Sukkot

In our backyards, on our porches, and outside our synagogues, Jews mark the fall harvest by building sturdy—yet fragile—structures out of natural materials, symbolizing both human vulnerability and God’s protection. No harvest holiday is complete without its fertility symbols, and Sukkot—when we wave the lulav and etrog—is no exception. Welcome Jewish women from throughout the ages into your sukkah as ushpizot, honored guests. Enjoy the crisp autumn air as you decorate your sukkah, then spend time with friends and family, celebrating your blessings and committing to sharing your bounty with others.

Latest Rituals

Sukkot

“Rain pours through the schach open to the stars…”

Two people decorating an outdoor sukkah with greenery, under a wooden roof, with a table of supplies nearby.

Sukkot: Every Year We Are Instructed

“Learn to live together as the family you have always been. Together, let us be a blessing.”

Gaza, Israel, peace, sukkah, war

purple grapes hanging on a vine

Under the Broken Sky: A Prayer for Sukkot

“On Sukkot we bring our disparate parts back to ourselves…”

clouds in a blue sky

Season of Our Joy

“I squeeze the etrog and smell it, and my heart swells. / The mitzvah is to take the dare…”

etrog, joy, lulav, Sukkot

lulav and etrog

Refuge

“She had become a / living, breathing tabernacle…”

God, shelter, spirituality

a path through tall green trees, light comes over the path

A Tikkun for Shaking the Lulav

A new tikkun to add meaning to the traditional ritual.

lulav and etrog

Dwell: A Poem for the Divine Mother

“In Hebrew, shakan, dwelling place, often referred to a royal residence. / The rabbis gave it a feminine ending: Shekhinah. Divine mother.”

moon, sarah, Shekhinah, sukkah

womans eye visible behind giant ferns

Sukkah, 2022, Incomplete

“Every day we exist inside unfinished business.”

children, forgiveness, joy, sukkah

Sukkot in a western redcedar

“…I wish to take a redcedar frond, salal and spirea, and pacific crab apple and bring them together…”

nature, sukkah, tree

redcedar branches

Prayer for Shabbat Sukkot

“The quest for wisdom, / The struggle for justice”

interior of a sukkah with table covered in blue tablecloth and sunlight creating shadows on a white wall