Sukkot
The Festival of Sukkot
Five days after Yom Kippur, we celebrate the festival of Sukkot. Each of the three pilgrimage festivals, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, has both an historical reference and an agricultural one...
The Sukkah
The Sukkah has some basic requirements but beyond these rules, its construction and decoration is left to one’s imagination and creativity.
The rules are...
The other significant mitzvah of Sukkot is the taking up of the Arba’ah minim – the four species. Commonly, we know these as the lulav and the etrog- the palm branch and the citron.
Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah
The final two days of Sukkot, called Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, are considered separate holidays and NOT part of Sukkot. However, the Torah refers to the holiday as the 8th day (Leviticus 23:36): “Seven days you shall bring gifts to God and then, on the eighth day, you shall observe a sacred festival and bring a gift to God…” Well, is it a separate holiday or not?