Sukkot
Sukkot, also known as Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles, begins at sunset the day before the 15th day of Tishri in the Hebrew calendar and lasts for seven days. Only the first two days are celebrated as full holidays. The word Sukkot means 'booth' and recalls the time that Israelites wandered in the desert during their journey to the promised land and lived in the sukkots.
Sukkot is the third Pilgrimage festival mentioned in the Old Testament and is a holiday of joy and happiness. It
is observed by the building of a temporary dwelling (Vayikra 23: 42-43: "In booths you are to dwell for seven
days ...so that your generations will know that I caused the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I took
them from the land of Egypt....") and by the gathering of four plants (Vayikra 23:40: "And you shall take for
yourself on the first day the fruit of a goodly tree, branches of palm trees, the boughs of thick trees, and
willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before Hashem...for seven days."). On the seventh day, the four
plants are paraded around the synagogue in a celebration called Hoshana Rabba, or Great Hosanna.
Sukkot also signifies a thanksgiving for the harvest. In keeping with this, the temporary dwellings are decorated with fruits of the land.
