Sukkot or Feast of Tabernacles: A Weeklong Emphasis On Food, Family, Friends, Tradition and the Great Outdoors

Ethel G. Hofman : Sep 26, 2018
JNS.org

Sukkot is the plural of the Hebrew word sukkah (meaning "booths" or "tabernacles); hence, other name for the holiday is the "Feast of Booths" or "Feast of Tabernacles." It must consist of at least three walls with a roof covered with sechach (palm leaves, pine boughs, bamboo or other natural vegetation that lets the light shine through). Feasting in the sukkah is the keynote throughout the week, with some Jewish families eating all meals in these temporary huts.

[JNS.org] We are twice blessed. Sukkot, the harvest festival—and sometimes called the "Jewish Thanksgiving"—takes place this year at the end of September, and two months later, Thanksgiving in America is a holiday that many Jewish families have made their own, celebrating the good fortune to live in freedom and peace in the United States. (Photo: An etrog, silver etrog box and lulav, used on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot/Credit: Wikimedia Commons/via JNS)

During the eight-day observance of Sukkot (seven days in Israel), an abundance of late-summer and early-fall produce can be found at farm stands, farmer's markets and general grocery stores (yes, all things "pumpkin spice" have arrived). Now is the best time to buy organic, as tomatoes, corn, squash—everything has to go before the coming of the cold weather. Sukkot starts on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 23, timed perfectly to the first day of autumn.

Sukkot is the plural of the Hebrew word sukkah (meaning "booths" or "tabernacles); hence, other name for the holiday is the "Feast of Booths" or "Feast of Tabernacles." It must consist of at least three walls with a roof covered with sechach (palm leaves, pine boughs, bamboo or other natural vegetation that lets the light shine through). Feasting in the sukkah is the keynote throughout the week, with some Jewish families eating all meals in these temporary huts.

The traditions or mitzvahs of the holiday include taking the Four Species or Four Kinds—an etrog (citron), a lulav (palm frond), three hadassim (myrtle twigs) and two aravot (willow twigs)—and reciting a blessing over them and then waving them in six directions: right, left, forwards, up, down and backwards.

Of course, there is a real emphasis on food, family, friends and the great outdoors. Guests (ushpizin) for all these meals are welcome and encouraged. If you have time, desire and help, prepare ingredients the old-fashioned way: peel, core, chop and dice. Otherwise, many of the items, which stress fruits and vegetables, come prepared for you, with much of the grueling labor already been done. Some dishes can be made ahead of time. All recipes serve four to six people. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here.

Click here and scroll down to see these Sukkot recipes.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org