Sukkot, a Hebrew word meaning "booths" or "huts", refers to the Jewish festival of giving thanks for the fall harvest as well as the commemoration of the forty years of Jewish wandering in the desert after Sinai. Sukkot is celebrated five days after Yom Kippur on the 15th of Tishrei, and is marked by several distinct traditions. One tradition, which takes the commandment to "dwell in booths" literally, is to build a sukkah, a booth or hut. .

Hole-y walls, that the wind in this place cannot

blow  down.

"and you shall take of yourselves on the first day of Sukkot the fruit of a goodly tree (etrog), a palm branch(lulav), the myrtle branch,  and the willow of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the L-rd your G-d seven days"

__Leviticus 23:40

The four species are often compared to four types of Jews: The etrog has taste and smell, so it stands for people who possess both learning and good deeds. The palm tree has taste but no smell, so it stands for those with learning, but no good deeds. The myrtle has smell but no taste, so it stands for people who have good deeds but no learning. The willow has neither taste nor smell, and it stands for those without learning and without good deeds. Another view sees the lulav as one person: The lulav represents the spine of a person; the myrtle the eyes; the willow the mouth; and the etrog the heart. 

Through them, bound together in common, we express our desire individually and as a community to praise and worship G-d.