[Event] Jewish Holiday of Sukkot

From: Daksha Howard <howardd_at_beloit.edu>
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2023 08:51:59 -0500

*Jewish Holiday of Sukkot*

*(September 29-October 6, 2023)*
[image: Sukkot.jpg]


Sukkot is a weeklong Jewish holiday that comes five days after Yom Kippur.
Sukkot celebrates the gathering of the harvest and commemorates the
miraculous protection G‑d provided for the children of Israel when they
left Egypt. Sukkot is celebrated by dwelling in a foliage-covered booth
(known as a sukkah) and by taking together the “Four Kinds” (arba minim),
four special species of vegetation.

The first two days (sundown on September 29 until nightfall on October 1 in
2023, and only until nightfall on Sept. 30 in Israel) of the holiday are
yom tov, when work is forbidden, candles are lit in the evening, and
festive meals are preceded by Kiddush and include challah dipped in honey.

The intermediate days (nightfall on October 1, until sundown on October 6
in 2023) are quasi-holidays, known as Chol Hamoed. They dwell in the sukkah
and take the Four Kinds every day of Sukkot (except for Shabbat when they
do not take the Four Kinds).

The final two days (in 2023, from sundown on October 6 until nightfall on
October 8, only Oct. 7 in Israel) are a separate holiday: Shemini Atzeret /
Simchat Torah.

*The Significance of Sukkot*

Of all the Jewish holidays, Sukkot is the only one whose date does not seem
to commemorate a historic event. The Torah refers to it by two
names: Chag HaAsif (“the Festival of Ingathering,” or “Harvest Festival”)
and Chag
<https://www.chabad.org/holidays/default_cdo/jewish/Jewish-Holidays.htm>
HaSukkot
(“Festival of Booths”), each expressing a reason for the holiday.

In Israel, crops grow in the winter and are ready for harvest in the late
spring. Some of them remain out in the field to dry for a few months and
are only ready for harvest in the early fall. Chag HaAsif is a time to
express appreciation for this bounty.

The name Chag HaSukkot commemorates the temporary dwellings G‑d
<https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/433240/jewish/God.htm> made
to shelter the ancestors on their way out of Egypt (some say this refers to
the miraculous clouds of glory that shielded them from the desert sun,
while others say it refers to the tents in which they dwelled for their
40-year trek through the Sinai desert).

*Dwelling in the Sukkah
<https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/420823/jewish/How-to-Build-a-Sukkah.htm>*

For seven days and nights, they eat all their meals in the *sukkah*
<https://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/999940/jewish/The-Sukkah.htm>
and
otherwise regard it as their home. Located under the open sky, the *sukkah* is
made up of at least three walls and a roof of unprocessed natural
vegetation—often bamboo (sometimes in the form of convenient bamboo rolls),
pine boughs, or palm branches.

You can either purchase a prefabricated *sukkah*
<https://www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=2483907> or build one on your own.
Here are some basic rules to be aware of:

   - Is there a roof or tree over your intended *sukkah* location? The
   answer needs to be “no” for the *sukkah* to work.
   - You can be creative with the walls, but you need to have at least two
   walls and a partial third wall (that conforms to very specific criteria)
   for the *sukkah*. The walls need to be somewhat firm, not flapping in
   the breeze, so use boards, or well-tied fabrics.
   - The covering must be harvested from the ground, not be food, and not
   have been fashioned into a utensil. Neither can it be a wide beam, such as
   the ones used for permanent roofing (generally about a foot wide). Narrower
   beams are technically OK, but it is best not to use anything that even
   looks like a regular roof. It must not have any use other than providing
   (imperfect) shade. So repurposed building materials and 2x4s are out, as
   are raw animal hide and synthetic mesh.

Before eating in the *sukkah*, the following blessing is said:

Bah-rookh ah-tah ah-doh-noi eh-loh-hay-noo meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm ah-sher
ki-deh-shah-noo beh-mitz-voh-tahv veh-tzee-vah-noo lay-shayv bah-soo-kah.

*Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d
<https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/433240/jewish/God.htm>,
King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and
commanded us to dwell in the sukkah.*

During the first two days of the holiday, this blessing is often said as
part of Kiddush.

 To learn more about Sukkot go to -

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4784/jewish/What-Is-Sukkot.htm



*“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test
of our civilization.” -Mahatma Gandhi*


Daksha Howard

Program Coordinator

Residential Life

Beloit College

Phone- 608-363-2125

Email - howardd_at_beloit.edu

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Hours: 9 am to 5 pm - Monday Through Thursday

Friday - 8 am to 1 pm



Sukkot.jpg
(image/jpeg attachment: Sukkot.jpg)

Received on Fri Sep 29 2023 - 08:52:08 CDT

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