Succot is a Jewish festival. It lasts eight or nine days. They build a hut called a Succah. They stay in there and bring tables and chairs, even beds during the time. The Succot festival is actually thanking G*d for giving them, food, shelter, and safety. They have something that does not have a name but is made of a palm, a willow, a myrtle and an etrog. These are bound together and waved at the blessing. The Jews say:
The palm has taste but no smell.
The etrog (citrus fruit) has taste and smell.
The myrtle has smell but no taste.
The willow has no smell and no taste.
They say: Taste represents learning and that smell represents good deeds or work.
The Jewish festival of Succot is in the autumn and is similar in many ways to our Harvest Festival. It is a time to thank G*d for providing for them. It is also a time to remember the time that the Jewish people spent in flight from Egypt when they lived in the desert. To remember this time Jews build a succah. That is a hut often having a wooden frame and a roof of branches and leaves which they can see the stars through. It is decorated with fruit and candles. During the festival Jews spend as much time as they can in their succah, they have meals, talk, tell stories and sing out there. If they live in a hot country then they will often sleep there.
Paul describes the four items used in the blessing at Succot. Another explanation for these symbols is in the earth, fire, air and water that make up our world. Etrog is yellow for fire, palm grows up into the sky, it represents air, myrtle grows close to the ground symbolizing earth and willow growing beside water represents water.
The last day of the festival is always the shabbat and has a special name, it is called the Simchat Torah. This is the day the yearly reading of the Torah scrolls is finished. The scrolls are carried round the synagogue in a very joyous, happy procession to show how much they rejoice in G*d's commandments. During the last day of the festival of Succot the favourite readings are from the book of Ecclesiastes. It celebrates the end of one cycle and the start of a new, and ponders on the uncertainty of life.
For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to reap;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep , and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love , and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)