Sukkot is a holiday of eight days, beginning on the 15th of the Hebrew month Tishrei. This year it will start on the fourth of October. The eighth day is actually a separate holiday. Sukkot has an ancient history and commemorates the tabernacles or huts in which the children of Israel dwelt in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt. (Lev 23:39-43). "You should dwell in booths for seven days that your generatons may know that I made the Children of Israel dwell in booths." (Actually, they dwelt in tents, another type of temporary structure.) The festival of Sukkot lasts eight days, (nine in the Diaspora). Another name for Sukkot is The Feast of Ingathering, which was celebrated at the time of harvest of wheat and grapes. Other names are The Feast of the Lord (Lev 23:39) or simply the Feast (1 Kings 8-2, 65).

The Holy Temple of King Solomon was consecrated during Sukkot and the prophet Zecharia says that at the end of days all the peoples of the world will assemble for the Feast in Jerusalem to worship the Lord (Zech 14:16ff). Also, every seven years the Torah was to be read to all the gathered people on Sukkot (Deut 31:110-11).

The sukkah is usually decorated in a delightful manner with pictures and objects hanging from the roof. That roof is a thatching of natural materials, which may be pine branches, palm branches or a bamboo mat. Taking up certain ritual objects, taken from the natural world is part of the essential observance of the holiday. The book of Leviticus enjoins us to take "the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of thick trees and willows of the brook." Later Rabbinic authorites named these four species as citron (etrog), myrtle twigs (hadassim), palm branch (lulav) and willow (aravot). During prayer in the synagogue or in the sukkah, the lulav is held, together with the other three species. People say a blessing and then wave the lulav in six directions. At the end of the service when the scroll of the Torah is taken out of the ark, the congregation walks in joyous procession around the chief prayer desk, while holding the lulav. People eat the ritual meals of the first and last days of the holiday in the sukkah. Weather permitting people sleep in the sukkah. Some eat all meals during the seven days in the sukkah, in effect, moving in to this temporary structure.

During the times of the Temple the intermediate days of the holiday were highlighted by a water-pouring ceremony, accompanied by flute music and skillful juggling of lighted torches by respected Rabbis. This ceremony, called "The Rejoicing of Water-drawing" was based in the prophet Isaiah: "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." This relates to yet another name for Sukkot, "The Time of Our Rejoicing."

Since the 16th century it has been a Kabbalistic custom to invite the Shepherds of Israel into the sukkah each night before the meal. The great leaders and teachers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David, together with their wives -- each exemplify an archetypal spiritual quality: loving kindness, power, beauty, victory, splendor, foundation and sovereignty.

The seventh day of Sukkot is called Hoshana Raba. Hoshana, which means, "Save, I pray" and raba is "great." On this day we pray for a good harvest in the year to come, the congregation proceeds seven times around the chief prayer desk and then five willow branches are beaten on the floor. Hoshana Raba is a day when the decrees of Yom Hakippurim for the coming year are finalized. It is customary for people to spend the whole night of Hoshana Raba in prayer and study.

Shemini Atzeret, the eighth day of Sukkot is really a separate festival. Memorial services for the departed and a special prayer for rain are said in the synagogue. The Book of Ecclesiastes is read in the synagogue if it has not been read on the Shabbat of the intermediate days of Sukkot.

Simhat Torah, the Rejoicing in the Torah, is the last day of the whole autumn holiday cycle. In Israel, Shemini Atzeret and Simhat Torah take place on the same day. On this day the annual cycle of reading of the Torah scroll is completed. People spend the whole day in the synagogue dancing and singing with the scrolls of the Torah. Small children, waving flags, perch on their fathers' shoulders or are held in arms, like living scrolls of Torah.