[img]96|left|||no_popup[/img] Dateline Jerusalem — Sitting under the stars, dining with lit candelabras, communing with nature, how peaceful and romantic. For this last week throughout Israel, families and friends gathered together to eat (and the men also sleep) in temporary structures called sukkahs to celebrate the festival of Sukkot in remembrance of the “season of our gladness.” For 40 years Moses led his people through the desert in their exodus from Egypt until they reached the land of Israel. During that time all their needs were taken care of: They had food in the form of manna falling from Heaven, they lived in temporary man-made huts, they received the Torah, and they were totally dependent upon G-d's protection.
What Do They Look Like?
To commemorate that time, we build sukkahs with sides made of wood, bed sheets, blankets, tarps, plastic, canvas or just about any kind of material. The roofs are made of palm tree branches, reeds, bamboo sticks or mats, and other vegetable-like material that covers our heads and gives us shelter but allows us to see the sky of the day and the stars of the night.
Most children love to decorate the sukkah, but some have a custom to leave the sukkah unadorned. All the sukkahs I was invited to were decorated. The children all were excited about showing me their artistic contributions to the festive atmosphere of their sukkah. There were pictures and crafts displaying the seven species inherent to Israel: olives, dates, grapes, figs, pomegranates, barley and wheat. There were prayers and blessings hanging from the “walls.” There also were colorful streamers and chains of popcorn, and metallic centerpieces hanging from the roofs of the sukkahs.
When I lived in the U.S., my sukkah always seemed to have a mishap. One year as I was sitting with several guests enjoying an elaborate meal in the sukkah, suddenly there was a strong gust of wind that lifted the sukkah straight up in the air, sort of like what the tornado did in the “The Wizard of Oz.” We started to laugh because we were in one place and the sukkah was now in another, 10 feet away, leaning against the block wall separating my property from my neighbors. The following year I laid sandbags over the metal poles on the perimeter of the sukkah. Another year the bulb lighting the sukkah blew out. We only had a faint light from my kitchen nearby and the soft glow of the candles burning low Another year when I was reading in the sukkah, the plants from the roof fell on my head.
Living in California made for comfortable sukkah weather. Friends and relatives on the East Coast would tell horror stories of how the rain and snow would come down while they sat in their sukkahs. Here in Israel, the first night of the seven-day holiday (eight days outside of Israel) had a sprinkling of rain. We were sitting in the sukkah and a few droplets fell through the bamboo slats of the sukkah roof. We heard the rain more than we felt it. The temperature was quite warm, so the drizzling of rain actually was refreshing.
People without balconies or patios at their apartments build their sukkahs in the apartment building parking lots or on the lawns and sidewalks in front of their buildings. Everywhere you go in Israel, you can see sukkahs dotting the landscape. Because this is such a happy holiday, you are able to hear neighbors laughing and talking with their sukkah guests, and you can enjoy their singing of holiday songs in their sukkahs.
Because Israel is a melting pot of Jews from all over the world, many customs and traditions are handed down from family to family. Every sukkah I was invited to was unique. Even similar foods had distinctive spices and flavorings from the country of origin of the sukkah's owners. Although Sukkot is a joyful, festive occasion, there is something so peaceful and safe about sitting in the sukkah. Perhaps it was this peace and protection from G-d that my ancestors felt during the exodus from Egypt.
L'hitraot. Shachar.
