Sending a Happy Sukkot to all of our readers, members, donors and friends! Chag Sameach!
The Sukkot holiday is the third in the Hebrew high holiday series, and the final celebration before Jewish holiday fever ends for the season. Sukkot is celebrated as a historical and agricultural holiday, placed conveniently after Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The holiday commemorates the forty years the Jews wandered the desert and needed to create temporary homes. It is also one of Israel’s harvest festivals, and deeply honors the agricultural abundance of the land during fall harvest season.
Jews across the world build Sukkot, or temporary huts, where families, friends and guests are invited to eat for the duration of the seven-day festival. There are four species of harvest involved in the Sukkot festival, each with their own meaning and mitzvah, or commandment. One of the most meaningful festivals, every aspect of Sukkot is meant as a reminder to stay close to nature and appreciate home.
Sukkot is a reminder of how the Jewish people used to live, and is an annual reminder of how far we as a people have come, and exactly what kind of resources people truly need for home. It brings an enlightened ending to a reflective season, where growth collectively ensues, joy is celebrated and abundance is appreciated.
