The mitzvah
Sukkot is a seven-day festival in the fall. We eat (and some sleep) in a sukkah — a temporary hut with a roof of branches — and each day except Shabbat we take the Four Kinds: an etrog (citron), a lulav (palm branch), three myrtle branches, and two willow branches.
The sources
“You shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a beautiful tree, palm branches, a branch of a thick tree, and willows of the brook, and rejoice before Hashem your God seven days.”
“You shall dwell in sukkot seven days… so that your generations know that I made the Children of Israel dwell in sukkot when I brought them out of Egypt.”
What you need
- A set of the Four Kinds (sold before Sukkot at shuls and Judaica stores)
- A sukkah — your own, a friend’s, or the shul’s
Step by step
- Hold the lulav (with the myrtles and willows bound to it) in your right hand, spine facing you.
- Hold the etrog in your left hand, upside down (tip down).
- Say the blessing. On the first day you shake them, also say Shehecheyanu.
- Turn the etrog right side up and bring it next to the lulav.
- Shake gently in six directions — three short shakes each.
- In the sukkah: say the sukkah blessing when you eat a meal with bread or cake there.
What to say
English first, then the words to say out loud — sounded out so anyone can say them.
This page contains Hebrew prayer text with the Divine Name. If you print it, please treat it respectfully and dispose of it appropriately (in genizah).
Questions people ask
When is Sukkot?
It begins on the 15th of Tishrei, five days after Yom Kippur. Hoshana Rabbah, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah follow.
I don’t have a sukkah.
Most shuls and Chabad Houses have one and welcome visitors. Just ask.
Do we shake on Shabbat?
No — the Four Kinds are not taken on Shabbat.
Your family’s way
The order of directions differs: one common Ashkenazi custom is front, right, back, left, up, down; Sephardim and Chabad follow the Arizal’s order. Follow your community.
The inner dimension
In the Zohar’s mystical teaching (Zohar III 103b–104a), the sukkah is called “the shade of faith,” and the Zohar teaches that the great souls of Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov and others visit it as guests, the Ushpizin (Zohar III 103b–104a).
Next Sukkot, shake a lulav once — any shul will help you.
These are general guidelines. Customs differ between communities, and for a personal question, ask a rabbi you trust.