Sukkot is the holiday of beautiful impermanence – joy, hospitality, and gratitude lived inside a wobbly little shelter. If that sounds daunting without a backyard, a synagogue, or fancy supplies… breathe. You can honor Sukkot at home this year with what you already have. A balcony, a window, a chair, a pot of soup – and build from there next year.
Right after Yom Kippur’s Memento Mori energy, Sukkot invites us to practice trust inside life’s fragility. We don’t deny vulnerability – we decorate it, eat in it, and invite people into it. In this guide, I’ll show you the simple path: the calendar basics, easy ways to access a Sukkah or make a “Sukkah zone,” what to do if you don’t have a lulav and etrog, inclusive ushpizin ideas, and low-energy rhythms that still feel joyful.
Start where you are, do the most you can with what you have, and let the joy be real. For step-by-step checklists, sample menus, and ritual ideas, grab my Essential Jewish Holiday Planning Guide.
Chag sameach! Let’s make Sukkot doable and deep.
Transcript below.
Transcript:
You can honor Sukkot this week without a backyard, a synagogue, or fancy supplies. And if you do have all that, I’ll help you make it richer and easier. What to do, what to skip, and how to keep the joy real.
If Sukkot feels out of reach this year, first I want you to breathe.
You can do a meaningful, low energy version at home.
Remember to check the description down below because I’m gonna link to lots of resources, how tos, and places where you can buy stuff.
Hi, I’m Kochava. I’m a Jewish convert and I’ve been helping people convert to Judaism since 2010 through my blog, Building a Jewish Life.com. And if you wanna make things even easier, if you go to Building a Jewish Life.com, you can find my Essential Jewish Holidays Planning Guide, which will walk you through this Sukkot or any holiday.
Sukkot is a week of joy, hospitality and gratitude while literally dwelling in fragility. Or maybe you call it Sukkos.
We step into a temporary shelter and we dwell in it.
Think of it as beautiful impermanence.
We just finished Yom Kippur, and if you watched my video about that, I talked about how it includes aspects of Memento Mori, thinking about the moment of your death as a way to improve your life.
Sukkot brings that same energy:
life is fragile, but we can still choose joy, connection,
and trust.
We don’t deny vulnerability. We decorate it, we eat in it, and we invite people into it.
Let’s cover the basics in about 20 seconds. Sukkot lasts for a week in Israel, but a day longer outside of Israel.
So in the diaspora you’ll see an extra holiday Yom Tov day at the beginning and the end that have Shabbat-like qualities, the extra rules.
We have all the regular mitzvah of a of a Yom Tov, of a holiday, like candle lighting, kiddish, motzi, the festive meal, davening, learning.
But the two core sukkot mitzvot is dwelling in the Sukkah and shaking the lulav Lulav and Etrog.
There’s also a widespread custom of inviting spiritual guests, Ushpizin. If you’re in the conversion process, your rabbi is gonna be really helpful because this is one of the weirder holidays. Don’t get me wrong, it’s my favorite. It is absolutely fun. Especially if you have kids or you are spending time with kids.
But let’s admit it’s a little weird.
If you’re watching this, this is probably one of your first times celebrating it.
If you don’t have access to a Sukkah or a Lulav, that’s okay. We can work with that. The goal is always that we are building our Jewish practice deeper every year. Every year is a new chance, a new opportunity. Use what you got now. We’ll make it better next time.
We don’t go for shame and guilt around this page.
You can still practice the rhythms, meals, gratitude, learning, impermanence, hospitality at whatever level you can manage this year.
Do what you can with what you got.
So the structure of Sukkot is gonna be either one or two opening days, the first days. Which in Israel will be one, and the diaspora, it’ll be two.
Then you have the middle days, Chol HaMoed, the intermediate festival days.
Everyday life continues, but we’re still leaning into those themes. And in this case, these practices.
You’re gonna continue eating or dwelling in the Sukkah, and you’re gonna continue shaking the Lulav each day.
Then we have the last days at the end. Which in Israel is one day and an outside of Israel is two days, and they’re not just Sukkot, they’re also a different holiday. And more than that, it’s also two different holidays. So they’re Sukkot, but they’re also Shemini Atzeret and Simchas Torah .
