The Jewish holiday of Sukkot is coming up! This holiday is called "the time of our happiness" and is celebrated with dancing, singing and eating, which takes place in the Sukkah, or temporary outdoor hut. Here's more information on Sukkot and some arts and crafts projects for your family!
What is Sukkot?
"In booths you are to dwell for seven days ...so that your generations will know that I caused the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I took them from the land of Egypt...."
-- Leviticus 23: 42-43
Sukkot is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the Exodus from Egypt. When the Jews were wandering in the dessert, G-d* protected them with His Clouds of Glory. These mystical clouds protected the Jews and acted like a huge outdoor house. To commemorate this miracle, we build Sukkot, or outdoor temporary huts, and eat, sleep and hang out in them for seven days. (Eight days outside of the Land of Israel.)
A Sukkah must have at least two and a half walls, and the roof of the Sukkah is made from sticks, bamboo, palm trees leaves or anything that grows from the ground and has been detached. The roof must be thick enough so that there is more shade than sunlight, but not so thick that you can not see the stars. The walls can be made of anything, including tarp, plastic, brick or wood. If your Sukkah is built right next to your home, the wall of your house can count as the wall of the Sukkah. For more information on building a Sukkah, check out Aish HaTorah's Sukkot website.
There are various customs regarding decorating the Sukkah. Some Jews do not decorate their Sukkah, while others do. For those that do not, you can make the honey dish craft below. For those that do, enjoy decorating your Sukkah with the Clouds of Glory or the Links Through Time crafts below!
Clouds of Glory
What you need:
Blue poster board
Scissors
Cotton balls
Glue
Hole puncher
Yarn, preferably white sparkly or some other nice design
Draw and cut out cloud shapes from the poster board. You can make them different sizes or all the same, it doesn't matter. Using the hole puncher, puncher a hole near the top of each cloud and tie a 4-6 inch piece of yarn to the cloud.
Next, lightly spread glue on one side of the clouds, and stick on cotton balls. Allow to dry. Then, repeat on opposite side of cloud. Hang clouds from the beams of the Sukkah!
Links through time
What you need:
Construction paper
Markers
Scissors, preferably those that make a designed cut.
Cut 1.5 by 8 inch strips of paper. Write the name of different people from the Bible in the order they appear on each strip. For example, on the first strip write Abraham's name; on the second strip write Isaac, on the third Jacob and so on.
After the last Bible name you can think of, use your child's great grandparents' names and continue the chain until you include all your kids' names. Link strips together with tape and hang from the Sukkah ceiling or against the Sukkah walls.
Beaded honey dish
What you need:
Small Plastic dish (you can use those small round disposable containers made by Ziplock)
Beads, glitter
Glue
Decorate sides of dish by gluing beads and glitter to the sides of the dish. Allow to dry. Fill with some honey and dip Challah, or bread, into the bowel at the meal.
Note: It is a tradition to dip our bread into honey during the High Holy Day season, symbolizing the desire for a sweet new year.
Chag Sameach - Have a wonderful Holiday!!
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