Sukkot on Virtual Jerusalem

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Sukkot this year begins on October 18 , and continues until October 25 in Israel, and until October 26 in the rest of the world.

Make Virtual Jerusalem your Internet Sukkah this year!

Sukkot is one of the most exciting holidays in the Jewish calendar. It offers us a variety of active and colorful customs that absorb us within our homes and synagogues and connect us with nature and the seasons.

Virtual Jerusalem presents a colorful review of this Festival of Joy, reminding us of its historical, agricultural and philosophical aspects. We take a look at Sukkot, day by day, as the first days merge into Hoshanah Rabba, Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.

We explore in depth the intricacies of setting up a Sukkah and the various plants and fruit that make up the Four Species. Other themes include your extra Sukkot guests - the Ushpizin - and the Jewish concept of "Joy." For your further enrichment, we offer you a direct link to Ohr Somayach's Sukkot Holiday Homepage.

Time to enhance the festival with some interactive preparations:

Sukkot is one of Judaism's three Pilgrimage Holidays, when tens of thousands traveled to Jerusalem. If you can't be there in person, why not take a virtual tour of the Holy City, Send a Prayer to the Wailing Wall, or watch the special Birkat Cohanim (priestly blessing) to take place there this week?

Looking for something good to serve in the Sukkah? Well, just click to our Recipes section

There is always more to the Jewish holidays than meets the eye - and Sukkot is no exception.

Virtual Jerusalem brings you a selection of articles written by some of the Jewish world's leading lights that throw new perspectives on the Sukkot holiday.

Why are there four species to "take" on Sukkot?
Why do we need to move to a "temporary" home during the holiday?
What special links to Eretz Yisrael are manifested during Sukkot?
What connection is there between Yom Kippur and Sukkot?
Search our Insights column for answers to these and a host of other questions that will help illuminate your Sukkot festivities and add new dimensions to your appreciation of Sukkot's special customs.