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Sukkot |
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Sukkot is the festival of booths (huts) or the Harvest festival; it is a time for thanksgiving.
Sukkot begins five days after Yom Kippur and lasts for eight days.
The Harvest festival is an opportunity for people to thank God for a good crop and pray
for a fruitful harvest next year. During Sukkot Jewish people eat outside in a special hut
or booth called a sukkah. In fact, some strictly observant Jews live in their sukkah's for
the duration of Sukkot. The sukkahs are replicas of the simple huts the Israelites lived in
as they wandered the dessert. The sukkah was also used by farmers who during the harvest
time in Israel would work in their fields all day and then slept beside them in a sukkah.
Jewish people may build a sukkah in their backyard or choose to participate in their
synagogue's sukkah building. Traditionally, the roofs of a sukkah are made with foliage
which allows the sky to be seen, while the walls can be made of any material. Inside the
sukkah one might find a table and chairs for eating and often the sukkah is decorated with
actual (or pictures of) fruits and vegetables.
In addition to the sukkah, the etrog (citron, lemon) and lulav (a palm branch with willow
and myrtle attached) are key symbols of Sukkot and as such are used in a series of rituals.
The lulav is held in one's right hand and is waved in six directions (north, south, east,
west, up, and down). This waving symbolizes God's presence in all directions.
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