The beginning of the Jewish calendar is full of holidays. At class on Tuesday evening, we learned about the "Festival of Booths" or Sukkot which started Wednesday evening this week. Sukkot has a dual significance: historical and agricultural. Historically, Sukkot commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival. During Sukkot, families traditionally build a sukkah (a hut) in their backyard to represent the temporary shelters in which the Jewish people lived while wandering in the desert for 40 years. During the seven days of Sukkot, the mitzvah is to "dwell" within the sukkah which can be fulfilled by simply eating all of one's meals there.
Well, after learning all about Sukkot and its significance and customs, our class's Rabbi then tasked us to build our own sukkah out of Runts candy, frosting, graham crackers and Sour Punch sticks. What a fun little activity! It brought out the inner-child in all of us.
Well, after learning all about Sukkot and its significance and customs, our class's Rabbi then tasked us to build our own sukkah out of Runts candy, frosting, graham crackers and Sour Punch sticks. What a fun little activity! It brought out the inner-child in all of us.
When I returned home after work on Wednesday, I arrived home to find a fun little surprise. My husband built our family our first sukkah on our backyard patio. How supportive and thoughtful! He didn't want us to celebrate the holiday without our very own "hut". I love it! Our kids really love it too. They even wanted to eat dinner outside in the sukkah. So, that is what they did. After eating, they even helped us decorate the sukkah by coloring the walls with chalk. We are looking forward to "dwelling" in this little shelter all week.
Eating in the sukkah
Decorating the sukkah
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