Tag
Sukkot
11 articles
Sukkah Decorations and Crafts: Making It Your Own
Decorating the sukkah is one of the most beloved traditions of Sukkot — a chance for the whole family to create something beautiful together. From fruit chains to ushpizin signs to twinkle lights, here's how to make your sukkah shine.
Sukkot: The Festival of Booths
For seven days each autumn, Jewish families build and eat in temporary huts — celebrating the harvest, remembering the desert journey, and embracing the fragility and beauty of life.
Shmini Atzeret: The Eighth Day of Assembly
Shmini Atzeret — the intimate eighth day after Sukkot — features the prayer for rain, Yizkor memorial prayers, and a theological mystery: is it part of Sukkot or something entirely its own?
How to Build a Sukkah: Materials, Rules, and Creative Solutions
A practical guide to building a sukkah — minimum dimensions, wall requirements, schach rules, decorating ideas, and creative solutions for apartments, balconies, and small spaces.
Ecclesiastes (Kohelet): Vanity of Vanities
Ecclesiastes — the Bible's most philosophical and unsettling book — wrestles with the meaning of life, the futility of human striving, and the paradox of finding joy in a world where 'all is vanity.'
Hallel: The Psalms of Praise in Jewish Worship
Hallel — Psalms 113-118 — is the joyful collection of praise psalms chanted on Jewish holidays. Learn when full and half Hallel are recited, the Yom HaAtzmaut debate, and why these ancient songs still make congregations sing.
Lulav and Etrog: A Complete Guide to the Four Species
Everything you need to know about the lulav and etrog — the four species of Sukkot. How to select, bind, wave, and store them, plus the deeper symbolism and Hoshanah Rabbah traditions.
Simcha: The Jewish Obligation to Be Joyful
Judaism commands joy. Not as a feeling to wait for, but as a practice to cultivate — through holidays, song, dance, gratitude, and the radical teaching of Rebbe Nachman that it is 'a great mitzvah to always be happy.'
Chol HaMoed: The Intermediate Days of Jewish Festivals
Chol HaMoed are the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot — a unique blend of holiday joy and weekday activity with special customs and restrictions.
Hoshana Rabbah: The Great Day of Salvation on Sukkot
Hoshana Rabbah is the seventh day of Sukkot, marked by the beating of willow branches and considered the final seal of divine judgment begun on Rosh Hashanah.
Tractate Sukkah: Living Under the Stars with God
Tractate Sukkah explores the laws of the sukkah and the four species — weaving together architecture, botany, and theology into a celebration of divine protection.