Sukkot

Sukkot, Jewish autumn festival of double thanksgiving that begins on the 15th day of Tishri (in September or October), five days after Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is one of the three Pilgrim Festivals of the Hebrew Bible. During Sukkot Jews observing the festival construct small makeshift huts (sukkot) topped with thatched roofs in which they dwell, either partially or fully, during this seven-day Jewish holiday.

Origin, significance, and timing

The Hebrew Bible refers to ḥag ha-asif (“Festival of the Ingathering,” Exodus 23:16), when grains and fruits were gathered at the harvest’s end. Exodus 23 describes this holiday as a celebration of the harvest in the context of thanking God and the pilgrimage offerings at the Temple. The Hebrew Bible also describes the festival of ḥag ha-sukkot (“Festival of Booths,” Leviticus 23:33–44) as a holiday recalling the days when the Israelites lived in huts (sukkot) during their years of wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt. The passage in Leviticus 23 relating to Sukkot outlines the rules and practices for the festival.

Sukkot lasts for seven days, and the eighth day is considered by some a separate festival and called Shemini Atzeret (“Eighth Day of the Solemn Assembly”). In Israel and in Reform Jewish congregations, the eighth day also commemorates the completion of the annual cycle of readings from the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) and is called Simchat Torah (“Rejoicing of the Law”). Outside Israel, among Conservative and Orthodox Jews in the Jewish Diaspora, Shemini Atzeret is celebrated for two days, and Simchat Torah is celebrated on the second day.

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Practices

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The festival is characterized by the erection of outdoor huts that practitioners construct following Yom Kippur. The huts are composed of at least two walls—although they may be constructed with up to four walls, and some may be partial walls—and the roofs are made with branches or thatch. During the course of the festival, practitioners are encouraged to spend ample time in the huts, eating their meals there and in some cases even sleeping there. To accentuate the festive atmosphere of the holiday, the special huts constructed for the holiday are typically decorated; common ornaments inside the huts include paper designs, posters, string lights, and, to integrate the harvest theme, fruits and vegetables such as gourds.

Other observances include gathering four species of plants that are waved in all six directions as part of the daily recitation of prayers of thanksgiving to God for the fruitfulness of the land. The four plants are etrog (citron), lulav (palm fronds), hadasim (myrtle twigs), and aravot (willow branches).

On the seventh day of the festival, called Hoshana Rabba (“Great Hosanna”), practitioners make a sevenfold circuit around the bimah (the main raised platform in the synagogue) with the four plants. A bundle of five willow branches is then struck on the ground, a ritual meant to eliminate any remaining sins. Jews observing Sukkot consider Hoshana Rabba to be the final chance to earn atonement after the High Holy Days that begin with Rosh Hashanah and end with Yom Kippur. While Sukkot celebrates the harvest, this last portion is also intended to ensure that God sends plentiful rainfall in the year ahead, thus anticipating a bountiful harvest in the year to come.