The Festival of Sukkot
The Jewish Fall Festival Celebrates Jews' Kinship with History
In some ways, the Jewish Festival of Sukkot seems like an antithesis to Yom Kippur. The somber, repentant and self-reflective mood of the Day of Atonement is transformed five days later to a joyous, spirited celebration of community, bounty and harvest.
Teaching Jewish Heritage and Traditions During Sukkot
Sukkot, also known as the Feast of the Booths, or Feast of Tabernacles, begins at sundown on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Tishri. The event lasts seven days. It usually occurs in late September or early October of the Gregorian calendar.
Many Jews see Sukkot as a time to teach their children about their Jewish heritage. During the seven-day celebration, Jews reacquaint themselves with the story of their ancestors’ 40 years of wandering in the desert. They do so by constructing a three-sided booth called a sukkah made of branches and other material and making it their temporary “home” for the duration of the festival. During the holiday, Jews eat their meals and daven or pray, traditional prayers and in some cases, sleep in the sukkah. For some children, experiencing the sukkah for the first time can seem like an exotic camping trip.
The Sukkah as a Link to Jewish History
But Sukkot is much more than an opportunity for children to learn about “rustic camping” in the back yard. Yitzhak Buxbaum, author of the book Jewish Tales of Holy Women, captures the traditional Jewish point of view about the intent of the sukkah when he notes that “Eating, studying and even sleeping in an impermanent sukkah reminds a person that what truly protects one is not the structure but God Himself.”
For traditional Jews the sukkah represents a link with their ancestors’ experiences in the desert and their yearning for the Promised Land: a time of uncertainty, hardship and community that reaffirmed their belief in God. The story of the ancient Jew's pilgrimage across the desert is recounted in the Tanach and read by congregations each year.
The Symbolism of the Traditional Sukkot Holiday
Rabbi Jill Hammer, in her description of Sukkot on the Academy for Jewish Religion website, points out that many Sukkot traditions are designed to illustrate the Jewish people’s interconnectedness – with the fall harvest season, with their community and with their history.
Hammer explains, "The sukkah, the harvest hut in which we live for the seven days of the Sukkot festival, is topped with bundles of plant life. These branches or bamboo staves must shade us, but also let in the light of the sun and stars. The floor of the sukkah becomes a latticework of light and darkness, protection and vulnerability. On Sukkot, we acknowledge that the web of life is strong and fragile at the same time."
During Sukkot Jews perform a ceremony called the "shaking of the lulavim." A willow branch, a lulav (a frond of a date palm), a citron called an etrog (an unusual Israeli fruit) and fragrant myrtle are held together and form part of a procession that takes place each day of the holiday (except Shabbat). The ceremony is said to hail from an ancient procession that used to take place around the temple altar and symbolizes Jew’s calls for deliverance. Orthodox, Conservative and some Reform congregations still observe this tradition.
The Importance of Sukkot as a Harvest Festival
Despite Sukkot’s prominence as a major holiday, these days Sukkot is not celebrated as stringently as it was during the existence of the Jewish temple. Yet its recognition as a harvest festival that at one time, signaled a key season for the community’s prosperity continues to make the holiday an important event in Jewish communities throughout the world.
Sukkot precedes Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, which occur immediately at the conclusion of Sukkot.
Sources:
- Buxbaum, Yitzhak. Jewish Tales of Holy Women. pg. 211, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2002.
- Ajrsem.org
- JewFAQ.org
Yemenite Rabbi Holding an Etrog During Sukkot
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A Pleasant Sukkah
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The Myrtle is One of the Four Species of Sukkot
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