Interesting Facts about Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles

Sukkot (סוכות‎ or סֻכּוֹת), commonly called the Feast of Tabernacles or in certain translations the Festival of Shelters, and referred to likewise as the Feast of Ingathering, is the Jewish Holiday celebrated on the 15th of the Jewish (lunar) month of Tishrei when the moon is at its zenith. It proceeds for an additional seven days before leading directly into the holiday of Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah. Sukkot 2020 started on the evening of Friday, 2 October, and finishes on the evening of Friday, 9 October.

Interesting Facts about Sukkot

• Sukkot (סוכות‎ or סֻכּוֹת) is Hebrew for “huts”, “booths” or “shelters.” This Jewish celebration originated from a Canaanite agricultural festival, which was a significant change from the most solemn observance of the high holy day, Yom Kippur.

• Sukkot additionally has an agricultural connotation, denoting when farmers in Israel would accumulate the crops that had been drying in the fields. Therefore, scripture writing calls it Chag Haasif, “The Festival of Gathering.”

• Sukkot is a joyous holiday—so joyous that the sages called it just Chag, Hebrew for “Festival.”

• For the duration of Sukkot, the sukkah—a structure secured with greenery, bamboo, or something different that has been harvested from the ground—becomes our home. The covering is known as sechach.

• A sukkah can be raised pretty much anyplace, gave that it’s under the sky.

• Each day of Sukkot (other than for Shabbat) we take a bundle of greens—made of a lulav (palm frond), three hadasim (myrtles), and two aravot (willows)— alongside an etrog (citron).

• The four kinds are additionally held and waved during Hallel (“Psalms of Praise” said as part of the holiday morning service), as well as during the Hoshaanot, a daily Sukkot ceremony that includes circling a Torah scroll while reciting prayers for salvation.

• Notwithstanding the blessing we say before taking the lulav and etrog, at whatever point you sit down to a dinner in the sukkah, you say a blessing that closes with the words “layshav basukkah,” in which you bless G‑d “Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to dwell in the sukkah.”

• The first time when you do every mitzvah you make another blessing, Shehecheyanu, which blesses G‑d, Who has “given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time.”

• On the seventh day of Sukkot, the bimah (platform in the center of the synagogue) is circumnavigated seven times, rather than the one circuit done the entire holiday up to this point. Since the Hoshaanot is repeated, again and again, this day is known as Hoshana Rabbah (“The Great Hoshana”). Toward the finish of this once-a-year service, every individual beats a bundle of five willows (otherwise called hoshaanot) against the ground.

• On this day, it is standard to have a festive meal in the sukkah that incorporates challah dipped in honey (the last an ideal opportunity for the season) and kreplach, dumplings loaded down with meat.

• Sukkot (סוכות‎ or סֻכּוֹת) was the last of the three festivals, and, as per a few, it was the final date before the Divine “debts” would be viewed as past due.

• The first two days of Sukkot (simply the first day in Israel) are Yom Tov. Like Shabbat, we abstain from numerous types of inventive work, travel, and so on. The only two special cases are that a few acts of food preparation, (for example, cooking using a pre-existing flame) and carrying things we require for the holiday are permitted. The prayers are likewise to some degree longer than expected.

• Sukkot (סוכות‎ or סֻכּוֹת) is normally referred to as the Feast of Tabernacles and is praised for seven days. Work isn’t allowed on the first and second days of the holiday. On the rest of the days, called Chol HaMoed, the intermediate days of the Passover, Jews are permitted to work.

• The rest of the days of Sukkot are known as chol hamoed, during which travel and other melachot (prohibited acts) are allowed (yet exhausting work ought to have stayed away from if possible).

• Following the seven days of Sukkot, we step into Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.

• In the Diaspora, this holiday reaches out for two days; in Israel, it is restricted to a single day. Simchat Torah fetes the finish of the annual Torah-reading cycle and the beginning of a new cycle. It is set apart with vigorous singing and dancing in the synagogue. This is the only example of one Jewish holiday coming straightforwardly after another.