Succot

Succot is a seven-day harvest holiday that arrives during the Hebrew month of Tishrei. It starts four days after Yom Kippur and is followed by Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. Succot is also known as the Festival of Booths and the Feast of Tabernacles.  It is an autumn festival recalling the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt.

Today it is celebrated by the building of a Succah – a temporary hut like dwelling in the synagogue and often in our homes. We decorate the succah with the seven-species indigenous to Israel mentioned in the old testament. These are wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives (oil) and dates (honey).  From this, many of these ingredients are popular on the Succot menu.