Sukkot

Building the booth

The central custom of the holiday is spending time in a sukkah, a temporary hut built outdoors under the open sky. Its walls can be made from wood, canvas, metal siding, or fabric, but it must have at least three walls. The roof, called s'chach, must be made of cut plant matter detached from the ground, such as leafy branches or palm fronds. Inside, families often hang artwork and decorations linked to the festival. Throughout the week, community members eat their main meals in the booth, and many sleep there when the weather permits, fulfilling the biblical instruction to dwell in these fragile shelters.

The four species

Every day of the festival except on the Sabbath, observers perform a ritual with four plant species. These consist of a citron fruit known as an etrog, alongside a palm branch called a lulav bound with two willow twigs and three myrtle sprigs. While reciting special blessings, worshippers hold the bound branches together with the citron and shake them toward the four compass directions, as well as up and down. People also carry these species during synagogue services while chanting prayers called Hoshanot, walking in procession around the sanctuary in memory of ancient rituals once held at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Hospitality and guests

Welcoming visitors is essential to celebrating Sukkot. Families invite neighbours, friends, and travellers into their booths to share festive meals and celebrations like bar mitzvahs or infant blessings. Alongside living guests, Jewish tradition includes a practice from mystical Kabbalah of inviting seven exalted spiritual guests, called ushpizin. Each night of the festival highlights one of these ancient figures in turn: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David. Some modern Jewish communities also invite seven female leaders and prophetesses, such as Sarah, Miriam, and Deborah, assigning each evening to a different spiritual presence.

Days of celebration

Sukkot spans seven days with distinct religious rhythms. The first day, and the second in communities outside Israel, is observed as a full holiday where regular work is prohibited, similar to the Sabbath. The middle days, known as Chol HaMoed, blend festive routines with daily life. People are allowed to carry out tasks connected to holiday enjoyment, such as cooking, travelling, and visiting family booths. The seventh day, Hoshana Rabbah, concludes the observance with special morning circuits in the synagogue before transitioning into the closing holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.

How Sukkot is kept

Before the festival begins, families construct a sukkah with a roof of loose branches. On the opening festival days, observers refrain from standard work, recite holiday prayers, and share festive meals inside the booth starting with wine and bread blessings. On weekday mornings, worshippers gather in the synagogue, waving the palm frond, myrtle, willow, and citron in all directions during prayers, and circling the sanctuary in procession. Throughout the week, people entertain guests in their huts, eat daily meals outdoors, and sleep in the sukkah when weather allows, ending the observance with the Hoshana Rabbah service.

When and where

Sukkot begins on the 15th day of Tishrei in the Hebrew calendar and lasts for seven days. Because the Hebrew calendar follows a lunar cycle, the festival falls during autumn in September or October.

Sukkot is kept by Jewish communities worldwide. Historically one of three pilgrimage festivals directed toward the Temple in Jerusalem, it is celebrated today wherever families build booths in backyards, balconies, and courtyards.

What Sukkot means

The sukkah represents the fragile shelters used by the Israelites during forty years in the desert after the Exodus, as well as the temporary huts field labourers used during harvest times. Combining plant materials, the four species, and prayers for rain underscores human reliance on God's protection and the rhythms of the natural world.

On the table

• Wine
• Bread
• Citron

Days Sukkot is marked

Sukkot dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

Questions people ask about Sukkot

See also

PassoverA Jewish spring festival celebrating freedom from slavery with ritual mealsSigdAn Ethiopian Jewish holiday of covenant renewal, fasting, and longing for ZionHanukkahAn eight-day Jewish festival marking the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the miracle of a single day'HarissaA spicy chili pepper paste from Tunisia, used as a condiment and ingredient across North Africa.

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle
• Jewish Holidays: SukkotJewish Virtual Library, Article
• Jewish Holidays: SukkotJewish Virtual Library, Article

• Sukkot on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.