The Jewish holiday of Sukkot will be celebrated this year between October 16-24, 2016.

Sukkot is one of the three Biblical traditional holidays of pilgrimage; an agricultural festival that originates from the Bible days and is considered a thank you tribute for the fruit harvest.

Sukkot is the “Feast of Ingathering.” (Exodus 34:22) On a spiritual level as well, Sukkot brings along the opportunity to survey our resources and take stock of our abundance. In full recognition of God’s role in the productivity of our lives, we express gratitude that in an often-tenuous world, we are being sustained. How can we acknowledge in a continual way our thankfulness that our lives are sustained? We acknowledge our gratitude through food.

For our ancestors, daily and festival offerings of animals and of produce were the primary way to sanctify God. However, in contemporary Jewish life, there is always the opportunity to sanctify God through food.

Lulav and Etrog

By thanking God for sustenance, the most basic necessity, we elevate our most basic daily activity to the highest level of sanctification. And this is one of the Sukkot messages we can carry with us throughout the year.