Sukkot begins at sundown
The seven-day festival gets its name from the huts or “sukkahs” that Moses and the Israelites lived in as they wandered the desert for 40 years before they reached the Promised Land.
Jewish congregations in Oklahoma celebrate along with Jews across the world, God’s faithfulness to the Israelites. As they build sukkahs at their synagogues and temples, the structures serve as reminders that the Lord is still faithful today. In the 2005 photograph pictured at left are members of Temple B’nai Israel in Oklahoma City enjoying the sukkah built on temple grounds.
Many Jewish people also build sukkahs at their homes and eat and sleep in them over the course of the festival.
Meanwhile, Sukkot serves as a reminder to congregations of their agricultural roots and the harvest. People often hang papier-mache vegetables from the sukkah’s ceiling to signify that God blessed the Israelites with a harvest of food they needed to survive.
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