Jewish Obsession with Sukkot Rooted in Pagan Practice?

JEWISH PRESS
By Menachem Wecker

TEXAS - In some ways, Sukkot is the most contemporary of holidays. Many pay good money and invest a lot of time and effort to obtain a beautiful etrog-indeed its biblical name is "fruit of the beautiful tree"-and the most visually appealing lulav, hadasim and aravot. The lulav and etrog, whether alongside each other or appearing separately, are some of the most prominent symbols in early Jewish art. Steven Fine explains in his book, Art & Judaism in the Greco-Roman World: Toward a New Jewish Archaeology, the lulav form might have evolved from the symbol of the victory palm, which first appeared on coins between 480 and 445 B.C.E.[link]