Sukkot Festival 2018
Today we begin the celebration of Sukkot - a week long festival when we commemorate the Exodus from Egypt (c. 13th century BCE) and give thanks for a bountiful harvest.
The Hebrew word sukkōt is the plural of sukkah, "booth or tabernacle" - The sukkah is intended as a reminiscence of the type of fragile dwellings in which the Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of travel in the desert after the Exodus from slavery in Egypt. Throughout the holiday, meals are eaten inside the sukkah and many sleep there as well.
All around the country, sukkot line parking lots, balconies, rooftops, lawns, and public spaces. Some spend the festival and the next six days literally living in their sukkot.