Jews across Israel erected tabernacles, or Sukkot in Hebrew, to commemorate the biblical journey of the people of Israel through the desert to the Promised land.
It is a biblical holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Tishrei.
During the existence of the biblical Temples it was one of the three Pilgrimage-Festivals on which Israelites were commanded to perform a pilgrimage to the Temple. The holiday lasts seven days in Israel and eight days abroad, at the end of which it also signifies the feast of Simchat Torah, when Synagogues complete the reading of the bible and celebrate it with dancing and singing.
The IDF imposed a general closure on the West Bank and the crossings to the Gaza Strip from Saturday at midnight and will be lifted tonight at midnight after the first part of the feast of tabernacles. IDF officials said that entry would be permitted only in humanitarian, medical and exceptional cases.