The beautiful sukkah of Temple Judea was the location for Sukkot services which were preceded by a special barbecue hosted by the Brotherhood and WRJ Sisterhood. The congregants enjoyed hot dogs and hamburgers freshly grilled, as they sat inside the sukkah, a temporary building especially designed for this holiday.
According to rabbinic tradition, these tent-like structures represent the huts in which the Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of wandering in the desert after escaping from slavery in Egypt.
A sukkah is built each year on Temple Judea’s spacious grounds for enjoying meals and holding traditional services. It’s a temporary edifice which must have certain requirements, such as three or four sides. It is a fragile hut with a roof covered in branches sparse enough to allow glimpses of the heavens and an expanded field of vision.
The children in the temple’s Hebrew school had decorated the sukkah walls with brightly colored decorations.
A light rain started just as the congregants were finishing the last of the hot dogs and hamburgers. The group scurried into the sanctuary for the special Sukkot services led by Rabbi Todd Chizner and student cantor Mariel Guarrera-Ashkenazy.
