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Welcome to our Sukkah Sign
It's the personal touch that make this Sukkot craft so adorable.
Sukkot
The Festival of Booths
What is Sukkot?
Sukkot is one of the most joyful festivals on the Jewish calendar. “Sukkot,” a Hebrew word meaning "booths" or "huts," refers to the Jewish festival of giving thanks for the fall harvest. The holiday has also come to commemorate the 40 years of Jewish wandering in the desert after the giving of the atop Mt. Sinai.
Also called Z’man Simchateinu (Season of Our Rejoicing), Sukkot is the only festival associated with an explicit commandment to rejoice. Sukkot is celebrated five days after Yom Kippur on the 15th of the Hebrew month of , and is marked by several distinct traditions. One, which takes the commandment to dwell in booths literally, is to erect a sukkah, a small, temporary booth or hut. Sukkot (in this case, the plural of sukkah) are commonly used during the seven-day festival for eating, entertaining and even for sleeping.
Our sukkot have open walls and open doors, and this encourages us to welcome as many people as we can. We invite family, friends, neighbors, and community to rejoice, eat, and share what we have with each other.
Another name for Sukkot is Chag HaAsif (Festival of the Ingathering), representing the importance in Jewish life of giving thanks for the bounty of the earth.
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Moroccan Sweet Couscous with Mixed Dried Fruits
This is a very kid-friendly recipe and a great way to get those iron-packed fruits into their diet.
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The Saga of the Citron
Inhale the aroma of a citron - the lemon-shaped fruit with thick, dense skin - and you'll encounter an exhilarating fragrance.
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Video: Learn How to Shake the Lulav and Say the Blessings
Rabbi Sari L. Laufer demonstrates how to say the blessings for dwelling in the sukkah and shaking the lulav..
Find a Sukkah Near You!
Sukkot and Simchat Torah Social Justice Guide
As a people with agricultural roots, Jews have found many ways to mark the seasonal and environmental changes that occur throughout the year. Sukkot has numerous other themes and areas of focus that encompass seasonal, historical, and theological perspectives. It is among the festivals that fall in the Hebrew month of Tishrei, emphasizing not only the cycles of the earth, but also the cycles of Jewish life. (The other holidays in Tishrei are Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and Simchat Torah.)
What's New
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You’re Invited to Remember
Growing up, I saw Yizkor as a mysterious event on Yom Kippur afternoon. The grownups would return to temple in the afternoon, while my sister and I stayed home. There was no explanation, just an understanding that this was a thing our parents and grandparents did, and we did not.
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Sukkot and the Spirituality of Sustainability
Ten years ago, Ron Schulhof and Michelle Sterling, two congregants who were serving as volunteers on our village's sustainability board, approached me with an intriguing proposal: make WRT the first local house of worship to go zero-waste.
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Rebuilding After the Storms of Life: An Interview with Rabbi Joseph Meszler
We sat down with Rabbi Joseph Meszler, author of "The Sukkah in the Storm: A Sukkot Story," to discuss the ways this story teaches children about strength, resilience, community, and asking for help.
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