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4d ago

As Sukkot Begins, the Sukkah’s Fragile Shelter Is Cast as a Sign of Protection

Commentary stresses that the huts’ vulnerability teaches reliance on God that, in turn, fosters rejoicing.

Jewish languages, like ancestors, bring tradition into the sukkah (Illustration by Grace Yagel)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish children play next to Sukkahs, a temporary structures built for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Sukkot in the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men inspect an etrog, a citrus fruit, to determine if it is ritually acceptable as one of the four items used as a symbol on the upcoming Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men inspect myrtle branches to determine if it is ritually acceptable as one of the four items used as a symbol on the upcoming Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Overview

  • The 2025 festival runs from sundown Monday, October 6 through sundown Monday, October 13.
  • Jewish tradition identifies the sukkah with the protective 'clouds of glory,' a theme renewed in new essays that describe it as conveying ultimate security from above despite real-world threats.
  • Israeli religious writers revisit the holiday’s meaning after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, invoking protection, vigilance and martial metaphors and calling for prayers for hostages, peace and communal restoration.
  • Practical guides reiterate core observance: dwell in a sukkah for seven days, take the four species daily except on Shabbat, and build with at least three walls and natural s’chach that allows starlight yet provides more shade than sun.
  • Features document wide local variation—from rooftop and balcony sukkot to regionally inflected meals—and report scholarly proposals that the booths echo harvest shelters or ancient Near Eastern precedents.