time, who made us holy through commandments, and commanded us to dwell in the sukkah.

Design in progress © Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg 2006