Sukkot is a weeklong Jewish holiday in the fall that celebrates the harvest and commemorates the time the Israelites lived in temporary shelters during their journey in the desert after leaving Egypt. Folks often build a sukkah—a temporary hut with a roof of branches—where meals are eaten (and sometimes people even sleep) to celebrate the harvest and honor the ancestors.

A lulav is part of the “Four Species” used in rituals during Sukkot. It’s a bundle made of three plants: traditionally a palm branch (the lulav itself), two willow branches, and three myrtle branches. Together with the etrog (a citron fruit), they are held and waved in six directions—east, south, west, north, up, and down—symbolizing many things. To offer insights into this wonderfully witchy tradition and to celebrate the plant communities that we are part of here, I made a zine explaining the significance of the plants and local alternatives. As part of the Boston Workers Circle Shule Sukkot celebration I run a lulav making activity for kiddos to learn about this tradition and local plants.