Editing Sukkot (section)

{{short description|Jewish Holiday, Harvest Festival, Festival of Booths}}{{engvarb|date=August 2024}}
{{for|the biblical location|Sukkot (place)}}
{{Redirect|Ingathering|the Ingathering of the Exiles (Kibbutz Galuyot)|Gathering of Israel|the Zenna Henderson story collection|Ingathering: The Complete People Stories}}
{{Infobox holiday
| image         = Image:Sukkoth - IZE10160.jpg
| caption       = A sukkah (plural: sukkot) in a [[kibbutz]] in [[Gush Etzion]]
| holiday_name  = Sukkot
| official_name = {{langx|he|סוכות}} or {{Script/Hebrew|סֻכּוֹת}}<br />("Booths, Tabernacles")
| observedby    = *[[Jew]]s
*[[Samaritans]]
*[[Semitic Neopaganism|Semitic Neopagans]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Silver-Willner |first=Arielle |date=2021-07-29 |title=Pagans, Priestesses & Witches… but Jewishly |url=https://lilith.org/articles/jewitches/ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=[[Lilith Magazine]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
| type          = Jewish, Samaritan
| begins        = 15th day of [[Tishrei]]
| ends          = 21st day of Tishrei
| date{{LASTYEAR}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=last}}
| date{{CURRENTYEAR}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=current}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zmanim - Halachic Times |url=https://www.chabad.org/calendar/zmanim_cdo/locationid/84/locationtype/1/tdate/10-10-2022/jewish/Halachic-Times.htm |website=www.chabad.org}}</ref>
| date{{NEXTYEAR}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=next}}
| date{{NEXTYEAR|2}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=next2}}
| observances   = Dwelling and eating festive meals in a ''[[sukkah]]''; holding and carrying the ''[[four species]]''; doing ''[[hakafot]]'' and praising God with ''[[hallel]]'' prayers in [[synagogue]]s
| significance  = One of the [[three pilgrimage festivals]] ''[[shalosh regalim]]''
| relatedto     = [[Shemini Atzeret]], [[Simchat Torah]]
| alt           = 
| nickname      = 
| litcolor      = 
| celebrations  = 
| date          = 15 Tishrei, 16 Tishrei, 17 Tishrei, 18 Tishrei, 19 Tishrei, 20 Tishrei, 21 Tishrei
| weekday       = 
| month         = 
| scheduling    = same days each year
| duration      = 
| frequency     = 
| firsttime     = 
| startedby     = 
}}
[[File:EtrogC.jpg|thumb|Sukkot's [[Four species|4 Holy Species]] from left to right: [[Hadass]] ([[myrtus|myrtle]]), [[Lulav]] ([[Arecaceae|palm]] frond), [[Aravah (Sukkot)|Aravah]] ([[willow]] branch), [[Etrog]] ([[citron]]) carrier, Etrog (citron) outside its carrier]]

'''Sukkot''',{{Efn|{{langx|hbo|text=חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת}} ''Ḥag haSukkōṯ'', lit. "the [[Three Pilgrimage Festivals|pilgrimage]] of booths". Also spelled Sukkoth, Succot; [[Ashkenazi Hebrew]]: ''Sukkōs''}} also known as the '''Feast of Tabernacles''' or '''Feast of Booths''', is a [[Torah]]-commanded [[Jewish holiday]] celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of [[Tishrei]]. It is one of the [[Three Pilgrimage Festivals]] on which [[Israelites]] were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the [[Temple in Jerusalem]]. Biblically an autumn [[harvest festival]] and a commemoration of [[the Exodus]] from Egypt, Sukkot's modern observance is characterized by festive meals in a [[sukkah]], a temporary wood-covered hut.

The names used in the [[Torah]] are "Festival of Ingathering" (or "Harvest Festival", {{langx|he|חַג הָאָסִיף
|ḥag hāʾāsif}})<ref name =com>{{Cite web |title= Sukkot {{!}} Meaning, Traditions, & Tabernacles {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sukkoth-Judaism |access-date=2022-06-22 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> and "Festival of Booths" ({{langx|he|חג הסכות|Ḥag hasSukkōṯ}}).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sukkot, The Feast of Booths (known to some as the Feast of Tabernacles) {{!}} Jewish Voice |url=https://www.jewishvoice.org/read/blog/sukkot-feast-booths-known-some-feast-tabernacles |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=www.jewishvoice.org}}</ref><ref name =com/> This corresponds to the double significance of Sukkot. The one mentioned in the [[Book of Exodus]] is agricultural in nature—"Festival of Ingathering at the year's end" ({{bibleverse|Exodus |34:22}})—and marks the end of the harvest time and thus of the agricultural year in the [[Land of Israel]]. The more elaborate religious significance from the [[Book of Leviticus]] is that of commemorating [[the Exodus]] and the dependence of the [[Israelites]] on the will of God ({{bibleverse|Leviticus|23:42–43}}).

As an extension of its harvest festival community roots, the idea of welcoming all guests and extending hospitality is intrinsic to the celebration. Actual and symbolic "guests" (Aramaic: ''ushpizin'') are invited to participate by visiting the sukkah. Specifically, seven "forefathers" of the Jewish people are to be welcomed during the seven days of the festival, in this order: Day 1: Abraham; Day 2: Isaac; Day 3: Jacob; Day 4: Moses; Day 5: Aaron; Day 6: Joseph; Day 7: David.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 20, 2024 |title=Chabad Library |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/571505/jewish/The-Ushpizin.htm }}</ref>

The holiday lasts seven days. The first day (and second day in the diaspora) is a [[Shabbat]]-like [[Jewish holiday|holiday]] when [[melacha|work]] is forbidden. This is followed by intermediate days called [[Chol HaMoed]], during which certain work is permitted. The festival is closed with another Shabbat-like holiday called [[Shemini Atzeret]] (one day in the Land of Israel, two days in the diaspora, where the second day is called [[Simchat Torah]]). 

The Hebrew word ''{{transliteration|he|sukkoṯ}}'' is the plural of ''[[sukkah]]'' ('[[:wikt:booth|booth]]' or '[[:wikt:tabernacle|tabernacle]]') which is a walled structure covered with ''[[s'chach]]'' (plant material, such as overgrowth or palm leaves). A sukkah is the name of the temporary dwelling in which farmers would live during harvesting, reinforcing agricultural significance of the holiday introduced in the Book of Exodus. As stated in [[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]], it is also reminiscent of the type of fragile dwellings in which the Israelites dwelled during their 40 years of travel in the desert after the Exodus from slavery in [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]]. Throughout the holiday, meals are eaten inside the sukkah and many people sleep there as well.

On each day of the holiday it is a [[mitzvah]], or commandment, to 'dwell' in the sukkah and to perform a shaking ceremony with a [[lulav]] (a [[date palm|palm]] frond, then bound with [[myrtus|myrtle]] and [[willow]]), and an [[etrog]] (the fruit of a [[citron]] tree) (collectively known as the [[four species]]). The fragile shelter, the 'now-three-item' lulav, the etrog, the revived [[Simchat Beit HaShoeivah]] celebration's focus on water and rainfall and the holiday's harvest festival roots draw attention to people's dependence on the natural environment.