Conservancy Constructs Sukkah to Celebrate Sukkot Harvest Festival
With an historic synagogue structure as the backdrop, a Sukkah was constructed on the grounds of Greater Newark Conservancy’s Urban Environmental Center in Newark to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
Interns from the Newark Youth Leadership Project learned about the holiday from Rabbi Elliott Tepperman of Bnai Keshet in Montclair, who joined Conservancy staff, board members and members of the community who shared food and refreshment inside the Sukkah. Jews build a Sukkah, or booth, during the holiday of Sukkot, in the fashion of huts built near the edges of their ancestor’s fields in ancient Israel during the harvest season. Because of the shelter these huts provided, workers were able to maximize time in the fields and harvest their food more quickly. Sukkot is a reminder of Israel’s agricultural traditions.
“The fall harvest of food is something we celebrate at the Conservancy, because healthy, nutritious fruit and vegetables from our urban farms in Newark are helping to feed the City’s residents,” noted the Conservancy’s Executive Director, Robin Dougherty. “Given the historic ties to the Oheb Shalom Congregation and their former synagogue, now being renovated to expand our programming capacity, it seemed natural to tie things together into something we could all celebrate.”
“It’s probably been more than 70 years since Sukkot was celebrated on Prince Street in Newark,” concluded Conservancy board member Sam Convissor, a Newark native and retired Vice President for RCA Corporation. “It’s great to see and to be a part of it.”
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