Sukkot! Hello, Jewish

Chatterbox: Down to Earth

Sukkot! Hello, Jewish

Sukkot! Hello, Jewish CBers! Who is excited for Sukkot? What's your favorite thing to do for the holiday? Build a sukkah? Decorate? Invite all your friends over to see it and eat yummy Jewish food?

For those of you who don't know, Sukkot is a Jewish holiday where Jewish people make temporary huts in their yards, called a sukkah. You decorate the sukkah and make it beautiful! Then you eat every meal in the sukkah and some people even sleep in it! You also shake a lulav and esrog. A lulav is a palm branch, some willow branches, and some myrtle branches tied together. An esrog is a citrus fruit that looks and smells sort of like a really big lemon.

I'm SO happy! Sukkot is super fun! I like decorating best, but 'Sukkah hopping', as much of my community calls visiting other people's sukkahs, is really fun too!

Can't wait to hear from you all! 

submitted by Cockleburr
(October 16, 2016 - 11:55 am)

Happy Sukkot in a few hours, Cockleburr!!! I have a Sukkah Hop at my synogouge (there is a rotation where you go from Sukkah to Sukkah through a few Sukkahs, hang out, eat food, etc.: my house is on the rotation), and I love that. Also, I really love having people over because my mom makes awesome food and awesome dessert.

I'm so happy that it's almost Sukkot! Yay!!!

 

submitted by Moonlight The Jew, age 11, Ellesmera
(October 16, 2016 - 5:01 pm)

I'm a Catholic, but Sukkot sounds like a lot of fun! If you don't mind me asking, what does it celebrate? I love learning other traditions and customs of other religions and cultures. 

submitted by Daisy
(October 18, 2016 - 7:01 am)

Sukkot celebrates the harvest season and the huts the Jews made for themselves when they were wandering in the desert for fourty years after egypt. I love learning about other cultures, too!

submitted by Cockleburr
(October 18, 2016 - 12:54 pm)

That's really neat! The Moses story if one of my favorite Old Testament ones. 

submitted by Daisy
(October 18, 2016 - 6:09 pm)

HAPPY SUKKOT!

(I don't celebrate that even though I'm Jewish.) 

submitted by Bibliophile
(October 18, 2016 - 6:43 pm)

Wait, you're Jewish? Cool! I had no idea!

submitted by Cockleburr
(October 19, 2016 - 8:20 pm)

Yep! (non-practicing and half though)

submitted by Biblio
(October 20, 2016 - 12:33 pm)

I'm Protestant, but that sounds really cool! How do you make the huts? I mean, like what do you make them out of and how large are they? How long does Sukkot last? If you don't mind me asking, that is. I'm sorry if I seem ignorant; I've never heard of Sukkot before. :)

submitted by Leafmist
(October 20, 2016 - 12:42 pm)

Sukkot lasts 8 days in some traditions and 7 days in others. If you want to know the rules about building a Sukkah....

There are TONS of rules about it.

Basically, it can't be shorter than about a meter or taller that 30ish feet, it must have at least 2 1/2 walls, the ceiling has to be made from something that was once growing but isn't anymore (many people use tree brances or bamboo mats), you should be able to see the stars through the ceiling but there must be more shade than sun.

Also, it can't be underneath a tree or have walls made from live trees.

And--

Y'know what, I think you get the picture. 

submitted by OtR
(October 20, 2016 - 6:57 pm)