Sukkot

The Festival of the Tabernacles

Sukkot is a Jewish festival that marks the gathering of the Autumn harvest. It recalls God's protection of the Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness, when they lived in temporary dwellings, over a long period described as forty years

The festival's origin can be seen in Leviticus (23) "Ye shall dwell in booths seven days..." Many families build a little hut called a sukkah on their gardens or balconies to remind them of God's protection during those historic wanderings. The roof is made of branches and leaves with sufficient spaces for the stars to be seen through as a symbol of God's continuing protection. The sukkah is decorated with leaves and fruit and here meals are taken during the eight day festival. The first two days are the most important. Schools are closed, no ordinary work is done and Synagogue services are longer and more colourful. After that, normal working days are resumed but families continue to sit and eat in the sukkah to say special prayers

During the festival, blessings are made to God with a symbolic selection of leaves and fruit known as the Four Species:

Lulav - the shoot of a young palm tree
Etrog - a citron (large lemon)
Hadas - myrtle leaves
Arava - willow leaves

During the Synagogue service, the Torah, the holy scroll containing the Law, or 'teachings', of the Jews, is taken out of the Ark and carried in procession to the accompaniment of singing and dancing

(acknowledgements to Jean Gilbert - Oxford University Press)