Source: Haaretz:

The Jewish holiday of Sukkot arose from a Canaanite agricultural festival, developing over the years into the holiday we know today, tabernacles and all. Some of the traditions and customs of this holiday, such as sleeping under the stars for a whole week, may seem strange enough to the onlooker, but these 10 things you probably don’t know will make it seem even stranger.

Sukkot isn’t just a holiday. It is ‘the holiday’

Today many Jews feel Yom Kippur is the most holy of days in the Jewish calendar. Passover is a solemn occasion and even Hanukkah, an extra-biblical holiday, has risen to prominence, possibly due to it coinciding with Christmas.
But it seems that in the time of the First Temple, Sukkot was the most important of holidays.

How do we know this? Well, for one thing, Sukkot is mentioned a great many times in the Bible, often referred to as “the holiday.” Also the Jewish historian Josephus describes Sukkot as the “most holy and important feast.” And then there is the matter of the sacrifice

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