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Galilee Diary: Booths
Spread over us the sukkah of Your peace. Blessed are You O Lord, who spreads out a sukkah of peace over us, over the entire people Israel, and over Jerusalem.
Building Sukkot for Ourselves and Others
Somehow, it always seems to rain on Sukkot. The week before the holiday usually falls during the first nice days of fall— this year my housemate packed away her summer clothes this past weekend, and I wore jeans instead of shorts for the first time in too long.
Fragility and Strength: A Litany of Hope for Sukkot
The sukkah is a symbol of fragility. We build the temporary structure each year and know that it is only meant to last for the week-long holiday. It sways in the breeze. The raindrops land inside. The animals nibble at our decor. We know it could come crashing down on us.
Check Out Our Sukkah Gallery!
At the start of Sukkot, we asked all of our social media friends, fans, and followers to share a photo of their sukkah. We received some great submissions, which we couldn't resist sharing more broadly. Check out the thumbnails below and click through to see a larger version of each picture.
This Sukkot, Support Environmental Protections from Border to Border
Question: On Sukkot, we remember our ancestors' struggles to balance their lives with the surrounding environment in order to produce a bountiful harvest each year. But most of us no longer grow our own food or live at the mercy of natural phenomena in the same ways.
Sukkot and Simchat Torah Social Justice Guide
As a people with agricultural roots, Jews have found many ways to mark the seasonal and environmental changes that occur throughout the year. Sukkot has numerous other themes and areas of focus that encompass seasonal, historical, and theological perspectives. It is among the festivals that fall in the Hebrew month of Tishrei, emphasizing not only the cycles of the earth, but also the cycles of Jewish life. (The other holidays in Tishrei are Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and Simchat Torah.)
Decorative Paper Lanterns for Sukkot
Parents and kids can work together to make these pretty lanterns, perfect for decorating the sukkah.
Tu BiShvat Activities to Do at Home
The Jewish New Year of the Trees, or Tu BiSh’vat, lends itself to many home observations and activities. Here are some ideas for crafts, planting, quiet activities, and more.
Tu BiShvat: Customs and Rituals
The Jewish mystics of the 17th century, the Kabbalists, created a special ritual—modeled after the Passover seder—to celebrate God's presence in nature. Today in modern Israel, Tu BiShvat has become a national holiday, a tree planting festivaTu BiShvat is not mentioned in the Torah. Scholars believe the holiday was originally an agricultural festival, corresponding to the beginning of spring in Israel. But a critical historical event helped Tu BiShvat evolve from a simple celebration of spring to a commemoration of our connection to the land of Israel. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. and the exile that followed, many of the exiled Jews felt a need to bind themselves symbolically to their former homeland. Tu BiShvat served in part to fill that spiritual need. Jews used this time each year to eat a variety of fruits and nuts that could be obtained from Israel. The practice, a sort of physical association with the land, continued for many centuries.l for both Israelis and Jews throughout the world