Sukkot, also called the Festival of Booths, is a Jewish holiday of thanksgiving and a harvest festival. It also commemorates the ancient Israelites’ wandering in the desert after liberation from Egypt. The Hebrew word “Sukkot” (singular “sukkah”) means “booths” or “huts” and one of the holiday’s most important rituals is building ceremonial sukkot that are then decorated with plants and crops. The decorations symbolize thanksgiving for good harvests. Sukkot lasts for seven days and usually falls in September or October. In 1964, Sukkot began on September 21.

This photo was taken at Temple de Hirsch and shows a group of women decorating the sukkah. Temple de Hirsch’s celebration also included a procession of children who brought offerings of fruits and vegetables to the sukkah, for later delivery to charities. The women are identified as (left to right): Mrs. Arnold Robin, Dorothy Muscatel, Rebecca Benaroya, Mrs. Robin Silver (kneeling), Sara Peha, and Selma Stroum.

Caption information source: “Jewish Serious Days End – Joy and Thanksgiving Begin,” By E.J. Mitchell, Seattle Post-Intelligencer September 21, 1964, page 25
Caption information source: “’Feast of Tabernacles,’ Jewish festival, due” Seattle Post-Intelligencer¬, September 18, 1964, page 40 Caption information source: “Sukkot: the Festival of Booths,” https://reformjudaism.org/jewish-holidays/sukkot.