Sukkot, That Wonderful Holiday Observed Completely in Israel More Than USA Except By Synagogues

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                      

    In Israel we used different rugs for hanging sides on the Sukkah.  

Sukkot translated means "Tabernacles" ( a fixed or movable habitation, typically of light construction.): This is a Torah Commanded Holiday.  Moses said to celebrate and remember how we lived in these booths during the Exodus for 40 years.  Religious Jews remember the best, reading about it in (Lev. 23: 42).   It's one of the 3 pilgrim-festivals beginning in the Hebrew month of Tishri and lasts for 7 days.  This year it takes place on the 17th of October, so we start the celebration traditionally at sundown the night before on the 16th.  Actually, as soon as Yom Kippur was finished, people started looking for wood to make their sukkahs.  It is remembered as a festival of harvest from (Exod. 23-16; IIChron. 7-8).                                         

                                                              

    It is celebrated by taking the 4 Species, which are PALM, CITRON, MYRTLE, AND WILLOW, and carrying them in procession in the synagogue, and of course, actually dwelling -or at least eating all meals in the Sukkah for that period.  During Temple times they added the celebrating of a water  libation festival during that last 7th day of Hashana Rabbah.  It also recalls the booth-like structures in the fields in which the peasants lied during the harvest in Israel.  

Sukkot is known as “the Time of our Happiness.”  This year we are remembering the hostages taken that have never been returned, and so it's a very sad time.  

 The problem is, I didn't see it as another holiday like Chanukah, celebrated in full by appreciating the history of our ancestors or any other way except doing some special decoration in a type of booth.                   

    Cities gave out prizes for the best Sukkah.  Here's a fancy one.  It's larger than most.  

 I moved to Israel and really got into it with our own Sukkot; decorating it and serving desserts in it to our friends who dropped over.  Why, we even were on holiday from work!  Schools were closed for this holiday!                                 

      In the synagogue the reading with the 4 species takes place

We move from the introspective and solemn mindset of the High Holidays to unbridled joy, which may seem a bit strange since on Sukkot, we are asked to leave the material comfort of our homes, and build a structure that is imperfect, temporary and open to the elements. But the sukkah’s reminder that our existence is fragile helps us to treasure the joyous moments of life, and its outdoor location helps us focus on the beauty of the world in which we live. 

Indeed, the Sukkah has no roof - but instead is covered with schach, greenery or bamboo, so that we can see the stars when we look up at night. And, the sukkah is a gathering place, a place where it is traditional to welcome guests and enjoy spending time together. You might also see some Jews walking in the street during Sukkot carrying an interesting collection of plants. These are the Arba’at Haminim, or the Four Species. We are commanded to take these four plants and use them to “rejoice before God.” 

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.ajc.org/news/what-is-sukkot-and-why-is-it-celebrated