The Feast Of Tabernacles

or Succot, as it's more commonly called.

This is harvest festival time and a time of joy after a period of repentence and reconcilliation with God, other people and ourselves.

A Succah is a rickety makeshift dwelling that represents the only shelter that the Israelites had on the journey out of Egypt.

For seven days meals are eaten here and in the more pious Jewish homes, they may sleep in them too. How they look depends on the means, ability and imagination of the builder, from a small humble shelter on a balcony to an elaborately decorated larger one in a garden.

Despite the variations, there are certain conditions to a correctly erected Succa. It must be between 32 inches to 30 feet high, and not smaller than 22.4 inches square ( no limit to how big ). The walls can be of any material sturdy enough to withstand a normal wind, but the roof must be of raw, unfinished vegetable material ( such as palm fronds, corn salks, reeds ) and you must be able to see patches of sky through it, so you can see the stars at night. Inside, the walls may be decorated with fruit and vegetables of the season, or at least pictures of them ( and whatever else the children have made at

As a joy shared is a joy doubled, the succot are open to anyone who wishes to enter, so there may be many visitors ( and visiting ) during this week.

Of course there are a multitude of dishes that accompany this festival, all involving seasonal fruit and veg, Fluden is one of my favourites ( layers of sweet pastry, with layers of nut, poppy seed and apple filling ) but it looks a bit of a mission to make, so I'll just be looking at it in the cook book this year!

I'm still off work as I looked like a Klingon half-breed again this morning. I think the swelling's going down a bit, but I thought that yesterday and yet it wasn't a pretty sight in the bathroom mirror this morning!

Oh yeah, and my Succah doesn't quite fill the criteria, but it's the thought that counts, isn't it?