Soukka

Central symbol of the Jewish holiday of Soukkot , the soukka (or soucca , héb. סוכה, " cabane" , " hutte") is a temporary place of residence, built specifically for this festival, under the terms of a biblical regulation (Lev. 23:34; Deut. 16:13, 16; 31:10).

Who has to be under Soukka?

According to the Torah, the men (is considered man in the rabbinical tradition any male of more than 13 years) owe leishev (לישב, which can mean " asseoir" or " siéger") in a soukka during the entirety as of the holy period. The women and the girls are exempted of this Mitzvah, although it is not prohibited to them if they wish to achieve it.
Dans the communities Ashkénaze S and Moroccan, one pronounces a special blessing before eating of a bread or a paste in the soukka : " Blessed would be you, Seigneur our God, King of the world, Which sanctified us by Its regulations and ordered us to sit us in the soukka" .
Dans the Judaism traditionalist, the Mitzvah of leishev falls on any Jew having reached the religious majority, girls like boys.

Structure

According to the Halakha, the soukkah is a consistuée structure of 2 ½, 3, or 4 walls, and of an organic material roof which was disconnected from the ground (the khakh (héb. סכך), cf will infra). It must have at least 1 meter in height, and its roof must give to the moims partly on the sky (only the part giving on the sky is in conformity with prescripions religious.) A soukkah can be built on the ground, an open close relation or a balcony. Portable soukkot were invented for those which do not have the sufficient place, or are on a journey in order to be able to consume their meals.

In practice, the walls of a soukka can be built with anything, since wood with the Aluminum, and the roof in branches of pine, Palmier or Bambou. The walls can also belong to a maisom or a netting. The details of what constitutes a wall, its length, so of spaces can or not be spared the walls and the roof, the material in which the khakh must be made, can be found in various texts of interpretation.

Khakh

The khakh indicates in Hebrew the material, obligatorily resulting from the ground, in which the roof of the soukka is manufactured. The khakh , although resulting from the ground, must be disconnected about it. Sheets of Palm tree, sticks of Bamboo, branches of pine, in short any organic material can be used for the khakh, unless having been manufactured for a different use .

Decorations

Although it is not a direct regulation, it was of use to suspend on the soukka fruits in order to embellish it, while underlining its character " agricole". Nowadays, other decorations, like brilliant serpentines, papers, etc are used, as well as drawings and/or photographs on the walls of the soukka .
Certaines families will cover the interior walls with white cloths, in order to emulate the " Clouds of Gloire" who surrounded the Jews during their crossing of the desert.
Les followers of the movement HaBaD has on the other hand as a habit not to decorate their soukkot , those by themselves being regarded as an object of beauty.

What does one make in the soukka?

In Israel and in the moderated climates, the Jews practitioners can easily carry out all their activities in the soukka like eating, to study, to even sleep. Many Jews will abstain from consuming anything apart from the soukka , except for water and of fruits. In Israel, it is of current practice to find in the hotels, restaurants, snack bars, and even attractyions them tourist (like the zoological garden) of the soukkot pleasantly provided to the customers.
Sur the directive of their Rebbe , the Hassidim Loubavitch differ from the other orthodoxe Jews, in what they do not sleep in the soukka , in order not to soil its intrinsic holiness.

In the cold climates, the absolute observance of the regulations, as to sleep in the soukka is practically impossible. Although the Torah prescribes to live in built huts of foliages and wood, as a sign of indifference and confidence as a God to material comfort, the Halakha recommends to take the meals in Soukka, but not to spend there more time but if the climate allows it, in order to not carry reached neither to the health of the others or oneself, nor with the spirit of joy and festival which must chair during this week. The Jews thus turn over on their premises to sleep.
Although it is not obligatory to eat in a soukka when it rains, the Hassidim Loubavitch will take their meals by any time there.

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