Sukkot — The Festival of Booths

Sukkot is one of the three ancient Jewish pilgrimage festivals and one of Judaism’s most joyful holidays. Beginning just five days after Yom Kippur, Sukkot brings a striking change in mood. After the introspection and solemnity of the High Holy Days, we are commanded to rejoice. The holiday is traditionally called Z’man Simchateinu — “the season of our joy.” For seven days, we celebrate the blessings of life, family, community, harvest, and the natural world, while also remembering how temporary and fragile those blessings can be.
 

Biblical Origins

Sukkot has two intertwined meanings in the Torah. First, it is an agricultural festival, celebrating the gathering of the harvest at the end of the growing season. Deuteronomy describes Sukkot as taking place when the produce has been gathered from the threshing floor and winepress and repeatedly commands us to rejoice in the festival.

Sukkot also recalls the Exodus from Egypt and the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness. Leviticus instructs the Jewish people to dwell in temporary shelters, or sukkot, for seven days so that future generations will remember that the Israelites lived in such shelters after God brought them out of Egypt. The holiday therefore connects us simultaneously to the land and agricultural cycle of ancient Israel, the experience of our ancestors, and the uncertainty of human existence.
 

The Sukkah

The most recognizable symbol of the holiday is the sukkah, a temporary outdoor dwelling traditionally covered with branches or other natural material called s’chach. During Sukkot, we eat meals, gather with family and friends, study, sing, and spend time in the sukkah.

Its very impermanence has become part of the holiday’s meaning. For most of the year, we surround ourselves with solid walls and the possessions that give us a sense of security. During Sukkot, Judaism asks us to leave that security temporarily and enter a deliberately fragile dwelling, exposed more directly to the natural world.

The sukkah reminds us that much of what we possess is temporary. It encourages us to recognize the things that truly sustain us — our relationships, our community, our gratitude, and our faith.

 

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The Lulav and Etrog — The Four Species

One of Sukkot’s most distinctive practices comes directly from Leviticus 23:40, which commands us to take the fruit of a beautiful tree, branches of palm trees, leafy trees, and willows of the brook and to “rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.”

Jewish tradition identifies these as the Four Species — Arba’at HaMinim:
 

• Lulav — a palm branch

• Hadassim — myrtle branches

• Aravot — willow branches

• Etrog — the citron, a fragrant citrus fruit

The palm, myrtle, and willow are bound together and commonly called the lulav, while the etrog is held separately. After reciting a blessing, the Four Species are brought together and waved in six directions — east, south, west, north, upward, and downward.

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Why do we do this? Jewish tradition offers several answers. At its most basic level, the Four Species connect Sukkot with agriculture, the harvest, water, and the Land of Israel. Sukkot comes at the beginning of Israel’s rainy season, when rainfall was essential to the coming year's crops and the survival of the community.

 

Over the centuries, the rabbis added beautiful layers of symbolism. A famous Midrash compares the Four Species to different kinds of people. The etrog has both taste and fragrance; the date palm produces fruit with taste but little fragrance; the myrtle has fragrance but no edible fruit; and the willow has neither. The rabbis associated taste with Torah learning and fragrance with good deeds.

 

Some people possess both learning and good deeds, some one or the other, and some neither. Yet the Four Species are brought together to perform the mitzvah. The message is particularly appropriate for a Jewish community: we are not all alike, but we belong together.

The waving of the Four Species in every direction has also traditionally been understood as acknowledging God’s presence and sovereignty throughout creation — east and west, north and south, above and below. It transforms the natural products of the earth into an expression of gratitude.

And we have found a very special demonstration of how to wave the lulav and etrog - including the blessing and some of the challenges that arise when the lulav is longer than you are!

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A Holiday of Joy, Gratitude, and Fragility

 

Perhaps Sukkot’s deepest message comes from an apparent contradiction. We are commanded to rejoice while sitting inside a structure that is intentionally temporary and vulnerable. Judaism does not tell us that happiness requires certainty. Instead, Sukkot suggests that we can experience joy while recognizing that life itself is fragile.

