Overview
- Communities and families are finishing sukkah construction and decorations as Sukkot begins at sundown on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, with observance continuing through sundown Oct. 13, 2026.
- Religious guides stress practical rules from classical law, including the traditional instruction to begin building the sukkah immediately after Yom Kippur so worship moves from one commanded act into the next.
- Writings this week highlight Sukkot’s core rituals — dwelling in the sukkah, taking the lulav and etrog, and reciting festival prayers — as expressions of mandated rejoicing called simcha.
- Commentators and historians link the sukkah’s fragility to the Exodus memory of transit camps and the protective ‘Clouds of Glory,’ using that history to frame modern themes of dependence, resilience and faith.
- Modern voices emphasize hiddur mitzvah, the value of beautifying the commandment, and note that decorating, music and communal gatherings make the sukkah a space for personal expression and communal renewal.