And in Israel the last day is both of those holidays.
And honestly, we never really talk that much about Shemini Atzeret.
Like all the energy and focus goes into Simchat Torah.
It’s interesting. I should really look into that more.
And Simchat Torah is a completely different holiday. It’s the celebration of the ending and then beginning of the new Torah reading cycle for the year.
And more than that. Most people don’t dwell in the Sukkah or use the Lulav on those last two days,
yet there’s still Sukkot it’s all very confusing, so don’t feel bad if you’re confused too.
On those last days, there is a wide variety of practice with the Sukkah. Follow what is your community’s tradition.
There may be no practice in the Sukkah at all. There may be eating in the, uh, Sukkah for one meal. There may be just making kiddish in the Sukkah.
Some eat in the Sukkah on Shemini Atzeret, but don’t say the Bracha, the blessing. That’s a lot. There is no telling how many different practices there are around this in the world.
Ask your rabbi and follow your local minhag, and if you don’t have a rabbi, just pick one. It doesn’t matter which.
And a quick note on prayer books.
We have the normal Siddur for weekdays and holidays, but we also have what are called Machzorim. Machzors. So here’s my Sukkot Machzor, I believe it’s actually the thickest of all of my Machzorim. Um, this is a nice fancy one from Koren. I really like the Koren set.
You don’t have to have a Machzor. It’s really helpful if you do. But everything you need is gonna be in the Shabbat and holidays Siddur. You might have to jump around a bit and you’re gonna have to pay careful attention to the instructions, but you don’t have to go out and buy a Machzor, especially if your budget is tight.
So before we get into the Sukkah and the Lulav. Which are gonna be the things that a lot of you honestly aren’t gonna have. Let’s cover the mitzvot that you can do. First and foremost, like every holiday, we’re gonna start the days off with candle lighting on the first days and the second days.
If you’re in the diaspora and you’re having two days for each of those days. You’ll wanna make sure to light also a 24 hour candle with it so that you can light from a preexisting flame on day two.
But if that’s not where you’re at, that’s not where you’re at. Do the best you can. Don’t do nothing because you’re overwhelmed by the rest of it. Start where you can
Next we have the festive meal, so that’s gonna be on each of the nights and each of the lunches. Most people do a third meal that is kind of lunch/dinner. Uh, especially this time of year, the end of holidays are getting earlier, so you might be eating at 4:30 or five.
And at those festive meals, we make kiddish over the wine or grape juice, and sometimes other drinks depending. And motzi over the bread, the challah. As I’ve said in other videos, you do need two challah loaves, but it doesn’t have to be whole loaves of bread. It can be just rolls. A challah does not have to be the fancy braided challah that you see in pictures. That is one type of challah that has become pervasive, but it is not “challah.”
Challah is any loaf that is unsliced, and it could be a small loaf, like a roll. It can be a big loaf, like a baguette. It can be a French boule.
It can be sandwich bread loaf, just not sliced. Use what you got. And I would really encourage you to check out your store’s bread offerings and choose something that you wouldn’t normally eat. Make it special.
Then we have davening, prayer, Tefilah.
On festival mornings, we’re gonna add the prayer service Hallel. You’ll find all the information about that in your Siddur.
And don’t worry, I’m linking down below to a Siddur that you can access online for free. It can be a little difficult to, uh, maneuver, but it’s free.
And then you’ve got learning. That’s a mitzvah you can always do no matter the day of the week.
On Shabbat Chol HaMoed, the Intermediate Days, communities read Kohelet, in English Ecclesiastes.
Try to read a portion of that at home for yourself. I’ll link to that down below as well, to a free Jewish resource, because other religions can translate Jewish sources in ways that Judaism doesn’t agree with. So I’ll point you to a Jewish approved source.
And then the last mitzvah that we’re gonna cover that pretty much anyone can do is hospitality.
Specifically, there is a custom called Ushpizin.
It’s where we symbolically invite guests into the Sukkah every night.
Traditionally this is our biblical ancestors.
But there’s a lot of room for personalization here. Many people include the Biblical women of Judaism.
But some people also include personal mentors or historical figures.