Only days after Yom Kippur, when we have confronted our shortcomings and reflected on the course of our lives, Sukkot tells us to go outside, gather with others, share food, welcome guests, appreciate the harvest, look toward the sky — and rejoice.
 

That may be why Sukkot remains such a profoundly human holiday. It does not ask us to pretend that our lives are permanent or completely secure. It asks us to recognize their impermanence and, precisely because of it, to appreciate the blessings we have today.

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The Ushpizin — Welcoming Our Ancestors into the Sukkah

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​​​Sukkot is a holiday of hospitality. We eat, celebrate, study and sometimes even sleep in the sukkah, welcoming family, friends and neighbors into this temporary dwelling. According to the Kabbalistic tradition of Jewish mysticism, we also welcome another remarkable group of guests: the Ushpizin (Aramaic for “guests”).

 

The custom comes primarily from the Zohar, the foundational work of Kabbalah. According to this tradition, each night of Sukkot we welcome seven great figures of the Jewish people into our sukkah—symbolically for some, and as a genuine spiritual presence in traditional Kabbalistic understanding.

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They are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David.

All seven Ushpizin are welcomed each night, but a different guest is given special prominence on each of the seven nights of Sukkot.

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Seven Guests — Seven Qualities

 

Kabbalah associates each Ushpiz with one of seven divine qualities, or sefirot, that human beings can also strive to cultivate.

 

Night 1 — Abraham: Chesed — Lovingkindness

Abraham represents generosity, hospitality and an open heart. The Torah famously portrays Abraham rushing to welcome strangers into his tent and provide them with food and rest.

Abraham asks us: How generously do we welcome others into our lives?

 

Night 2 — Isaac: Gevurah — Strength and Restraint

Isaac represents strength, discipline and the ability to establish limits. His life reminds us that strength is not always demonstrated through action or power. Sometimes strength means patience, endurance, restraint and knowing when to stop.

Isaac asks us: Where in our lives does true strength require restraint?

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Night 3 — Jacob: Tiferet — Harmony, Beauty and Compassion

Jacob’s life was filled with struggle—with his brother Esau, with Laban, within his family and even during his mysterious nighttime wrestling encounter. He emerged wounded but transformed and received a new name: Israel.

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Jacob represents the ability to bring competing forces into harmony. Harmony does not require a life without conflict. It can arise from learning to hold love and strength, justice and compassion, together.

Jacob asks us: How can we create harmony amid conflict?

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Night 4 — Moses: Netzach — Endurance and Perseverance

Moses accepts an enormous responsibility and continues despite opposition, frustration and disappointment. He leads a difficult people through the wilderness for forty years, even knowing that he himself will not enter the Promised Land.

Moses asks us: What is important enough that we continue working toward it even when the journey is difficult?

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Night 5 — Aaron: Hod — Humility and Splendor

Aaron, the first High Priest, represents a quieter form of leadership. Jewish tradition remembers him as a lover and pursuer of peace who sought reconciliation between people.

Aaron reminds us that leadership need not always command attention. There can be greatness in humility, listening and making peace.

Aaron asks us: Where can we bring peace?

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Night 6 — Joseph: Yesod — Foundation and Connection

Joseph’s life takes him from a pit to slavery, imprisonment and ultimately leadership in Egypt. Yet through enormous changes of circumstance he retains his identity and eventually reconnects with the family that betrayed him.

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Joseph represents connection and foundation—the relationships and values upon which a life can be built.

Joseph asks us: What keeps us connected to who we are when circumstances around us change?

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Night 7 — David: Malchut — Sovereignty and Leadership

David is warrior, king, poet and a deeply imperfect human being. Jewish tradition remembers both his greatness and his failures.

David represents Malchut—sovereignty and leadership. His story reminds us that leadership brings responsibility and that even great leaders must confront their mistakes.

David asks us: How do we use whatever authority and influence we possess responsibly?

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The Ushpizot — Welcoming the Women of Our Tradition

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The original Kabbalistic tradition describes seven male Ushpizin. In contemporary Jewish practice, many communities have expanded this beautiful custom by also welcoming Ushpizot—female honored guests.

