Sukkot is a seven-day Jewish festival, which begins on the fifth day following Yom Kippur. It marks the harvest, and commemorates the forty years of exile the Jews had after escaping from Israel. There are several different names for Sukkot. It can be called the Day of Booths, or the Feast of the Tabernacles. It also may be termed The Days of our Rejoicing.

The meaning of a booth is tied to the definition of sukkot, the plural form of sukkah. Essentially a sukkah is a temporary structure for housing. They are meant to be symbolic of the temporary huts the Children of Israel may have built while in exile.

During the first two days of Sukkot, Jews may spend time, eat and sleep in these sukkot. This is not always the case. Some reformed Jews, particularly in the US do not build these structures. Children may build little structures of popsicle sticks or the like, but residing in sukkot for several days may not be observed.

Even where sukkot are commonly built, people may often leave sukkot if the elements are bad. Since the roof is open, for example, people may not sleep in the sukkot if it is raining. Much depends upon the various sect of Judaism to which one belongs.

A sukkah may be elaborately decorated. The festival also marks the harvest. Thus typical decorations may include fall-oriented items like gourds or pumpkins, tall corn stalks, palm branches, and beautifully colored leaves.

Sukkot is also meant to be days of traveling and visiting, since these two reflect the wandering of the Ancient Jews. Families will often visit families or friends in the evening and eat special meals together. Some use the Sukkot as a time to being a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, or simply to take a special family trip.

During Sukkot services in Temple, a special part of the ceremony may include the use of four species of plant while moving around the temple and praying. These plants are determined by a passage in Leviticus and are one palm branch, two willow branches, three myrtle branches, and a branch from a citrus tree. These are woven together. When unavailable, Jews may simply use woven palm leaves.

Some say that the branches represent the different types of Jews, and the binding of them represents bringing the community together as a whole. Others suggest the shapes of the branches are analogous to various parts of the body, such as the eye, the mouth, the heart and the spine.