By Amy Choi
How does your country celebrate harvest? Our country, Korea celebrates this holiday and it is Chusuk. In North America, their holiday is called Thanksgiving. Well, in Israel, there is a holiday that celebrates their harvest. This holiday is called Sukkot.
Sukkot begins on October 15th and goes until October 21st. It lasts for seven days. It is celebrated by Jewish people. The word Sukkot means ‘little mart’, because in the past, there was some little markets named ‘Sukkot.’
There are two days that are end of the Sukkotre Shemini Atzeret, Smchat Torah. Shemini Atzeret is on October 22 or October 23. Second day of Shmini Atzeret is Simchat Torah. Simchat Torah means "Rejoicing in the Torah" It is on October 23. It is celebrating the law and end.
Sukkot started back in ancient Israel when Jewish people would build huts near the edges of their fields during the harvest season. One of these huts was called ‘Sukkah’, and ‘Sukkot’ is a plural form of ‘Sukkah.’ These huts not only provided shade but allowed the workers to spend many amounts of time in the fields, harvesting their food. It is related to the way the Jewish people lived while they wander in the desert for 40 years, as they moved from one place to another they built tents or little marts called ‘Sukkot’, that living shelter in desert.
At the beginning of Sukkot, Jewish builds their Sukkah. Some neighborhoods have friendly contests to see who can build the best Sukkah. There is no work allowed in the first and second days, but it is allowed on the rest of the days. In the holiday, it is commanded to stay in poor shelters, as our ancestor did in the wilderness.
There are the three most important traditions that have to do in Sukkot. First is building a Sukkah, eating in the Sukkah, and waving the lulav and etrog together while saying special things and they are waved in each of the four directions.Lulav is closed frond of palm tree. Etrog looks like a lemon, but it is yellow citron.
I hope that you learned something new about this Jewish holiday! I hope someday we all go to Israel and celebrate this holiday, Sukkot.
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