Aviva Chudow

The Torah reading for the first two days of Sukkot is Leviticus 22:26 — 23:44

As you may know, the 15th of Tishrei, the first day of Sukkot, also happens to be on Shabbat this year. The Torah portion we read, which is taken from Parshat Emor, discusses the different major holidays we celebrate, and some of their rules, including Sukkot. The word “sukkot” literally means “shaded booths,” which is what we build for the holiday. On Sukkot, we are commanded to feel joy.

The Torah portion tells us, “and you shall rejoice before the Eternal your God seven days.” (Leviticus 23:40)

According to Aish, the text from the Torah means that on Sukkot you should only be joyful, experiencing no other emotions like sadness or anger. If someone were to feel uncomfortable eating in or sleeping in a sukkah, then they are not obligated to do that, because it will make them unhappy, which directly goes against this commandment.

The Torah states that we build sukkot to remind us how the Jews had to live in the desert for 40 years. The reason why we are obligated to rejoice on Sukkot is because we are supposed to remember our freedom from Egypt and from slavery, which is certainly a reason to celebrate.

One of the reasons I chose to have a Sukkot bat mitzvah is because I love Hallel, a collection of fun holiday Psalms. I mostly love Hallel because of the upbeat, joyous tunes, which relate back to the fact that Sukkot is a joyous and fun holiday.

Another reason I chose a Sukkot bat mitzvah is because I love nature. According to Chabad, there are no holidays that specifically tell us to be outside except for Sukkot. I think that we should be outside more often, but for the people that don’t, it’s a great thing to have a holiday like this, where we are outdoors, admiring and taking in the beautiful world that God created.

However, being outside on Sukkot isn’t just about nature. Like everything else in Judaism, it has a deeper meaning. According to Aish, to symbolically leave your home and live in a booth open to nature and the rest of the world shows that you have an ambition to identify yourself based on your values and morals instead of your material success and social status. This means that when you leave your homes and purposefully live in the sukkah without all of your possessions, you are free to focus on the more important things, like your values.

I love nature and the feeling of calmness from being outdoors. There are many rules of building a sukkah, and they all relate to the beautiful world of nature. One of these rules is that you should be able to see the stars at night through the schach, the roof of the sukkah. Within the rules of building sukkot, there are specific materials that can and cannot be used. Some examples of what you can use to build the schach are: bamboo, reeds, corn stalks, narrow strips of unfinished lumber and special schach mats, which are all natural materials.

My family decorates our sukkah with fake fruits hanging from the schach, lights and posters. I love the family traditions that my family has done over the years. My favorite Sukkot family tradition is “Wacky Mac in the Sukkah,” which I started. It’s pretty self-explanatory, but it’s when we cook Wacky Mac and eat it in our Sukkah. We always take pictures of us eating it, which is very fun. I hope that you find joy and meaning in the holiday of Sukkot and nature just like I do!

Aviva Chudow is a seventh-grade student at Krieger Schechter Day School.