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Hut for the Harvest - Sukkot

    September 25th marks the beginning of Sukkot, an eight day holiday in which Jewish families give thanks for gifts that come from the land. A popular custom is to serve all meals outdoors in a sukkah for eight days. The sukkah would be a simple hut built out of sticks, palm tree leaves and filled with the fall harvest.

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     Building a sukkah can be a fun family affair. Four species are always used in the sukkah: citron (etrog), palm branch (lulav), 3 myrtle (hades) and 2 willow (aravah). Each day of Sukkot except on Shabbat, we shake these four species together during the daytime after saying the blessing.

    Why do we have this custom? One explanation is that each of the four species represents a different.type of Jew. The mitzvah (good deed) requires all four kinds to symbolize our oneness as a people: we all need one another. These four species are waved in all four directions (north, south, east and west) and up and down, signifying that G-d is everywhere.

Blessing for the Four Species

[The first time you do it: and add below blessing as well:]

Ba-ruch A-tah Ado-noi E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech HaOlom She-heh-che-yoh-nu vi-ki-ye-mo-nu ve-hege-o-nu liz-man ha-zeta

[Each time after the first time:]

Ba-ruch A-tah Ado-noi E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech HaOlom A-sher Ki-de-sha-nu Be-mitz-vo-sov Vi-tzivo-nu Awl Ne-te-las Lu-lav

Art and Crafts

Build A Tabletop Sukkah

Supplies:

polymer
clay
green floral wire
popsicle sticks (or shoebox)
glue
toothpicks

Knead the clay to soften it. Shape it into small peppers, squashes, pumpkins, and clusters of grapes.

Insert a short length of floral wire into the center ot each fnuit or vegetable and bend the top to make a small hook. Arrange the clay pieces in a glass (not metal or foil) baking dish and bake them according to the directions on the packages. Let the baked pieces cool completely before removing them from the dish.

Building The Hut: you can use either a shoebox or use popsicle sticks and burlap to build the sukkah. Start by gluing the sticks together to fomm open-air frames for the sides, back, and roof. Once the glue dries, stand up the frames and use twine or string to tie them together at the corners. Then glue pieces of burlap onto the sides and back.

Decorating The Sukkah: once the sukkah is complete, your child can hang his fruits and vegetables from the roof by looping twine around the floral wire hooks and then around the popsicle stick rafters. Cut out a bunch of tissue paper leaves. Glue the leaves onto toothpicks, then glue or tie the wooden stems to the roof of the sukkah.

You can even use your child's doll house accessories to fumish the sukkah!

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