Sukkot

Sukkot, meaning booths, is the festival which falls immediately after Yom Kippur and commemorates our time wandering in the desert, as well as the harvest of barley and wheat. In ancient days our people made a pilgrimage at this time of the year to Jerusalem to thank God for the harvest and to bring produce as offerings.

Today we build booths, sukkot, in our gardens to remind us of the dual nature of the holiday, the booths in which we dwelled during our desert wanderings and the booths in which we lived during the gathering of the harvest. We decorate our sukkot to make them beautiful and comfortable places in which to live. It is customary to eat at least one meal in the sukkah during the festival. We also wave a lulav and etrog whilst reciting blessings and praise of God. The lulav is a palm, willow and myrtle tied together and the etrog, a lemon-like citrus fruit.

During Sukkot we have services at the beginning and end of the festival which provide an opportunity to wave the lulav and recite the prayers of thanksgiving. Our Sukkah is available every evening during the festival if people would like to come and sit in the sukkah and eat a meal.