Sukkot

• begins on tishri 15, the fifth day of yom kippur
• commemorates the 40-year period during which the children of israel were in the desert living in temporary shelters
• 'During these seven days you must live in thatched huts . Everyone included in Israel must live in such thatched huts' - Leviticus 23:42
• the sukkah represents the temporary shelter that many jews used in the desert - represents humans' vulnerability before God
• 'On the first day you must take for yourself a fruit of the citron tree, an unopened palm frond, myrtle branches and willows that grow near the brook. You shall rejoice before God for seven days' 


  Leviticus 23:40
• lasts for 7 days and no work is permitted on the first and second day of the holiday
• the roof of the sukkah is called the sekhakh and must be made from something that has grown in the ground
• The sukkah must have three walls and the roof must be sparse enough that the rain can get through and that stars can be seen through it
• jewish families might live in the sukkah for the 8 dyas of the festival
• the commandment to 'dwell' in the sukkah can be fulfilled by simply eating meals in it