Sukkot and the art of Sukkah building

This week, Jewish people everywhere are busy building huts in their gardens and elsewhere (including a huge one at JW3). Why? The Jewish festival of Sukkot is coming.

Sukkot is a harvest festival when many Jews spend time in a sukkah, literally a hut or a booth, meant to symbolise a shelter. It begins this evening (Wednesday 8^th October) and finishes the following Wednesday (15^th October). The festival gives thanks for the harvest, and also commemorates the forty-year period when the Jewish people wandered in the desert, living in temporary shelters. However, this is a celebratory time and a time to welcome guests, and building the sukkah is a fun activity.

There must be nothing overhanging your sukkah, for example a balcony or a tree. The ceiling should allow some light through, and be made from branches, twigs: something from the earth. To be kosher the sukkah can have as few as two walls (with part of a third). It must be made from organic materials, and be in the spirit of a shelter, not an elaborate chamber. It must be rigid enough to withstand a strong breeze.

The sukkah is decorated to make it feel as homely as possible. Meals are eaten in the sukkah and if the weather allows the household will sleep in it. The following blessing is recited: “Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to dwell in the sukkah.”

We would love to know what you are doing for Sukkot. Have we forgotten anything? Perhaps there is something your family do differently? If you have any tips, please do share, especially as the weather is not looking great!