Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

The Confirmation Class of Congregation Sinai built a sukkah to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot. Decorations for the sukkah were made by children of the Religious School ages 5-12. Flowers, fruits, and Hebrew letters were placed in the sukkah to remind us of the Harvest.

"Sukkot" means "booths," and refers to the temporary dwellings that God commands us to live in during this holiday as our ancestors wandered through the desert for forty years, living in temporary shelters.

A sukkah has four sides, or walls. The walls must be made from any material that will withstand an ordinary wind. A commonly used material here in the United States is canvas, tied or nailed down so that it does not flap in the wind. The material may be borrowed, but not stolen. The area of the sukkah can be any size, so long as it is large enough for you to fulfill the blessing of dwelling in it. The covering (roof) of the sukkah must be a material that grew from the earth and is not susceptible to contamination. This includes tree branches, corn stalks, bamboo reeds, and sticks. Metals, leather, growing trees and foodstuffs are excluded. It must be left loose and placed sparsely enough that rain can get in and the stars can be seen, but not so sparsely that there is more sunlight than shade, and not more than 10 inches open at any point.