When Is Sukkot This Year: This year, the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which is also called the Feast of Booths, starts on October 16, which is the 15th day of the seventh month in the ancient calendar. God told Moses, “You shall live in booths for seven days.” This is where the Book of Leviticus comes from.
Followers of the faith today follow this advice by building movable homes, or sukkahs, out of things like canvas, aluminum, and wood for modern holidays. People pray inside these buildings.
During this holy week, people remember the makeshift homes that the Israelites had to live in while they were walking through the desert for forty years after leaving Egypt.
History of Sukkot
The holidays of Thanksgiving and Sukkot are both times to be thankful for things like healthy food and a safe place to live. This happy event also honors the crop every year.
The holiday comes from the book of Exodus in the Bible, which tells the story of how the Jews were freed from slavery in Egypt. After being freed, the Israelites lived in makeshift shelters for forty years as they moved through the desert.
Two biblical holidays honor the gathering of fruits and grains at the end of the crop. They are called hag haasif, which means “Feast of the Ingathering,” and hag ha-sukkot, which means “Feast of Booths.” There are lots of vivid details about the Israelites’ trips, like when they lived in huts. To honor this past, certain plants and branches are used to build sukkahs, which are temporary homes. After that, long prayers of thanks are said to God for many gifts and a good crop.
The seventh day of Sukkot, Hoshana Rabba, and the eighth day, Shemini Atzeret, are both part of the holiday, but they are sometimes talked about individually.
Things to do on Sukkot
During Sukkot, people build a sukkah. These days, sukkahs are made from many different materials, such as metal and wood. Images of the four species described in the Torah are often used to decorate these temporary buildings.
Take the Torah Readings.
During the Sukkot holiday, it is common to read from the Torah every day. Also, the Muffat and Hallel are often said in sukkahs, which are places to pray.
Enjoy a moment of peace.
During Sukkot, people are not allowed to do housework or other things that take away from the holiday mood. You should take some time to relax so that you can fully enjoy the party setting.
When does Sukkot take place this year?
One of the three journey holidays, Sukkot, is always held five days after Yom Kippur. During these seven days of celebration, people do a lot of different things. As part of Sukkot, people cook in the Sukkah, do volunteer work, send out invites, and do other things. If you don’t have access to a sukkah, here are some other ways to celebrate the holidays. For a truly unique Sukkot party, also think about these ten ideas for a date night.
You can still enjoy Sukkot even if you don’t have a sukkah by making a place that is meaningful to you or doing activities that are appropriate for the holiday. You can still enjoy Sukkot without a sukkah by having a picnic outside, going outside, or putting up holiday decorations in your home.
For a romantic Sukkot celebration, two people can go to a community event, have lunch in the park, or look at the stars from the Sukkah. There are many fun and special ways to celebrate Sukkot with a loved one. Here are some ideas for date nights during the holiday.
How is Sukkot celebrated?
On this special day, Jews build a sukkah, which looks like a hut or tent, as a makeshift protection. During the seven-day event, this tent is only used for meals. Some religious people choose to spend the night there.
Some traditions have died out over time, which is a shame. But today’s awareness makes sure that even the smallest people in society know about the basic rituals that go along with the event.
The event is known for using four important plants:
Etrog, which is a citrus tree fruit.
Lulab is a palm branch that has yet to open up.
Hadass, which is the myrtle.
Aravah, which is willow leaves.
People make a traditional bouquet out of these plants and wave it around during ceremonies and parties. This story is a metaphor.
Sukkot timeline
Around the year 10 CE, when the First Temple in Jerusalem was finished, Sukkot became a very important Jewish holiday. In the Bible, Sukkot is called a “in-gathering” or harvest feast.
In 1861, when the Civil War was going on in New Orleans, it took a lot of work for Jewish communities to get etrog, which is the citron used in Sukkot ceremonies. A smart priest suggested using lemons instead of the usual accompaniment for prayer, which would have made the holiday less important.
In 1996, the Grand Junction, Colorado-based Sukkah Project, made the Klutz-Proof Sukkah Kit, which was a big step forward in terms of new ideas. It was the goal of the people who made this kit to make making a sukkah easier for everyone.
In 2012, there was a competition called Sukkah City in Brooklyn, New York. It had 600 Sukkoth whose buildings didn’t follow custom. This party pushed the limits of Sukkot design by combining high-tech elements with traditional ones. It started a new era of creative Sukkot memories.
How do you celebrate Sukkot in 2023?
Stepping outside, enjoying nature, decorating a sukkah and sharing food with friends is meant to “lead us to a deeper sense of presence, gratitude and even joy,” Krinsky says. And if the aforementioned activities don’t put a smile on your face, one specific tradition should: the shaking of the lulav and etrog.
Along with building the Sukkah, Jews celebrate Sukkot with a special ritual called the arba minim. The arba minim is a bundle of four plants that are skillfully woven together with straw. The lulav (palm leaf), etrog (citron), hadassim (myrtle), and aravat (willow) are all in this group. These plants show the different fruits of the land, but they also show the different kinds of people that are needed to make a town thrive.
