Sukkot is a week-long Jewish holiday, which began on Monday. Throughout the week, Hillel, a center for Jewish life on campus, is hosting events for students to observe the holiday. Madeline Horowitz spoke with Dave Cohn, the center’s Executive Director, to learn about the holiday and how to celebrate it.
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Sukkot is one of three pilgrimage festivals described originally in the Torah. The festival of Sukkot is a way to commemorate the time the Jewish people spent wandering in the desert and the necessity of dwelling in temporary structures called Sukkahs. There is a heavy emphasis on welcoming and inclusion within these temporary homes. In modern times, the holiday’s meaning has shifted, according to Dave Cohn.
It’s really become a week where we can reflect on the value and meaning of shelter, safety, of building and creating a home of understanding the fragility of what that means, and of building homes that are welcoming and inclusive and open to all. The sukkah, as a temporary structure, has open walls openings in the roof. I think it’s a beautiful symbol of how I can make it welcoming and inclusive to everyone.
With that said, there are still many different rituals that take place. These rituals go back to the pilgrimage and harvest origin of the festival, such as waving the lulav which gestures to the four corners of the earth to reflect on the fruits of the lands. Sukkot is one of the few celebrations within Judaism where there aren’t many denominational differences as to how the holiday is observed.
Really the observances are to spend time in Sukkah is the Hebrew to sit or dwell in the Sukkah. People make lots of different choices about hosting meals and the different kinds of gatherings. Some even sleep overnight in their Sukkah in their home.
Hillel has been offering events every day of the week to celebrate Sukkot. The events are meant to reflect the holiday’s inclusive nature.
We have different gatherings, oriented towards different groups, different activities, different values that our Jewish community on campus hold. That included an event focused on the LGBTQ+ community and allies through our Nice Jewish Queers club and included a meal with delicious shakshuka, a Middle Eastern Israeli food. So it’s really a time to welcome different communities and our broader community into meaningful celebration together.
Tonight, Hillel will host a sushi and sake event in the sukkah. On Thursday, there will be succulent making in the sukkah. Lastly, on Friday, Hillel will continue its weekly Shabbat ceremony, but it will take place in the sukkah this week.
You don’t have to identify as Jewish to attend a Hillel event. We’re fully open for anyone who wants to experience Jewish life. And what’s most common is for Jewish students to welcome an invite and bring friends, roommates, classmates to gatherings and it becomes a wonderful introduction to what we do.