By Ali G.

Sunday October 7, students at the Family Foundation had the opportunity to celebrate the annual holiday of Sukkot. Sukkot is Hebrew for “Feast of Booths” and this “booth” refers to the “sukkah,” a temporary hut-like dwelling that travelers in Israel lived in during their 40 years of wandering in the desert following their Exodus from slavery in Egypt. The maintenance staff worked hard to erect a wooden sukkah for us, which we adorned after spending the mornings in our families creating decorations. Each house created a colorful banner, which represented their concept of serenity and peace, or was decorated with a depiction of a favorite Psalm. We then presented our banners to the rest of the school, while sitting in the beautifully decorated sukkah. We also created “Gratitude Chains” which consisted of links of paper, each with one of our many blessings written on them. These were carefully strung up over the top of the sukkah. Tradition dictates that you are to eat a meal under the sukkah, but as Rabbi Michele pointed out, these traditions were penned in Israel, where nearly freezing weather isn’t a concern, and you’re not intended to be uncomfortable while celebrating. Some of the Jewish students however, braved the chill in order to celebrate and observe the holiday, while others were just happy to have participated in the decorating and other festivities. Each year, students look forward to Sukkot as a way of experiencing traditions from all over the world, and this year was a smashing success!