Anyone who has spent Sukkot in Israel has experienced something that I think few Americans have ever seen. Thanks to Rabbi Joel Abraham of Temple Sholom for sharing this story:
"When we were living in Jerusalem (where I met my wife Michelle when we were both in our first year at Hebrew Union College), we saw sukkot everywhere. Every restaurant on the midrachov (Ben Yehudah street) had a sukkah over their outdoor tables. Across from Michelle's apartment there was a family that lived on the second floor who put a sukkah on scaffolding that you entered by crawling out their apartment window.
"Our apartment had three balconies. One of them was in a terraced part of the building. Our landlords came by, just before the holiday, to show us how to take off the ceiling panels to transform the covered porch in to a seventh floor sukkah. It occurred to me that, in the United States, we did a disservice when comparing Christmas to Chanukah. The holiday when every Israeli creates a decoration in their home, and invites all their friends to come in and see is not Chanukah, but Sukkot.
"The proof was that a friend of mine went into the market in Mea Sharim (one of the most Orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem) and saw silvery decorations for sale. When he got closer, he saw that they were labeled 'Felix Navidad' and 'Hecho en Mexico.'"
Tinsel! Awesome. Oooh, what else do we get to use? Share your experiences by leaving a comment.
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