On Wednesday, a hut-like structure decorated with spray painted messages in Hebrew and English appeared on the lawn outside Olin Library. This sukkah, a temporary shelter used to celebrate the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot, was constructed by students in the Havurah, the campus Jewish community.
Because last year’s sukkah fell down, members of the Havurah were thankful for the cooperation of Physical Plant in the assembly of this year’s sukkah.
One instrumental organizer in the sukkah’s construction was Lee Isaacsohn ’08.
“In the end I am glad Physical Plant helped us build it, because it incorporated more of the [Wesleyan] community,” Isaacsohn said.
The campus Jewish chaplain, Rabbi David Leipziger, explained that Sukkot is a celebration of agriculture and the community.
“A big theme for the hut is hospitality,” said Leipziger, who goes by Rabbi David on campus. “It isn’t just the Jewish community’s sukka—his is the University’s sukkah. We welcome people to come and enjoy the outdoors a little bit.”
Havurah members intended to sleep in the hut over the weekend, but the rain put those plans on hold.
“We had Shabbat in the sukkah on Friday night, which was really fun,” said Lillian Siegel, ’08. “The sukkah is a place for sleeping, hanging out with friends, reading and eating in; everyone is welcome to hang out in it.”
According to Jewish tradition, the sukkah symbolizes the transitory nature of the ancient Israelites, who left Egypt and wandered in the desert for forty years. The temporary building will be taken down on Thursday.
“For seven days we try to experience the wandering of the desert like the Israelites did,” Rabbi David said. “The roof has to be made up of branches and green stuff that is still alive. The idea is that you should be able to see the stars.”
On Wednesday, the first night of Sukkot, students had pizza inside the sukkah and decorated the plywood with spray paint. Some reported feeling that they encouraged dialogue about the presence of the sukkah by writing easily visible questions such as, “What is Sukkot?”
“Part of the Wesleyan experience should be trying new things, and this is a new experience for a lot of people,” Rabbi David said. “And since it is in such a prominent place, people are curious about it.”
Jordan Schultz ’06 enjoyed taking a study break from Olin to sit inside the sukkah with Jewish and non-Jewish friends alike.
“It reminds me of my childhood and going to temple in my youth, which brings back happy thoughts,” Schultz said.
“I am not Jewish, and seeing the sukkah for me is not religious, but part of being at Wesleyan,” said Lillian Ruiz ’08. “This is a place for cultural contact, and I think it is really cool that things like this are built in a part of campus that everyone passes by.”
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