Sukkot is a Jewish harvest festival that lasts for 1 week, this year it is from October 4 to October 11. This holiday was made in remembrance of when Jews were living in temporary homes while they wandered the wilderness.
Today, we build these temporary homes once again to commemorate the temporary homes we would build to live in during the harvest season.
A Sukkah is a temporary home built each year for Sukkot. It has at least 3 sides and a roof, the Sukkah can be made from any sturdy material and the roof should be made from a material which you can see through. They are normally decorated with hanging fruits and paper chains, although you can decorate them however you choose. The home stands for 8 days, built before Sukkot, to allow for people to sleep, eat, and hang out in the Sukkah.
In celebration of Sukkot, we normally start off with two days of no work, followed by normal days, and ending in Shemini Atzeret (no work day) and Simchat Torah: a ritual that takes place during Sukkot that involves The Four Kinds/Species which are Etrog, Lulav, Hadasim, and Arovoth.
We shake these together in the four cardinal directions, up and down, to symbolize that G-d is everywhere.
Each of The Four Kinds has a special meaning. The Etrog represents a Jew who has learned the Torah and observes the Mitzvoth, the Lulav represents Torah scholars who don’t always do good deeds, the Hadasim represents those who do good deeds but have not learned the Torah, and the Arovoth represents those who have not learned the Torah and do not follow the Mitzvoth.
Each year the Jewish community comes together to celebrate Sukkot under Sukkah and take part in the ritual, eating, sleeping, decorating, and hanging out in the Sukkah. As Rabbi Eliyahu Heller says, there are 3 S’s we should follow when celebrating Sukkot. Here are 3 quotes that you can take from his writings:
- Stop chasing it – “On Sukkot, we leave the world of comforts and immerse ourselves instead in a world of growth.”
- Stop and Appreciate – “On Sukkot, we stop and reflect on the growth of the past year and the exciting opportunities for the New Year.”
- Show Gratitude – “Sukkot is the time to learn the skill of happiness.”
Even if you don’t celebrate Sukkot, you should still take the time to reflect on the 3 Ss that surround the holiday.
