Hillel shares sukkah with NCF

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Photo courtesy of Hillel
Hillel decorated the sukkah on Sept. 28.

Hillel is known on campus for its events promoting a stronger sense of community through various Jewish traditions and values. Three weeks ago, the club held its first event this year, a barbeque near Dort and Goldstein to celebrate the beginning of Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish New Year. On Oct. 27, Hillel’s celebration of one of the first holidays of the New Year was marked by the appearance of what many students have referred to as a “white tent in the middle of Z green.”

The “white tent” was a structure known as a Sukkah, and is a tradition of the holiday Sukkot. In contrast with the previous holiday, the solemn Yom Kippur, Sukkot is one of the most joyous holidays of the year and commemorates the 40-year period during which the people of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters called sukkahs. In an agricultural context, Sukkot functions as a harvest festival.

Sukkah literally means “booth.” A sukkah is typically built for the duration of the 7-day period of Sukkot.

A few activities done by Hillel over the course of Sukkot included a decorating session on Monday, a Lunch and Learn with Professor Susan Marks on Friday, and an evening Havdallah ceremony on Saturday.

The sukkah was also open for use by all students throughout the week, and in a forum email, club co-president Kira Rib invited students to “feel free to eat, read a book, or take a nap under the sukkah this weekend.”

Hillel will continue to share Jewish tradition and holidays with the rest of New College in the weeks to follow, and all interested students are encouraged to participate.

Information for this article was taken from www.jewfaq.org

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