*** Right, so, I actually completed this post about a week and a half ago, thought I published it, and found it now in my drafts… So, ja, enjoy 🙂
The last few weeks has been a whirlwind of Jewish Holy Days, starting with Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish New Year and ending with Sukkot, The Feast of Tabernacles (booths).
Sukkot is my favourite festival. The celebration has a double meaning, the first being the end of the harvest season and the second commemorating the years that Jewish people wandered in the desert after leaving Egypt.
One of the things I love about Sukkot is that it is a happy festival. There is no sadness to be found here. Only celebration.
We build temporary booths called sukkot (plural) and a sukkah (singular). There are a few requirements that need to be stuck to in order to make them kosher, they must have at least 3 walls, the walls can be fancy or plain, printed material or planks of wood. The skach or roof covering must be made of untreated, unvarnished natural material and you should be able to see the stars through it at night and it must be a temporary roof, not something that is there year round. Quite a few people use palm fronds either for the whole roof or as additional roofing along with a bamboo mat.
Once you have your sukkah up you can either leave it plain or you can decorate it. We chose to decorate ours this year with crepe paper pom poms (home made) and some crepe paper garlands (shop bought) as well as a few drawings from school that were holiday themed as well as some strings of plastic fruits.
One should eat all their meals as well as snack in the sukkah and some people even sleep in the sukkah (weather permitting).
I love sitting out in the sukkah in the early morning air with my cup of coffee and my book. Its just not the same when there is no sukkah up. I also love hosting people in my sukkah and having big, noisy meals with friends and family!