There is no separate bracha for this, but there is a traditional text for the invitation.
You can always just speak from your heart.
The point is about hospitality and imitation that we are learning from these guests.
Have a quick chat about what these guests did and why we should emulate them.
And you can do this whether you have a Sukkah or not. You can invite them to your kitchen table.
So now let’s get into the main event, the Sukkah.
I have linked down below to several resources on how to make Sukkahs, and many of those resources also include the requirements for a Sukkah. It’s a kind of hut, and it’s by definition supposed to be impermanent and vulnerable. The roof is also supposed to be mostly shaded, but not completely shaded over. You should still be able to see the stars through it.
Now that brings up a problem, especially for people who live in the diaspora. The weather this time of year in Israel is pretty good. It is not so good in a lot of the rest of the world at this time. Sukkot is about joy, not misery and suffering.
If it’s just slightly uncomfortable, many people will still eat in the Sukkah. I have definitely eaten in a Sukkah in the drizzle, and most of the drizzle didn’t make it through. Very little actually did.
But if it’s genuinely raining or it’s dangerously windy or worse, it’s snowing.
Jewish law makes room for you to eat inside.
There are special rules about the first night and if you have a rabbi, you should check with them about what those are in your community.
If the weather isn’t cooperating, you eat the exact same festive meal inside just as you would’ve in the Sukkah.
So the Bracha we make when we’re sitting in the Sukkah is very interesting because we are supposed to “dwell” in the Sukkah.
And traditionally, many people have slept and done work in the Sukkah and as well as eaten their meals. Today nowadays, at least in the diaspora where I live, it is primarily limited to eating in the Sukkah except for children sleeping in the Sukkah in sleeping bags.
My children try every year, but it always gets dark and scary and eventually they come inside.
Maybe this will be the year that they actually make it.
So how do you get a Sukkah? You can build your own, and I’ve included instructions down there that will tell you all the steps, all of the equipment to buy at the hardware store.
And it’s actually not that hard if you have even the most basic building skills. I’ll put a copy of a picture here of the first Sukkah that I ever had that I built from scratch with zero plans and zero help from the internet. Just making up in my head as I went along. Though to be fair, one of my degrees was in, uh, technical theater, which is like backstage stuff.
So set design and set building. So. I have more than the average person’s knowledge about construction. But it’s really not that hard if you don’t. And there’s even one down there that requires very little actual constructing.
There are also kits, which thank G-d that is now what I use. We have a Sukkah kit that has metal poles that just fit into little tubes, and it goes up in about 30 minutes. No drilling, no nails, no bolts even. It’s just super easy. And then we wrap a canvas around for the walls. And then the hardest part usually is putting the roof on just because you need chairs.
But the real hardest part is pronouncing it.
It is one of the words that I pretty consistently cannot say still. It feels like I’m just going to hawk mucus all over everyone in a three foot radius.
G-dwilling, you’ll be more successful than I am with I just call it the roof.
But we live in the modern era now and there are pop-up Sukkahs. You can literally take a Sukkah and just let it expand. My father-in-law has one, so I have seen it in real life. They are super neat. Unfortunately, they are limited to space for one person. I’ve included a link down below to a place where you can buy a pop-up Sukkah.
And I’ve also included links to an instruction for how to make your own pop-up Sukkah using an outdoor shower tent, which is what it looks like they use to build popup Sukkahs.
So you could reasonably build a popup Sukkah for under $50.
As with all Sukkahs, the wind is your number one enemy. Having it blow over, blow away, the roof blow off, those are the things you’re gonna struggle with every year. It happens. It’s not a big deal, you just put it back. That does get more complicated if it is one of the holiday days, the mov. In that case, you’re gonna wanna ask a rabbi.
I do not know how that would be handled. I personally haven’t had that situation happen to me yet, which means I have now cursed myself that it will happen to me this year.
Kits are usually gonna run you at least $500, but they’re also going to hold an entire table. So you can fit a whole group of people in it. And the more you spend, the bigger you can get. Sukkah kits can get quite large.
Other safety issues you’re gonna be wanna be aware of is basically fire safety. Just make sure there’s nothing around it that’s gonna cause issues because most of your Sukkahs are gonna be flammable.
