Bellmore-Merrick synagogues celebrate Sukkot

The Holy High Days of Judaism may be coming to a close, but there is still one more celebration to be had this year. Many houses around Bellmore and Merrick could be seen with small huts, called sukkahs, in their backyards to mark the Jewish holiday of Sukkot this past week.

A weeklong celebration, which annually occurs at the end of September and will wind down on Friday, Sukkot is a tradition that dates back to ancient Israel when Jews built huts near the edges of their fields during the harvest season.

These days, Sukkot is a busy time for the Jewish community. “The reason why we sit in sukkahs is because when the Jews went out of Egypt, they went to the desert,” said Rabbi Shimon Kramer of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life of Bellmore-Merrick. “There they sat in little huts, and God protected them from the surroundings. In order to remember and to thank God for the protection, we sit in a sukkah.”

In ancient times, people lived in sukkahs and ate their meals in them. Now those who observe the holiday construct them in their backyards or help their local synagogues build them for the community.

“Sukkot is the holiday where the Jewish people are most ‘out there,’” said Rabbi Ira Ebbin of Congregation Ohav Sholom in Merrick. “You cannot observe the holiday properly without going outside to dwell in the sukkah.”

It is also customary to wave and say a blessing on the lulav and the etrog during Sukkot. A lulav is a branch from a date palm tree, and an etrog is a citrus fruit similar to a lemon. The custom is prescribed by the Torah, Judaism’s laws found in the five Books of Moses, and represents the Jews’ service to God.

Congregation Ohav Sholom, Merrick’s Orthodox synagogue, held its annual "Sukkah Hop" as one of its Sukkot celebrations this past week. Synagogue members traveled from house to house within Merrick to visit different sukkahs that Jewish families wished to share with the rest of the community. The congregation visited several houses, including Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg’s Merrick home on Thursday.

"It is mostly a social event that allows people to sit back, join together and enjoy themselves while embracing their Jewish heritage,” said Ebbin.