Singing in the Sukkah

Sukkot is one of the major holidays in Judaism, but it never seems to get enough credit. After Rosh Hashanah- the first holiday of the year, and then 10 days later Yom Kippur- the hardest holiday of the year, who has energy to celebrate Sukkot a mere 5 days later? As on of the harvest holidays, it is no wonder why it is so popular on Kibbutzim. This year, Ariel and I celebrated Sukkot on Kibbutz Palmachim, about 25 minutes south of Tel Aviv. Ariel’s friend’s uncle lives on this kibbutz and every year he throws a party on the first night of Sukkot. He builds a large sukkah and invites friends and family from far and wide. (Keep in mind that no where in Israel is more than a few hours drive away). Ariel and I had heard of this famous uncle and decided to check it out for ourselves this year.

Like most parties there was lots of food and friends to say hello to, but the highlight of it all was the שירה בציבור- community singing. Sing-A-longs are a popular Israeli past time for adults, as well as kids, and this weekend I experienced this phenomenon first-hand. They had everything set up perfectly: there was one guy on a keyboard, another one on the guitar and a few tambourines and other instruments strewn about. They had an overheard projector with over a hundred song sheets that were shown on one of the sheets acting as a wall of the sukkah. There were plenty of songs that I didn’t know, but also quite a few that I did. (It’s amazing what 6 years at a Jewish Day School can do to a person). They went back and forth between classic pioneer songs, current pop songs and holiday songs. No one felt embarrassed to sing and everyone had a great time.

By 3 am I was getting cold (yes, even in Israel it can get chilly) and people started packing up. It was a great way to start this holiday.