During Sukkot, people gather at the synagogue every day to pray and hold the Arba minim around the building. On Hoshana Rabah, this circle is made seven times, which makes the event more meaningful. As part of the celebration, families hold the arba minim and pray inside the Sukkah from the comfort of their own houses. After prayer, they bless the area around the Sukkah by shaking the branches all around. As people celebrate Sukkot, this important event makes many community ties even stronger. It also connects people to the planet’s wealth.
What is forbidden in Sukkot?
Avoid work for the first two days of Sukkot.
Specifically, all activities normally forbidden on Shabbat are also forbidden on the first two days of Sukkot with the exception of cooking, baking, transferring fire, and carrying things around.
As a sign of respect for God, people usually don’t work for the first two days of Sukkot. Sukkot lasts for seven or eight days, but the first two are the most important and are celebrated in a way similar to Shabbat. Like on Shabbat, these days are holy days when most work is forbidden except for certain necessary tasks like cooking, baking, changing fires, and moving furniture. The holiday is mostly about prayer and getting together with family.
There is no work allowed for the next five days after this holy starting. These days are called Chol Hamoed, which means “intermediate days” in Hebrew. It is very important to remember that traditional Shabbat practices must be kept even if it comes on one of these days in between.
A lot of normal things that people do, like writing, sewing, cooking, tying hair, and even watering plants, aren’t allowed on Shabbat. People who want complete lists of things that are not allowed should check out Jewish websites.
Can you work on Sukkot 2023?
Sukkot begins five days after Yom Kippur (in 2023, Sept. 29 at sundown). The first two days are yom tov, or “holy days,” which means Shabbat restrictions apply. Religious Jews abstain from working or driving on these days.
Jews have Sukkot, or the fall harvest holiday, every year. The ceremony has a lot of history and goes back thousands of years. People usually celebrate by building and staying in an artificial structure called a “sukkah.”
Though Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are better known than Sukkot, all three Jewish holy days are important in their way. It remembers the forty years that the Israelites lived as nomads in the desert, building makeshift homes and shelters wherever they went after running away from slavery in Egypt.
Becky Sobelman-Stern, Chief Program Officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, said, “We were lost for 40 years and lived in temporary shelters and built temporary huts.”
Sukkot is a unique holiday because it is a time to be thankful for the crop and for the strength of people in the past. Building and staying in a sukkah brings attention to how temporary life is and connects people to the Israelites’ journey of wandering. This unique event not only remembers the past but also makes us think about how short life is and how important it is to enjoy what we have now.
What does Sukkot celebrate?
Sukkot is a week-long Jewish holiday that celebrates the fall harvest. It is one of the most joyful festivals in Judaism, meant to bring families, friends and communities together. The holiday also commemorates the 40 years that Jews spent in the desert after escaping slavery in Egypt.
On Friday, Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan will have a big party to celebrate Sukkot. The food, music, and decorations will all be based on the holiday in Uganda.
On Friday, there will be Sukkot services at the B’nai Jeshurun synagogue in Manhattan. On Sunday, there will be a prayer just for kids. People with kids younger than seven are allowed to sing, learn about the holidays, and do the traditional shaking of the lulav and etrog.
The Ashreynu shul in Queens will celebrate Sukkot on Friday night with dinner, a happy hour, and a lively musical service outside.
The Wandering Jews of Astoria are getting ready for a potluck and Sukkot events on Friday.
Puppets, stories, singing, dancing, bubbles, and pizza will be part of the “Sukkot experience” at the Luria Academy in Brooklyn on Sunday.
More Sukkot parties are going on at synagogues and temples across the five boroughs. These events show the variety of parties and sense of community that people have in their area during this happy Jewish holiday.
What are the 4 things for Sukkot?
These species are lulav (palm branch), hadas (myrtle), arava (willow) and etrog (citron) and they are used to bless the Sukkah or booth in which Sukkot is celebrated. These four plants are mentioned in the third book of the Torah, Leviticus.
During the week-long Sukkot holiday, four types of plants must be tied together and waved in the Sukkah, which is a homemade tent:
The etrog (citron fruit)
The lulav (date palm frond)
The badass (myrtle bough)
The Arava (Willow branch)
Every Jewish child knows about these species, and it’s impossible not to talk about how they taste and smell.
The Torah’s Leviticus 23:40 says, “And ye shall take you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.” This rule talks about what the four species mean.
Dr. Dafna Langgut explains the rule from the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology and Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at TAU. It’s clear that the verse is talking about the brook’s palm tree and willow tree branches, but experts aren’t sure if the phrases “fruit of goodly hadar trees” and “boughs of thick trees” (etz avot) are talking about specific plants or giving more general directions. The meaning of these species adds depth to the celebration of Sukkot and connects the holiday with nature in a real way.
Sukkot will happen from October 2 to October 9, 2024, according to the calendar. Because they mark the start and end of the holiday, the first and last days of Sukkot are the only days that are officially off. Aside from the Sabbath, most people treat the rest of the week as normal work days.
The events of Sukkot are well known, but things might go differently than planned during the week. In Israel, many people only work part-time at this time, and some businesses may be closed. Since this is the case, a lot of people choose to go on vacation to enjoy the holiday spirit and remember Sukkot fully.
