As you can well guess I have so many Succah decorations from previous years that I still love, so spending time making new ones is certainly not a priority! Of course when one of my sons requested that I create the "seven species" as part of my Daily Object series (read about that here) in order to hang them in the succah, well of course I could not resist, because while we try to hang actual versions of the 7 species in the succah, artistic representations of them haven't been created for some time, and my previous version is in a box lost in the attic somewhere! So while of course now is not the time to be making succah decorations, you can save this idea for next year, or after the holiday get to work on your own version to enjoy for the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat, when we eat the 7 species! What are the 7 species you ask? Keep on reading!
The Seven Species (Hebrew: שִׁבְעַת הַמִינִים, Shiv'at HaMinim) are seven agricultural products - two grains and five fruits - which are listed in the Torah as being special products of the Land of Israel. The seven species listed are wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranates, olives (oil), and dates (date honey) (Deuteronomy 8:8). Their first fruits were the only acceptable offerings in the Temple.
The seven species are traditionally eaten on Tu Bishvat, the Jewish "New Year for Trees"; on Sukkot, the "Festival of Booths"; and on Shavuot, the "Festival of Weeks". In Jewish law they are considered more important than other fruits, and a special blessing is recited after eating them. Additionally, the blessing prior to eating them precedes those of other food items, except for bread. The seven species are all important ingredients in Israeli cuisine today.
Couldn't be simpler, right? Just create on index size cards and hang with string and wooden craft clothespins, namely smaller than the actual ones.
Make sure that each piece looks great next to its neighbors.
Get the whole family to make a version, (even tiny ones could be so cute) and enjoy for years to come! And yes, I really need to scan these and make a set that you could purchase! Maybe this is the year?
