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.