And the best part of all it is the decorating. I can’t claim that my Sukkahs are particularly beautiful. They’re not particularly decorative, I’ll post a picture or two, uh, of a Sukkah we did a couple of years ago. And people can often go like all out with decorating. I really encourage you to enjoy this. And use it for part of the joy of the Mitzvah, especially if you have children or if you are involved with children like nieces, nephews, neighbors. Having kids make decorations for your Sukkah is a lot of fun.
You’ll just wanna try to laminate them or use like contact paper because they will get rained on in most places, and neither of those is gonna protect everything that well. But you’ll, you’ll get a year or two out of it usually.
And if you don’t have a Sukkah, you can still bring that decorating energy to your home. Decorate like you would in a Sukkah. Paper chains are incredibly popular. I don’t know why that is, but I have noticed that.
So what if you don’t have a backyard? Because that’s obviously what people are going to think about for building a Sukkah. First off, you can put it in a front yard, you can put it in a driveway. The only thing you’re gonna want to be cognizant of is making sure that there’s nothing above your Sukkah, or at least not the part where you’re sitting.
You don’t want a balcony above it. You don’t want a tree limb above it, anything like that.
But you can put them on a balcony if you don’t have a neighbor’s balcony above you. That’s a place where the pop-up Sukkah can be a really great use.
If your building allows it, you can also put it on the roof of the building.
Balconies and roofs are extremely common in Israel.
There may also be public Sukkot. Could be down at a kosher restaurant, at a synagogue. All of these should be open to the public for you to come by and eat your meals in it if you would like.
And if nothing else, you can always turn to a neighbor, friend, or relative to see if you can borrow an outdoor space of theirs.
So what can you do if you don’t have a Sukkah? I imagine that probably the majority of the people watching this video fall in this category.
I wish I had better news, but eating your meals outside the Sukkah just doesn’t count. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still bring the themes and energy of the Sukkah into your home this year and make plans to have access to a Sukkah next year. Again, we don’t do blame, shame, or guilt around here.
Work with what you’ve got. You’re building a foundation for your Jewish practice that is only gonna get deeper every year you do it. Where you are this year is okay. You’re building a strong foundation.
So what could you do? You could eat outdoors. You could eat by a window, especially if you open the window so that you’re exposed to the outdoor air and the wind.
You can lean into the atmosphere of a Sukkah, by decorating as though it were a Sukkah.
You can also focus on those practices of joy and gratitude and thinking about the impermanence of so much of our shelter today. Sukkahs, but also our buildings are quite impermanent in the grand scheme of things.
Now let’s move on to the Lulav and Etrog.
I’m gonna put a picture here of the Lulav and Etrog.
The Lulav set is called the aba minim. I think I’m pronouncing that right. I’ve never actually had to say it out loud.
It includes one Lulav, which is a date Palm frond. It’s gonna be the big center one. Then you have three Hadassim, which is Myrtle branches. And two Aravot, which are Willow branches. And then you have the Etrog, which is in English, it’s called a citron, but I’ve never seen a citron offered anywhere.
I’ve only ever seen Etrogim, which is also pronounced Esrog.
If you do have access to a Lulav and Etrog, I have linked below to a video of someone demonstrating how to shake the Lulav.
But you don’t have to own your own Lulav and Etrog to participate. The easiest path is to borrow from someone else.
If you know someone who is reasonably likely to be using one, get in touch. Most people will be happy to let you come over and shake it.
The one wrinkle here is that on the first day, the mitzvah is ideally with a set that is “yours.”
But communities have a lot of ways around this. I mean, it’s even a problem within a family because usually the family has one set for the whole family, maybe two.
So we have a tradition of doing like a “gift on the condition that you return it,” and that is how it becomes “yours.” For that first, uh, for that first Bracha. If that’s new to you, don’t stress about it.
Whoever is helping you can walk you through that.
On the other festival days, borrowing the regular way is just fine.
Synagogues are obviously another great option.
Some may even have set hours where you can like shake and go.
If you’re not a member of that synagogue, it is still okay to ask if you’re welcome to do it. You probably will be.
And if you’re in the position to do so, a small donation after the holiday would be thoughtful.
