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TISHREI CHAGIM - SUKKOT
THE SUKKAH
Sukkot is a 7-day holiday. It begins on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. The word ‘sukkot’ means ‘huts’. The festival of Sukkot reminds us that when the Jewish people left Egypt, they had to sleep in huts in the desert.
Sukkot is also a harvest festival. After our ancestors had gathered in the land of Canaan, they realised that Sukkot was celebrated in Autumn, a time when they gathered the crops. The crops from the fields and the fruits of the orchards had been gathered. These events were celebrated with great excitement.
Sukkot is one of the most joyous festivals in the Jewish calendar. During Sukkot we eat all our meals in the sukkah.
MICHAEL MAKES A SUKKAH
“Sukkot,” Mr Kahn, our Sunday school teacher was saying, “takes us back to the time when our ancestors were on their way from Egypt to Israel.” He pointed out the route on a large map.
“Some of them had tents,” he went on, “but most did not. So whenever they set up camp they built rough huts and covered them with leaves from palm trees. We call the leaves ‘schach’, meaning 'covering'. This schach was ideal for the desert. The leaves allowed air to pass through but kept out the glare of the sun. That’s why when we build our sukkah today we have to have enough schach to give us more shade than sunlight.”
“Sukkot was also the time when Jewish farmers would harvest their last crops before the winter in Israel. The farmers would build little huts – sukkot – in the fields, where they would sleep at night during the harvest.” said Mr Kahn.
“All very well,” I thought to myself, “but most of us don’t have a sukkah.”
I’m sure Mr Kahn is a mind reader. His next words were, “I know that many of you don’t usually have a sukkah, but I’m going to make two suggestions. Just put the idea to your parents or whoever is at home."
"First, a sukkah is very easy to build and costs very little. You can use a back wall of the house and a corner. That will give you two walls already. Also, if you really can’t build one, at least try to eat a few meals in someone else’s sukkah. It’s really a very special mitzvah. Just think, when you go in a sukkah all of you – head, arms, legs and feet take part in the mitzvah. There’s no other mitzvah like it.”
When I got home I told my father about Mr Kahn’s suggestion, but he wasn’t exactly turned on by the idea.
“David Rose is building a sukkah,” I said, “do you mind if I go and help him build it?”
“That’s OK,” he replied.
For the next two evenings I helped David and his father put up their sukkah. It really didn’t take long. We nailed strips of wood to two walls of the house and built a wooden frame outward. Then we nailed sheets of hardboard to the frame and fixed a door.
The next evening we laid strips of wood across the top and piled palm leaves on them. The sukkah was complete.
“Why do you use palm leaves?” I asked.
“It doesn’t have to be palm,” said David’s father, “as long as you use natural growth it's OK. Some people even use mats made from bamboo.”
“But there are still two other things we have to do,” said Mr Rose. I must have looked a bit blank because David explained. “We always put a wide sheet of plastic across the top so it can be rolled down to cover the sukkah if it rains. Otherwise everything gets ruined.”
“Yes,” said his father, “we just have to remember to roll it back before we eat.”
“Then we decorate our sukkah,” added David.
David had lots of posters in his cellar – pictures of Mount Sinai and the parting of the Red Sea, as well as scenes from modern Israel. “Some people put up paper chains and things,” said David, “but my father doesn’t like them. He prefers pictures which give the sukkah a Jewish feel. I usually draw some pictures of my own too.”
When the sukkah was finished it looked great. Mrs Rose asked me if I’d come and eat with them during Sukkot and told me to ask my parents too.
It was great fun building it. It would be nice to have a sukkah of my own.
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