A   S U K K A H   G A L L E R Y With Dovid Gross If the picture border is colored, you can click for a bigger view A sukkah must have at least three walls. The fourth side can be left open, if necessary. Here you can see how people build their sukkot to be as if they are a part of their home. The walls of the sukkah may be of any material, and fixed so they won't easily blow down in the wind. These walls can even be the side of a building. This is the sukkah factory yard in Beis Yisroel, Jerusalem, and you can buy as many wall segments as you like. A sukkah can be small enough for one person or big enough for hundreds of people. If you've ever wondered why most Jerusalem apartments have a porch (mirpeset), it's because they're easily made into a sukkah! Add some walls and some sekhakh (below), decorate and you're done! This porch is enclosed year-round, but the roof slides away. By placing sekhakh on top this becomes a kosher sukkah. The "temporary" aspect of the sukkah is in its roof. The material used to build it is called "sekhakh. Anything which grows from the ground (and is now cut from the ground qualifies, meaning you couldn't just drape growing vines over your walls. Also, the material can't be subject to ritual impurity (tumah), which excludes fruits, for example. So, branches cut off from trees and bushes, bamboo reeds and sticks all qualify. Here in Israel we use palm branches like these. Today, many people buy sekhakh in the form of woven mats, manufactured especially for the purpose of Sukkot. You can buy them in a variety of sizes and textures. The sukkah is usually decorated to make it inviting and cheery. It is customary to hang different fruits from the sukkah, and to hang pictures and decorations from the wall. This candy shop in Jerusalem was "re-purposed " for Sukkot and sells decorations -- for this week only! Having guests for the meal during Sukkot is one of the joys of the festival, and someone's Mom is always cookin' up something. This is my sukkah. It's great to welcome your friends and share a snack. This year, Wife and Baby get to join in too!