Chabad houses and people from Chabad often set up public Lulav stations in large cities, but even some smaller cities. If you have access to a Chabad, that’s a good place to start. If you are not Halachically Jewish, meaning that your mother was Jewish by orthodox standards, or you have had an Orthodox conversion, they may not let you do it.
I just want you to be prepared that they have a particular mission of serving just people who are “already Jewish” and some of them are better than others at being polite about that.
Uh, you might also find similar setups at local campus Jewish groups, which may include Chabad, but also Hillel, Jewish Student Union, other groups.
And also in those cases, you generally don’t have to be a student in order to participate.
A few other places that you might get lucky is a Judaica store, a store that sells Jewish items. They may possibly have in-store shaking available.
You could also look for a local Moishe house, M-O-I-S-H-E. It’s kind of a Jewish communal living situation that puts on events for the public. It’s a good place to look for classes and events as well. And also check out the Jewish Community Center or the Jewish Federation if you have those nearby you.
If you’re really feeling adventurous, you could post on local social media or Next Door or Buy Nothing groups and see if maybe someone in the community has one that they would be willing to let you borrow.
You never know if you don’t ask.
If you’re planning to try any of these options, I would call ahead to make sure it’s actually available. And you should also know that we don’t shake the Lulav on Shabbat, so you won’t find access to it on that day.
Here’s some quick etiquette to help you feel confident in borrowing someone else’s. Handle the set gently, obviously. Protect the pitom. The Pitom is the like tip. It’s where the etrog attached to the tree. It can break off and that can make it un kosher depending on the situation, the etrog, and the day. It’s complicated and thankfully I have not had to dig too deep into it myself. But especially if you are borrowing someone else’s Lulav and Etrog, be super careful with the Pitom. Don’t take the set into a bathroom.
And if you’re unsure about any step, ask. People will be more than happy to help
It is a fun, weird, ridiculous mitzvah and a lot of people really enjoy it. And yes, I did say it’s ridiculous. It is one of those mitzvot that does not make logical sense to us, a chuk. chuk. And it’s okay to be honest with ourselves that we think some things feel silly. You will feel silly sometimes. That’s just part of the process.
So again, do the most you can with what you have. If that is a full backyard Sukkah and Lulav set, beautiful.
If it’s a chair by an open window and a paper chain, that’s also going to be beautiful for you.
Step outside for even just a few minutes each day. Part of this holiday is connecting with the outdoor world and its beauty.
A porch, a balcony, the stoop, a walk around the block.
Both Sukkot and the fall,
for at least my Northern Hemisphere people, they both ask us to feel the truth that everything is a little fragile. Everything dies and is impermanent, but it’s all still worth celebrating.
The Sukkah is wobbly by design, but so are our lives.
Resilience is not pretending that things are sturdy. Resilience is choosing trust, gratitude, and small acts of joy within the wobble.
Here’s a six step plan to setting up your Sukkot.
Step one, pick your Sukkah or Sukkah alternative.
Step two, pick your Lulav or Lulav alternative.
Step three, choose which other mitzvot you’re going to celebrate this chag.
Step four, make a food plan.
It’s okay to plan one special meal per day or less. Again, don’t get caught up in the overwhelm and then end up doing nothing at all.
Step five, make a weather plan.
Step six. Make an Ushpizin plan. Are you going to invite biblical figures? Are you also going to invite real humans?
Try to find space for hospitality.
I want you to put all these things on your calendar and your to-do list right now before you forget.
And tiny blocks of time will beat big intentions every time. Make it doable.
You’re not behind. You’re right where you’re supposed to be.
Start with one small, honest gesture and let it teach you joy and gratitude.
Bad weather, tight budgets, apartment windows, borrowed ritual items.
All of that can count as a real Sukkot celebration if you do it with intention.
You’re building a sturdy foundation for your Jewish practice, and that’s exactly the point.
You’ve got heart, you’ve got Emunah, and that is enough to begin.
And if you wanna make this planning process a little easier, down in the description below, you’ll find a link to the Essential Jewish Holidays Planning Guide.
Shanah Tovah, Chag Sameach. Have a wonderful Sukkot.
