Succot

This festival commemorates the wanderings of the Jews in the wilderness after their Exodus from the hands of the Egyptians, when they had to dwell in makeshift booths or huts (Leviticus: Chapter 23 Verse 24).

It is also the time of the fruit harvest when we thank God for giving us such bountiful produce. Succot is known as the holiday of joy. We build booths of wood and branches, and decorate them with pictures and hanging fruit.

What does Succot mean?
There are three main names for this festival:

Chag HaSuccot - The Festival of Booths

Chag Ha'Osif - The Festival of Ingathering

Zeman Simchosaynu - The Season of Our Rejoicing

What are the customs of Succot?
The Sukkah
This is a temporary structure especially built either in the back yard, the garden, or as an attachment to the house. It is customary for pious Jews to drive the first nail for the erection of the sukkah at the end of the Day of Attonement.

In essence a sukkah is a four-walled building with "schach" (leaves and branches) as a covering. Schach is any plant material which grew from the ground, such as tree branches or corn stalks. It must be separated from the ground before being placed on the sukkah. The material used for schach may not have a bad odour.

The schach must be spread so that there is more shade than sun within the sukkah. There should still be enough spaces within the schach to be able to see the stars from within the sukkah, but the sukkah is still good unless the schach is so dense that rain cannot penetrate.

The four species - Arbah Minim
During the festival it is customary to take these four kinds of plants in accordance with the commandment "To rejoice before the Lord." These plants are:

Lulav - A palm branch

Haddasim - Three myrtle twigs

Aravot - Two willow branches

Etrog - A citron

The general custom is to bind the branches so that when the lulav is held with the spine of the lulav facing the holder, the hadassim are to the holder's right and the aravot are to the holder's left.

The person then recites the blessing: "Blessed are You, God... who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to take the lulav."

The etrog is then turned over and the lulav is shaken in six directions. They are:

Forwards (North) - Shake three times

To the Right (East) - Shake three times

Behind the right Shoulder (South) - Shake three times.

To the left (West) - Shake three times

Upwards - Shake three times

Downwards - Shake three times