Sukkot is a joyous festival that celebrates nature and God’s harvest! We do this by moving outside our comfort zone, from our secure house into a fragile booth, called a Sukkah. Drawing from the natural world which God created, we decorate this temporary booth with God’s gifts – leaves and fruit. We are to eat and sleep in a sukkah for an entire week – and welcome honored guests to join us. One important rule is that we are able to see the stars through the leafy roof.
As part of the celebration we use an Etrog (which looks like a lemon) and a Lulav, made up of palm, myrtle, willow bunched together. The Midrash tells us that the Etrog is like the heart. The palm is like the spine; the myrtle leaves are shaped like our eyes; the willow’s leaves look like lips. With every part of our body, we are to praise the beautiful bounty that God placed in the world for our enjoyment.
We hold the Four Species, Lulav and Etrog, together and wave them in all directions to show that God is everywhere! Taken together they represent the many different kinds of people that God has created. Together, we make up a beautiful community, each person adding their own gifts to this beautiful world.
CRAFT IDEAS: Make Sukkot more beautiful!
MAKE AN EDIBLE SUKKAH
Use 3 square cookies; “Glue” them together with icing
Place pretzel sticks across the top
Decorate with gummy “fruit” and leaves
DECORATE ROCKS by painting them and adding a kind word. Use them to add beauty to your own sukkah. After the holiday, give one to someone you love.
GATHER leaves and make rubbings of them. Use the rubbings to decorate your sukkah!
INVITE IMAGINARY GUESTS Because of the pandemic it will be hard to welcome people into your sukkah. But if you could welcome them, who would you invite? Grandma? Elsa? Anna? Spiderman? Think of 7 different guests. Think of questions you would like to ask them. If they are people you know, maybe you can Facetime or call and enjoy mealtime together.
MAKE WIND CHIMES or A STAR out of a paper bag with the instructions here.
Share the beauty of Sukkot with people you love!