It is currently Sukkot in Israel, one of the country’s many religious holidays, this one seven days long. This is the first Sukkot I’ve gotten to spend in Israel and, although I’m not Jewish, it seems to be pretty enjoyable, outside of the fact that if you have a problem in your apartment you can't get it fixed until next week (and guess what, of course we have a few issues we need resolved...our issues always happen on Fridays or holidays in every country we go to...its humorous now).
Back to Sukkot... I saw my first Sukka (I'll explain) yesterday when Josh and I decided to go and get a slushi from this little place he likes to go. When we were there I saw a sukka, what looked to be a market booth of some type. I figured someone sold fruit or vegis out of it during the week until I noticed palms on the roof. I didn't want to ask about it at first, I just wanted to see if I saw more. We decided to tour the Centre (downtown area). Upon walking around I noticed several more of these 'huts' (which they are not....don't call them that!). This time I noticed that they were erected not side by side like a market setting, but in solo locations, they were strewn about the town. I came home to look it up, knowing it was a holiday of some type. I quickly found out that these things I was calling 'huts' are Sukkas: pictured below:
What exactly is a sukka? Sukka is the singular of the word sukkot and is a replica of the booths that the Israelites lived while in Egypt after their exile from slavery. For this reason the holiday is also called the Festival of Booths. A sukka is comprised of cloth or wood walls and has plant material, such as palm fronds, for a roof. All of the sukkot I have spotted are made of cloth or tarp like material with roofs made of some type of greenery like branches from trees and bushes.
By a long shot, though, not everyone erects a sukka during this week. Secular Jews, which comprise the majority of Israel’s population usually do not put up a sukka. It is primarily the religious Jews who follow this practice. During this week it is easy to tell which homes belong to secular people and which to religious. Here is an example of one outside of our apartment:
A lot, maybe all, of the sukkot I’ve seen have two entrances. I don’t know why. But in certain cases the double entrance makes it easy to walk right through as well as stay a while. The people who do erect sukkot during Sukkot, I am told, eat inside and often sleep inside too. The seriousness with which Israel takes its holidays I think is admirable and extremely interesting. I would really enjoy eating in one and a younger me would have enjoyed sleeping in one. I have never stepped foot inside of one, and I would not without being invited, even though they are all over in public areas.
Back to Sukkot... I saw my first Sukka (I'll explain) yesterday when Josh and I decided to go and get a slushi from this little place he likes to go. When we were there I saw a sukka, what looked to be a market booth of some type. I figured someone sold fruit or vegis out of it during the week until I noticed palms on the roof. I didn't want to ask about it at first, I just wanted to see if I saw more. We decided to tour the Centre (downtown area). Upon walking around I noticed several more of these 'huts' (which they are not....don't call them that!). This time I noticed that they were erected not side by side like a market setting, but in solo locations, they were strewn about the town. I came home to look it up, knowing it was a holiday of some type. I quickly found out that these things I was calling 'huts' are Sukkas: pictured below:
What exactly is a sukka? Sukka is the singular of the word sukkot and is a replica of the booths that the Israelites lived while in Egypt after their exile from slavery. For this reason the holiday is also called the Festival of Booths. A sukka is comprised of cloth or wood walls and has plant material, such as palm fronds, for a roof. All of the sukkot I have spotted are made of cloth or tarp like material with roofs made of some type of greenery like branches from trees and bushes.
By a long shot, though, not everyone erects a sukka during this week. Secular Jews, which comprise the majority of Israel’s population usually do not put up a sukka. It is primarily the religious Jews who follow this practice. During this week it is easy to tell which homes belong to secular people and which to religious. Here is an example of one outside of our apartment:
A lot, maybe all, of the sukkot I’ve seen have two entrances. I don’t know why. But in certain cases the double entrance makes it easy to walk right through as well as stay a while. The people who do erect sukkot during Sukkot, I am told, eat inside and often sleep inside too. The seriousness with which Israel takes its holidays I think is admirable and extremely interesting. I would really enjoy eating in one and a younger me would have enjoyed sleeping in one. I have never stepped foot inside of one, and I would not without being invited, even though they are all over in public areas.
Great post! The fragility of life is part of the message of dining or sleeping in a sukka. The construction requirements stipulate that the roof is covered with branches to allow people inside to see the sky. This time of year, coming right after the new year and day of atonement, we are hopefully, re-sensitized to the fragility of life, our temporariness on earth, and the need to reflect, introspect, and do the work of renewal and repentance to restart our relations with self, other, and higher power. Though I am not religiously observant, I almost always dine in a sukka each year. And I'm not alone in observing this tradition.
ReplyDeletewow, thank you for that wonderful insight!
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