This festival commemorates the wanderings of the Jews in the wilderness after their Exodus from Egypt, when they had to dwell in makeshift booths or huts. It is also the time of the fruit harvest when we Jews thank G_d for giving us such bountiful produce. Succot is known as the holiday of joy. We build booths of wood and branches, and decorate them with pictures and hanging fruit.
There are three main references for this festival
Chag HaSuccot - The Festival of Booths
Chag Ha'Osif - The Festival of Ingathering
Zeman Simchosaynu - The Season of Our Rejoicing
The Succah is a temporary structure constructed in either the back yard, the garden, or as an attachment to the home. It is customary for pious Jews to drive the first nail for the building of the sukkah at the end of Yom Kippur.
The sukkah is a four-walled building with "schach" (leaves and branches) as a covering. Schach may be any plant material which grew from the ground, such as tree branches or corn stalks.
The schach must be spread on the roof of the Succah so that there is more shade than sun within the sukkah. There should still be enough spaces within the schach to be able to see the stars from inside the sukkah.
The four species - Arbah Minim
During the festival it is customary to take these four kinds of plants in accordance with the commandment "To rejoice before G-D" These are:
Lulav - A palm branch
Haddasim - Three myrtle twigs
Aravot - Two willow branches
Etrog - A citron
The custom is to bind the branches so that when the lulav is held with the spine of the lulav facing the holder, the hadassim are to the holder's right and the aravot are to the holder's left.
We then recites the blessing
"Blessed are You, God... who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to take the lulav."
The etrog is then turned over and the lulav is shaken in six directions. as follows:
Forwards (North) - Shake three times
To the Right (East) - Shake three times
Behind the right Shoulder (South) - Shake three times.
To the left (West) - Shake three times
Upwards - Shake three times
Downwards - Shake three times
