Sukkot, a Hebrew word meaning “booths” or “huts,” refers to the annual Jewish festival of giving thanks for a bountiful fall harvest and commemorating the forty years of Jewish wandering in the desert after Sinai.
Sukkot begins five days after Yom Kippur. It is observed for seven days by Israelis and many Reform Jews, and for eight days by other Jews living outside of Israel.
Like many societies, the ancient Hebrews had a variety of agricultural festivals. Sukkot probably began as one of these ceremonial expressions of thanks to God for a good crop. By biblical times, Sukkot had developed into the celebration of the summer fruit harvest: “At the end of the year, when you gather in your produce from the fields” (Exodus 23:16).
Sukkot became one of the three Jewish Pilgrimage Festivals (Shalosh R’galim). As on Pesach and Shavuot, the people would bring a portion of their harvest’s first fruits to the Temple in Jerusalem. There, it would be offered as a sacrifice to God by the High Priest (Kohein)
The sukkah symbolizes the frail huts in which the Israelites lived during their forty years of wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. It also serves to remind Jews of the biblical account of how God protected them, provided for their needs in the wilderness, and by implication, still watches over us today.
The Book of Leviticus (23:42–43) portrays God as commanding: “You shall dwell in booths for seven days…that your generations may know that I made the Children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
A sukkah is to have at least three walls with a superstructure, while the fourth may be open. The walls may be constructed of any material, generally canvas, wood, or metal. Today, it is possible to buy ready-to-assembly sukkah kits.
The roof is to be temporary, covered with loose branches from trees or anything that grows out of the ground, and has been cut off from the ground. According to tradition, this roof covering, s’chach, should give shade and yet allow those in the sukkah to see the stars through the roof at night.
Tradition calls for one family to enter the sukkah, recite the Motzi prayer over the meal to be eaten, and then add a special blessing: Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu leishev basukah. “Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, who has sanctified us through Your mitzvot and commanded us to dwell in the sukkah.”
Another custom of Sukkot involves extending hospitality, especially to the needy. Tradition tells us that there are certain guests of the festival, ushpizin, who are present in spirit in every sukkah: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and David. In addition, many Jews will invite guests outside of their families to join them for a holiday meal.
There are two more symbols associated with Sukkot that deserve attention. Rich in significance, replete with special rituals, the lulav and the etrog are central to this joyous harvest and historical festival.
Lulav is a Hebrew word meaning “palm branch” and refers to a unique ceremonial object associated with the holiday of Sukkot. Lulav is also a generic term, describing a three-sectioned holder with a single palm branch in the center, two willow branches on the left, and three myrtle branches on the right.
Etrog is a Hebrew word meaning “citron,” and refers to the special lemon-like fruit used in conjunction with the lulav in the Sukkot ritual.
Sukkot originated as a harvest festival, with the crop’s first fruits brought to the Temple in Jerusalem as an offering to God. As part of the celebration, Leviticus 23:40 commands: “On the first day, you shall take the fruit of a goodly tree [etrog[, palm branches, myrtle boughs, and willows, and rejoice before Adonai.
The use of the lulav and etrog as ceremonial objects, then, originated in biblical times. Over the centuries, the combination of citron, palm, myrtle, and willow also became known as the arbaah minim, or “four species.”
As Sukkot comes to an end, we encounter additional special days in the Jewish calendar.
Sh’mini Atzeret is Hebrew for “eighth-day convocation.” It is the name given to the eighth day of Sukkot.
Leviticus 23:36 proclaims: “On the eighth day you shall observe a holy convocation.” Jews in biblical times observed Sukkot for seven days. For them, this eighth day came after Sukkot; for Orthodox, Conservative, and many Reform Jews today, it is the last day of the Sukkot festival.
Sh’mini Atzeret was originally a time of reflection on the holy days of Sukkot, which had just ended. Jews who left their booths engaged in a final day of prayer before returning to their daily routine. Over time, Sh’mini Atzeret also became a day on which Jews recited a special prayer for rain in the year to come – quite appropriate in view of Sukkot’s agricultural motif.
Simchat Torah is Hebrew for “rejoicing in the Law.” It refers to the celebration each year when Jews read the concluding section of the Book of Deuteronomy (the fifth book of the Torah) and start with Genesis once again.
Only in the eleventh century did the ninth day after the beginning of Sukkot take on both the name and the festive ritual of what we now recognize as Simchat Torah.
Simchat Torah is a joyous celebration. The Torah scrolls are taken from the ark and carried by congregants around the synagogue seven times. During these seven circuits, or hakafot, those not carrying Torahs will often wave brightly colored flags and sing Hebrew songs.
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