Thanksgiving comes early in Wendy Marder's Washington Township household, and it's one of the most joyous holidays in the Jewish year.

When the pilgrims celebrated the harvest, they looked to the Bible for inspiration. They found it in Leviticus 23: 33, which describes the Festival of Sukkot. (In Hebrew, it' s pronounced sue-COAT).

It begins today, the fifth day after Yom Kippur. The seven-day festival is sometimes translated as "The Feast of Tabernacles." It is also referred to as the Season of Our Rejoicing. But Marder calls it "the first Thanksgiving."

"The first American Thanksgiving is exactly based on that," said Marder, educational director of Congregation B' nai Tikvah in Washington Township. "This is definitely a a thanksgiving. We offer special prayers (called Hallel) in the synagogue, which are prayers of thanks to God."

Sukkot means "booths" or "huts" and refers to the temporary shelters Jews lived in when they wandered the desert for 40 years.

To commemorate that period, Jews are commanded to live in temporary shelters during the holiday. Some families eat meals in a sukkah; others also sleep in them.

According to www.jewfaq.org, a sukkah must have at least three walls covered with a material that will not blow away in the wind. Often, canvas is used.

The roof must be made of something that grew from the ground and was cut off, such as tree branches, corn stalks, bamboo reeds, sticks or two-by-fours. They must be left loose, not tied together or tied down. They must also be placed sparsely enough so that rain can get in and stars can be seen.

The sukkah is then decorated by the family with harvest symbols, such as dried squash and corn.

Wendy and her husband, Charles "Ami" Marder, invite their congregation over to their sukkah for an open house. He builds the shelter in the back yard, using lattice for the walls, and bamboo and pine branches for the roof.

Their children decorate the sukkah with homemade decorations, like paper chains. They also hang strings of orange Halloween lights and blue Jewish star lights, beads and necklaces. Because it is a fall festival, they also add pine cones, gourds, corn and pumpkins.

"It's supposed to represent an autumn hut," said Marder, 44.

The Marders try to eat at least one meal a day together in their sukkah. When the kids come home from school, they bring their friends over and have "milk and cookies out in the sukkah," she said.

Congregation B'nai Tikvah also constructs a sukkah on its grounds, said Jerry Klein, president of the men's club. The structure is framed with steel pipe and lattice, topped with bamboo and cornstalks.

"We've been doing this for what seems like forever," said the 58-year-old Washington Township resident. "It's fun to get the guys together."

While he doesn't have a sukkah, Klein has visited the Marders'.

"We just sit around and talk mainly, and have a little prayer for the holiday," he said.

Reach Kim Mulford at (856) 845-6521 or kmulford@ courierpostonline.com