The Sukkot Symbolism

Many meaningful holidays are celebrated by Jewish people annually, but one of the oldest ones is the Sukkot holiday. At the end of September and beginning of October, every year comes the celebration of Sukkot, which resembles and honours the Israelites’ nomadic 40 years exodus from Egypt. It was commanded for all Jewish people to observe the holiday by spending seven days in wilderness in sukkah, or “huts/booth” from the Hebrew: “You shall live in sukkoth seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in sukkoth, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in sukkoth when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23:42–43, Hebrew-English Tanakh). The sukkot are historically

In the same manner, the Sukkot has two prevalent interpretations of the idea and origins of the holiday. On one side, a large number of Jewish people finds truth in the belief that sukkot were the “clouds of glory” sent by God to assure the Jews’ safety. It is believed that the seven clouds enveloped and shielded the Israelites for 40 years during their wandering in the desert after the Exodus. The purpose was simple - to protect the ‘people of God’ no matter the danger. Symbolically, the sukkot structures remind the Jewish people of God’s divine presence during the holiday; its roofs cast shades and in the same manner as God, provide the people with a safe place from the melting sun. Thus, in the “shade of God” people find themselves surrounded by God’s love, that long before them was experienced by their ancestors in the desert. In such fashion, it became a metaphorical symbol for piece and love of all Israelites; the holy connection of the Jews celebrating all around the world for thousands of years, who are united into one nation loved and protected by

The belief is that the Israelites’ dwelled in these wobbly sukkot while living in the merciless desert: they ”dwelled in a wretched place, a place with no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates" (Numbers 20:5). The use of sukkot goes back in time when people built them to escape pulsating hot temperatures during summer seasons. Sukkot provided them with comforting and cooling shades as well as a breezy shelter, but in winter seasons were abandoned by their former dwellers. To fully understand its meaning, many valuable texts refer to it as a symbol of delicacy and instability, and in the Book of Jobs it is said: "The house he built is like a bird's nest, like the sukka a watchman makes. He lies down a rich man, with his wealth intact; when he opens his eyes it is gone" (Job 27:18). It is important to understand that the very idea of sukkot commonly understood as the essence of changeability and ephemerality of the world. As illustrated, the second understanding of the symbol of sukkah is very much different from the idea of divine clouds - one stands for the idea of experiencing God’s love and his presence, while the other is emphasizing the transitory state of the world. Nevertheless, they both unite and bring Jewish people together, connecting them back to their roots through the observance of customs such as reading special