Symbols of Sukkot | Israel Cart

Choose a symbol to read its meaning, see the gift we paired with it, and meet the people behind it.

A family raising glasses of wine in a sukkah decorated with branches

Kiddush in the Sukkah

Blessing the season

Every festival meal in the sukkah opens with Kiddush, the blessing over a cup of wine. On the first night, two more blessings are added: one for sitting in the sukkah, and Shehecheyanu, thanking God for bringing us to this moment.

It is the first thing guests hear when they sit down, and the moment the hut of branches becomes a holy place.

The gift for this symbol

Exodus Hand Painted Wooden Kiddush Cup

Painted in swirling blues, it shows Moses leading the people toward the parting sea, the same journey Sukkot remembers.

View the Kiddush cup

Meet the maker: Yair Emanuel, Jerusalem

Yair Emanuel was born on Kibbutz Sha’alvim and studied at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. While a student he fell in love with Jerusalem and never left. His studio sits in the heart of the city.

He and his team paint every piece by hand, layer after layer of color and protective varnish, so each cup is food safe and no two are exactly alike.

See all of Yair Emanuel’s work

An etrog resting on a lulav bound with myrtle and willow beside an open prayer book

The Four Species

Unity of the land

On each day of Sukkot except Shabbat, we hold the etrog, lulav, hadas and aravah together and wave them in every direction. The sages taught that the four plants stand for four kinds of people: some with taste, some with fragrance, some with both and some with neither.

Only when all four are bound as one is the blessing complete, a reminder that the whole people belong together.

Adama necklace with a capsule of layered Israeli soil

The gift for this symbol

Adama Land of Israel Necklace

Four layers of sand and soil, gathered from four different regions of Israel, held together in a single capsule.

View the necklace

Meet the maker: Liba De Alma

Liba De Alma made the first Adama pendant as a personal expression of her love for Israel, a way to keep the land close wherever she went.

Each capsule holds earth from across the land: the golden desert, the green hills and forests, and the cities of Judaism’s holiest sites. What began as one piece is now cherished by people around the world.

See Liba De Alma’s collection

A woven basket of apples, figs, grapes and walnuts among olive branches

The Harvest

Season of abundance

The Torah also calls Sukkot Chag HaAsif, the festival of ingathering. It falls at the end of the farming year in Israel, when the last crops are brought in from the fields before the winter rains.

That is why the sukkah is hung with fruit, and why its table is always full: the simple gifts of the land, passed from hand to hand.

The gift for this symbol

Salted Mixed Nuts, Jordan Valley Blend

Almonds, pistachios and cashews roasted in the Jordan Valley, ready to set out for guests in the sukkah.

View the mixed nuts

Meet the makers: the Karavani family, Jordan Valley

In the 1980s, on a kibbutz in the Negev, Shalom Karavani started roasting nuts at home for friends and neighbors. In 1983 he and his wife Esther moved to the Jordan Valley to farm, and he kept roasting alongside his crops.

Locals kept asking for more, and in 1998 he began selling his blends. Since Shalom passed away in 2014, his children have carried on, roasting in the same valley with their father’s original recipes.

See the Karavani family’s collection

A grandmother holding a baby while a man hangs decorations in a sukkah

Ushpizin

A welcome for every guest

Ushpizin is Aramaic for “guests.” Tradition teaches that seven great figures of our people visit the sukkah, one each night: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David.

We honor them by opening our own doors, too. Something warm to pour and something sweet to share is all it takes to make anyone feel at home.

The gift for this symbol

Golani Coffee, Coffee and Turmeric Blend

A dark-roast Arabica with a touch of turmeric, inspired by the coffee soldiers share around the fire on long night watches.

View Golani Coffee

Meet the makers: Golani Brigade veterans, Ella Valley

Golani Coffee was created in memory of Sergeant Major Omer Gaeldor z”l, a Golani soldier, architect and father who fell in Lebanon. His friends Yosef Sixou and their commander Noam Kaplan started the project to honor the way Omer lived: by taking care of others.

The coffee is roasted in the Ella Valley, where Omer once served, and every bag carries his story to a new table.

See the Golani Coffee collection

Havdalah

Between the sacred and the everyday

Because Sukkot lasts a full week, a Shabbat falls in the middle of the festival. When it ends, we say Havdalah over wine, fragrant spices and the flame of a braided candle.

The ceremony marks the passage from Shabbat back to the weekdays of the holiday, carrying its light into the days ahead.

The gift for this symbol

Four Piece Star of David Havdalah Set

A candle holder, wine cup, spice box and tray, with a prayer card to guide you through the blessings.

View the Havdalah set

Meet the maker: Art Judaica

Art Judaica has been making Judaica in Israel since 1989. The company works hand in hand with Israeli artists to turn their designs into pieces for the home.

Its goal has always been to build a bridge between the Holy Land and the people around the world who love it.

See the Art Judaica collection

Five symbols of Sukkot, five Israeli makers

What is Sukkot?

The symbols of Sukkot

Kiddush in the Sukkah

The Four Species

The Harvest

Ushpizin

Havdalah

Set the whole table

Five symbols of Sukkot, five Israeli makers

What is Sukkot?

The symbols of Sukkot

Kiddush in the Sukkah

The Four Species

The Harvest

Ushpizin

Havdalah

Set the whole table

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