What is That Thing? Explaining Sukkot to Non-Jews.

A lot of my non-Jewish friends have noticed that I’m writing this blog, and they all ask me the same thing: “What the heck is a sukkah?” This post is for you. (Jews—feel free to pass this on to your sukkah-curious friends.)

Think back to Bible school, if you attended one. Does the Feast of Tabernacles sound familiar to you? This is it! It’s not just something ancient Hebrews celebrated. We still do it. Tabernacle is a long (and pretty silly, if you ask me) word, so instead we use the Hebrew word sukkah, or its plural, sukkot.

The sukkahs (tabernacles) themselves are temporary huts we build for the week-long harvest festival of Sukkot, which is held each fall just after the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It starts on a different day each year because the Jewish calendar is based on cycles of the moon, not the sun.

All around the world for thousands of years Jews have built these huts in their fields, in their yards, on the balconies of their apartments, on their college campuses and anywhere else they happened to live or eat. If you travel to Israel or through an Orthodox neighborhood during Sukkot, you’re going to see them in people’s yards and over the outdoor seating section of restaurants. It’s a mitzvah (good deed, literally a commandment) to eat in the sukkah and live in it as much as possible during Sukkot.

Many Jews practice Sukkot at their synagogues by helping to build the congregation’s sukkah, decorating it and enjoying a picnic there. Youth groups often hold “pizza in the hut” events.  Lately, many of us are discovering the joys of building and decorating our own sukkahs and inviting friends and family to come over to eat in them.

If you’re invited to someone’s sukkah, it’s customary to bring something to help decorate, especially seasonal fruits and vegetables. Pumpkins and gourds are a great choice. (Although I’ve been warned that the squirrels will eat the pumpkins when you’re not looking.) Some hosts ask their guests to bring canned goods to be donated to a food pantry for a different kind of harvest. Sukkahs can also be decorated with posters, banners, paper chains, fairy lights (okay, Christmas lights) and whatever else you can think of.

Think all of this sounds a little crazy? Well, look who’s cutting down trees to stick in their living rooms.