SAN DIEGO — As soon as Yom Kippur ends, preparations begin for a new holiday, for Sukkot is just around the corner. Many synagogues begin to build their sukkah the very next morning. This year, the week-long celebration of Sukkot begins on tonight, (October 2).
This is a festive holiday that celebrates several events in Jewish history. First, it occurs right when many farm crops are ready to harvest. Lettuce, spinach, kale, beets and carrots, apples, broccoli and of course, pumpkins are all waiting to be picked.
In ancient times, farms took up vast areas of land. It often took a long time for Jewish farmers to get to their fields and pick all the crops. They would set up temporary shelters to live in until the harvest was completed. When we build a sukkah now, we are remembering these shelters.
But the tradition of building a temporary shelter goes even farther back into Jewish history. When Moses and our ancestors wandered through the desert for forty years, they were constantly on the move, They needed shelters to sleep in that could be built and taken down quickly and easily. They built sukkahs and covered them with the sparse vegetation that was available. It didn’t cover the shelters well and they could always see the stars shining above them.
Today, our sukkahs are made from wood or plastic pipes. The walls can be sheets, burlap or even just rope or twine. But the roof should be made from leaves and branches to shade from the hot sun. There also must be space enough to see the stars at night, just as our ancestors did. Hanging fruit, paper chains and pictures decorate the inside of the sukkah. It is a tradition to place pictures of your ancestors, relatives who have died, or even pictures of Jewish ancestors like Moses, Abraham or King David. This is a way to invite these people to enjoy resting in the sukkah.
Chag Sameach! Happy Holidays!
Fun art project: Make your own sukkah. For a fun, edible sukkah, the walls can be graham crackers held together by cake frosting. Thicken the frosting by adding extra powdered sugar. Use pretzel sticks for the roof. Remember to leave spaces in the roof. Now you can use small fruit candies to decorate the inside. Stick the candies on with the frosting. Now draw pictures of anyone you’d like to invite into your sukkah.
What you can do: Who would you like to invite into your sukkah? Think about people you’d really like to invite into your sukkah if you could. It can be an ancestor or someone living whom you haven’t seen in a long time. Talk about why you chose them.
*
Marcia Berneger is a retired elementary school teacher as well as a teacher at Torah school. She is the author of such children’s books as Buster the Little Garbage Truck, and A Dreidel in Time.