Q: I am so excited to have my very own Sukkah.I recently converted to Judaism and thought that I could use this opportunity to entertain not only my Jewish friends but my whole family. This holiday seems like so much fun to me, and the theme of celebrating the harvest is universal and does not have the more theological overtones of the High Holidays, which my parents would find difficult to embrace. This little house seems like a great way to bring everyone together. But what constitutes a Sukkot celebration? How elaborate does my Sukkah need to be? What type of meal should I serve?
A: This is certainly an exciting time for you. Celebrating your first Jewish Holiday as a Jewish person should be a fun and low stress time for you, and Sukkot is the perfect holiday to choose.
Sukkot celebrates the fall harvest and commemorates the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert after leaving Egypt. We commemorate the holiday by an open roofed Sukkah and by waving the lulav and the etrog. The etrog is a citrus fruit that is oblong in shape with bumpy skin and a nice fragrance. The lulav is a combination of a palm frond, myrtle and willow branches. We stand in the Sukkah and hold the lulav and the etrog in our clasped hands. We wave them to the east, west, north and south and in front of us and behind us to show that God is everywhere. The blending of the different plants can easily represent unity among all people.
Before Sukkot, you could consider hosting an event in which people come and help build and decorate the Sukkah. You can have crayons, paint and picture of fruits, vegetables and gourds for the younger set to work with while the older crew is doing the actual construction. There are many ways to build a Sukkah. There are also kits available on line. The only requirements are three walls, a roof made from natural unattached materials such as branches. At minimum, it should be about 2 feet by 2 feet and tall enough to sit in. The roof must allow the stars to be visible at night. You have a lot of flexibility in how you build your Sukkah.
However, it sounds like you would actually like to celebrate the holiday in the already built Sukkah during the 7 days of Sukkot (7 days in Israel, 8 days in the US). So perhaps your guests will not be your building crew.
This holiday is built for casual entertaining. It does not revolve around a special meal as other holidays such as Passover do. It is to celebrate nature’s plenty and the simple huts that the Jews lived in while harvesting. Definitely no china and silver involved! The food can be very simple. One family I know chooses a Sunday afternoon and hosts a wine and dessert party in their Sukkah. Guests bring something to share and the host just puts out recyclable paper goods, coffee and soft drinks. Guests even bring folding chairs! It is run as an open house for a few hours. Another friend who loves to cook and bake, makes cookies and kugels in advance and freezes them so that the guests just show up and do not need to bring anything. Yet a 3rd friend who wants to serve more of a meal does a potluck barbecue where she provides the hamburgers, hot dogs and condiments and her guests bring the side dishes. In other words, this holiday is about people getting together in an outdoor setting, and you can make it as elaborate or low-key as you want.
Celebrating the harvest with family and friends, both Jewish and non-Jewish, is comfortable because it is familiar to many other cultures and religions. The Chinese, Vietnamese and Koreans celebrate the harvest with the Harvest Moon Festival. In India, Pongoll celebrates the sun god with Rice and gift giving and the Germans have Oktoberfest. In fact, in this country, Thanksgiving is considered to be a celebration of the harvest. You can customize your Sukkot celebration to include foods from these other cultures if they are part of your family heritage and you want to make your family feel more comfortable.
Because we all are grateful for nature’s plenty, this holiday is the perfect way to include neighbors, friends and family from all different backgrounds. We all know that a good harvest is not to be taken for granted. Together, we can all enjoy nature and the bounty that is available to use in whatever format you choose
In this year where we are so divided politically, it is wonderful to have a holiday that celebrates something as simple and uncontentious as the harvest. What a great excuse to gather people together in your home.