Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Jewish harvest festival. It celebrates the end of the fruit harvest in Israel.
Sukkot 2023
Sukkot 2023 is Sundown Friday, September 29 through sundown on Friday, October 6, 2023.
The Meaning of Sukkot
The word means “booths” or “huts” in Hebrew.
Many Jewish festivals are about remembering our history. Sukkot commemorates 40 years of wandering in the desert.
The Date
Jewish holidays are based on the Hebrew calendar.
Sukkot is celebrated five days after Yom Kippur, the day of atonement that marks the end of the High Holidays of the Jewish new year.
Sukkot Traditions
An important tradition is to build and even live in a sukkah or hut during the festival. They help us remember how our forefathers lived and worshiped while wandering the desert. “Sukkot” is plural or huts or tabernacles.
We decorate our sukkah with symbols of the harvest and use them during prayers. These are lulav, a bouquet of palm, willow and myrtle branches bound by a woven palm branch. The etrog or citron is a citrus fruit similar to a lemon.
There are specific prayers and ways to recite the prayers. It is a time to be joyful.
Sukkot traditions give thanks for the harvest, but more than anything, they bring us together as family. Family is our strength.
Greetings
Chag Sameach!
“Chag Sameach!” means happy holiday.