For just over one week a year, the Jewish world moves out to the shady confines of the sukkah. Here are nine reasons you'll want to pull up a chair.
1. The Weather Is Just Right (We Pray)
This is kind of ironic considering that the Talmud teaches that Sukkot is often when it’s too hot to be outdoors. But in much of the world, the summer heat has finally broken, the winter chill hasn't arrived yet, and the early fall is a perfect time (we hope and pray) for some quasi-outdoor chilling.
2. It's a Hug From G‑d
You do most mitzvahs with just one part of you, such as your hands or your mouth. But when you step inside the sukkah, you're not holding a mitzvah — you're being held by one. That's why the sukkah is described as G‑d’s embrace. So snuggle right up.
Read: Hugged by a Sukkah
3. Just Chillin’ Has Never Been So Productive
Eating dinner in the sukkah is a mitzvah. So is drinking tea, learning Torah, telling your kids a story, playing a board game, and just about anything else (you only make the special sukkah blessing, however, before a meal). The sukkah takes your ordinary human activities and makes them holy.
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4. There’s Good Company
“All of Israel are fit to sit in a single sukkah,” say our Sages. Indeed, the sukkah is a great place to hang out with family and friends. Somehow, even in the snuggest sukkah, there’s always room for one more folding chair.
5. Make That: Heavenly Company
Each night of the holiday, the seven shepherds of Israel — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David, known collectively as the Ushpizin — come to visit with another one taking the lead. Now, how can you turn down company like that?
6. You Can Double Up and Shake the Lulav
Why stop with one mitzvah when two are available? If you did not yet do it that day (and it’s neither Shabbat nor nighttime) you can take the lulav and etrog right there in the sukkah, so that one mitzvah happens inside another. How’s that for a deal? Two for the price of one!
7. There’s Great Food
We eat in the sukkah for the duration of the Sukkot holiday (and the next day as well in the Diaspora). On the first two days, we eat full-on holiday feasts, replete with kiddush over wine, challah (dipped in honey), gefilte fish, brisket, and all the fantastic Jewish foods that make your mouth water. Yum!
Browse: Award-Winning Sukkot Recipes
8. It Comes to You
The Talmud discusses the possibilities of a sukkah on a cart or even the back of a camel. Nowadays, Chabad operates an international fleet of truck-mounted sukkah mobiles and pedi sukkahs so that any Jew, wherever they may be, can enjoy some time in the sukkah over Sukkot.
9. It Comes Around Only Once a Year
Our sukkah time lasts just 7 days — 8 days in the Diaspora. Then we dance up a storm on Simchat Torah, and the sechach comes down and the walls go back in the garage until next year. So what are you waiting for? Head over to your local Chabad House for a fantastic time in the sukkah!
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