I love Sukkot. It’s an amazing holiday. You can eat whatever you want, you don’t have to stay up all night, and your living room, dining room, and kitchen stay so much cleaner than any of the other holidays, because everyone is eating and spending time in the sukkah instead of inside the house. And the ushpizin, such a nice mitzvah to open up the sukkah and to invite guests. I love hosting in my sukkah, all are welcome. Well almost all are welcome, people are welcome, bugs need to stay out.
Bugs are not my thing, so I do my best to let my sukkah not be the bugs thing either. It's a mutual dislike and avoidance thing. You stay away from me, and I won't kill you. So here is a natural, healthy way, to keep those creepy crawlies away and keep them out of the sukkah where they really don’t belong.
Flies: Annoying, not really dangerous, just very annoying and who knows where they have been before they land on your food. Keep a bottle of eucalyptus on the table and sprinkle a few drops next to your plate. They will stay away. If they are landing on you sprinkle a few drops on your clothing as well. Other than keeping away the flies, eucalyptus it opens up the sinuses, is an excellent anti-viral remedy and great for eczema and acne.
Mosquitos: Super annoying, can carry disease, and they whine and bite! Mosquitos kill the joy, so they have no business being in the happy sukkah. Top anti mosquito oil is of course citronella, but you can make a blend with citronella, eucalyptus, geranium and lavender which will also have the benefit of smelling incredible and keep away flies and moths as well. Side benefits are that your sukkah will smell amazing and everyone will be in a good mood from the lavender and geranium oils which are uplifting and mood enhancing.
Wasps: The most unwanted sukkah guest of all! Have no fear, peppermint oil will save you from even the most persistent wasp. Either make up a spray bottle with peppermint oil and water and spray the walls and table, or leave a bottle of peppermint oil on the table and use as needed. Bonus, mint oil is an excellent digestive aid, and it has the wonderful ability to limit the appetite. My peppermint oil is going both onto the tablecloth and on to my nose as well. I can use all the help I can get with these heavy holiday meals, every other day.
Ants: Annoying and easily be avoided with some cedar wood oil. Ants are the least of the problems in the sukkah unless they have decided that your table is their new home, in which case they obviously need some redirection. To keep the ants off of the table, sprinkle the table legs with some cedar oil and the ants will stay far away, or they will die if they come to close, either way you win and the ants are off of the table and far away from the food and from you. Bonus of using cedar oil is that it improves cerebral activity. So you can look smart as you kill your ants. The modern day Jewish wonder woman. Gal Gadot watch out! Here we come! The cerebral ant terminator here to save her holiday table.
All joking aside, it is definitely in everyone's best interest to use natural aromatherapy methods to keep your sukkah bug free. To summarize, you can either use any of these oils separately, or you can make up a blend, and have all the different ingredients ready in one bottle, either diluted in a spray bottle or undiluted, with a drip top, and just leave the on the table for use as needed. A bug free sukkah using aromatherapy is certainly the way to be ve’samachta be’chagecha. Bug free and happy, Sukkot at it’s best.
Sima Herzfeld Navon is an aromatherapist with a line of all natural cosmetic products, which in addition to making your skin glow, also contain many of the oils listed above, so you never have to be worry about bugs, sukkot or any day of the year.
Send me an email to order your very own bottle of natural aromatherapy insect repellent. Good for sukkot or any day of the year. 90 NIS for 10cc.