Unlike the traditional Ushpizin, there is no single universally established list of seven Ushpizot. Different communities have chosen different biblical women whose lives embody important Jewish values.

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One widely used selection includes:

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Sarah • Rebecca • Leah • Rachel • Miriam • Deborah • Ruth

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The first four are our biblical matriarchs. Miriam brings prophecy, courage and leadership; Deborah was both prophet and judge; and Ruth represents loyalty, lovingkindness and the embrace of the Jewish people.

 

Other traditions include women such as Esther, Hannah, Abigail or

other significant figures from Jewish history.

 

The variety itself can be meaningful. The Ushpizot tradition invites every generation to ask:

 

Which women from our tradition would we want sitting at our table—and what might they teach us?

 

Are the Ushpizin Really in the Sukkah?

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Kabbalah offers a fascinating answer.

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In the traditional Kabbalistic understanding, the Ushpizin are more than literary symbols. The Zohar describes the Shekhinah—the Divine Presence—as dwelling with us in the sukkah, accompanied by these righteous ancestral guests. Some Jewish communities even prepare a special chair in their honor.

 

Others understand the custom symbolically: by inviting Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the others into the sukkah, we deliberately bring their stories, memories and values into our celebration.

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Jewish tradition leaves room for us to encounter the custom in different ways. Whether we understand these guests as a spiritual presence or as a powerful act of remembrance, their invitation asks essentially the same question:

 

What would it mean to make room in our sukkah—and in ourselves—for the qualities these guests represent?

 

The Invisible Guests and the Guests We Can See

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The Zohar adds an important lesson to all this mystical imagery.

It is not enough to welcome our great ancestors while forgetting actual human beings who need our hospitality.

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The tradition therefore connects welcoming the Ushpizin with welcoming and providing for people in need. Abraham, the first Ushpiz, is especially appropriate: when strangers appeared near his tent, he did not merely greet them. He hurried to provide food, water and shelter.

The invisible guests remind us of our responsibility to the visible ones.

 

That may be one of the most beautiful lessons of the Ushpizin tradition.

 

For seven nights we sit beneath the fragile roof of the sukkah and remember that none of us is entirely self-sufficient. We welcome our ancestors, our families, our friends and our neighbors. We remember those who need a place at the table.

 

And each evening another ancient guest poses a different question:

 

Abraham: How can I be more generous?

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Isaac: Where does strength require restraint?

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Jacob: How can I create harmony amid conflict?

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Moses: What is worth persevering for?

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Aaron: Where can I bring peace?

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Joseph: What keeps me connected to who I am?

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David: How should I use the influence I have?

 

The sukkah may be temporary.

The questions we carry out of it need not be.

 

Seven Women — Seven Voices

 

The tradition of welcoming Ushpizot, female honored guests, is a contemporary extension of the ancient custom of the Ushpizin. Unlike the seven traditional male guests, there is no single universally accepted list or ancient Kabbalistic assignment of qualities to the Ushpizot.

 

The women below offer one meaningful way of bringing the matriarchs and other extraordinary women of the Bible into our sukkah.

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Sarah — Hospitality, Courage and Promise

 

Sarah's journey begins when she and Abraham leave everything familiar behind and travel toward an unknown future. She shares Abraham's life of wandering and hospitality and becomes the first matriarch of the Jewish people.

 

Her story also contains years of infertility, uncertainty and finally the unexpected birth of Isaac. Sarah laughs when told that she will bear a child in old age—and Isaac's Hebrew name, Yitzhak, preserves that laughter.

 

Sarah reminds us that hope can survive long periods of uncertainty.

Sarah asks us: What hope have we carried even when its fulfillment seemed impossible?

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Rebecca — Kindness, Initiative and Determination

 

We first encounter Rebecca at a well. Abraham's servant asks her for water, and she not only gives him a drink but voluntarily draws water for all his camels—an extraordinary act of generosity toward a stranger.

Rebecca is not passive. When asked whether she will leave her family and travel to marry Isaac, she answers simply: “I will go.”

Later, she makes difficult and controversial choices concerning Jacob and Esau. Whatever we make of those decisions, Rebecca emerges from Genesis as a woman of remarkable independence and determination.

