current-events

Like every year, the Sukkot holiday is a busy time

in Jerusalem, Israel.

There is so much to prepare,

and great concentration is invested in

every little detail.

I set out to find something new and different,

from the best of sukkot of the past years,

to add to favorite sukkot of Sukkot.

The view from the sukkah on the Tayelet,

the Haas Promenade, was one of the best.

This huge sukkah under construction in the Kotel plaza,

the Western Wall, was impressive.

Large cloth sukkot line many streets.

In the Rova, the Jewish Quarter of the Old City,

in front of the Hurva Synagogue

stands an impressive wooden sukkah.

The sukkah in the atrium of the Inbal Hotel

was decorated elegantly.

I caught the top of  this sukkah in Yemin Moshe,

peeking over the roof tops.

There were impressive wooden structures.

some hidden away in the Geula neighborhood.

But where could I find special and different for this year?

I went on a pre-Sukkot photo walk on Friday morning.

We started out in Mea Shearim,

but on the way to Machane Yehuda market,

I made a mistake and turned up the wrong alleyway.

There I found what seemed to be another wooden sukkah,

with a pile of junk nearby.

But sometimes.

one photo does not tell the whole story.

I was told that

people in the neighborhood had collected

all their old wooden doors and dressers and scraps of wood

and given them to a group of young yeshiva men

who were living in their neighborhood,

so they could build their own sukkah.

It may not be the biggest or the prettiest sukkah,

 but it is one of my favorite stories.

Maybe the detour was not a mistake after all?

They posted this sign near the entrance:

הרחמן הוא יקים לנו את סוכת דוד הנפלת

May the Compassionate One restore the fallen sukkah of King David.

As the Kotel, Western Wall Plaza fills

with tens of thousands of people for the Birkat Kohanim

and Hakhel prayers this year,

 the buses join in wishing everyone

Moadim l”Simcha.