Rebecca asks us: When is kindness enough—and when must we also have the courage to act?

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Leah — Perseverance and the Desire to Be Seen

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Leah's story is one of the most poignant in Genesis. She becomes Jacob's wife through Laban's deception, while knowing that Jacob loves her sister Rachel.

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Again and again, Leah hopes that the birth of a child will finally cause Jacob to love her.

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Yet Leah becomes the mother of six of the tribes of Israel, including

Judah, from whom the Davidic line will eventually emerge, and Levi, ancestor of Moses and Aaron and the priestly tradition.

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The woman who feared she was unloved became indispensable to the story of Israel.

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Leah asks us: Who around us deserves to be truly seen?

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Rachel — Love, Hope and Remembrance

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Jacob's love for Rachel is one of the great love stories of Genesis. He works seven years to marry her, and the Torah tells us that those years seemed to him “but a few days because of his love for her.”

 

Rachel's life also contains profound longing and sorrow. She struggles to have children and eventually gives birth to Joseph and Benjamin, dying during Benjamin's birth.

 

Centuries after Rachel's death, the prophet Jeremiah portrays her as the grieving mother of Israel—Rachel weeping for her descendants as they are driven into exile. Later Jewish tradition develops this image of Rachel Imeinu, ‘Rachel our Mother,’ who continues to plead for her children and hope for their return. 

 

Rachel asks us: Whom do we continue to carry in our hearts, even when they are far from us?

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Miriam — Courage, Leadership and Song

 

Miriam appears at one of the most dangerous moments in the story of Israel. As the infant Moses floats among the reeds of the Nile, his sister watches over him and boldly approaches Pharaoh's daughter, helping arrange for their own mother to nurse him.

 

Years later, after the Israelites cross the Sea of Reeds, Miriam takes a timbrel in her hand and leads the women in music and dance.

The Torah calls her Miriam the Prophetess.

 

Jewish tradition later associates Miriam with a miraculous well that sustained Israel during its wilderness journey.

 

Miriam reminds us that leadership can mean watching over others, speaking at the right moment—and knowing when liberation calls for song.

 

Miriam asks us: When have we found the courage to raise our voice?

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Deborah — Wisdom, Justice and Leadership

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Deborah is one of the Bible's most remarkable leaders. The Book of Judges identifies her as both a prophet and a judge, and Israelites come to her to have their disputes decided.

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When Israel faces military oppression, Deborah summons Barak and tells him that God has commanded him to lead the Israelites into battle. When Barak says he will go only if Deborah accompanies him, she agrees.

 

After victory, Deborah and Barak sing one of the Bible's oldest poems—the Song of Deborah.

 

She exercises authority not because she inherits a throne, but because people recognize her wisdom and leadership.

 

Deborah asks us: When circumstances demand leadership, are we willing to step forward?

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Ruth — Loyalty, Lovingkindness and Belonging

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Ruth begins her story as an outsider—a Moabite widow with no obligation to remain with her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi.

 

Yet Ruth refuses to abandon her.

 

Her words have become some of the most beloved in the Bible:

“Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”

 

Ruth builds a new life through courage, loyalty and chesed—lovingkindness. She marries Boaz and becomes the great-grandmother of King David.

 

A woman who enters the story as a foreigner becomes part of the ancestry of Israel's greatest king.

 

Ruth asks us: What does it really mean to make someone part of our community?

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Welcoming the Ushpizot

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The Ushpizot give us another way to experience the sukkah as a place of memory, hospitality and reflection.

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Sarah: What hope do I continue to carry?

 

Rebecca: When should I turn kindness into action?

 

Leah: Who needs to be truly seen?

 

Rachel: Whom do I continue to carry in my heart?

 

Miriam: When should I raise my voice?

 

Deborah: When should I step forward and lead?

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Ruth: How can I make another person truly feel that they belong?

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When we invite these women into our sukkah, we invite more than their names.

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We invite their stories—and the questions their lives still ask of us.

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Chag Sukkot Sameach — may this be a season of joy for us all.