A local rabbi is planning to observe the Jewish festival of Sukkot in Pottsville with a get-together at the end of the month.
“I want to invite everybody, anyone. We’re going to bring food. There’s going to be a little music. It’s going to be happy!” Rabbi Nachman Nachmenson of the Chabad-Lubavitch of Schuylkill County said Wednesday.
This year, Sukkot will be observed from sunset Sunday, Sept. 27 to sunset Sunday, Oct. 4. But Nachmenson’s event will be held on one night, Wednesday, Sept., 30, starting at 7 p.m. at 382 S. Second St.
“I’m doing it only for one day,” he said.
Those interested can call him at 570-573-3280 or 908-977-7138.
According to the Judaism 101 website, www.jewfaq.org, Sukkot is the last of the three Shalosh R’galim pilgrimage festivals.
“Jews from around the world made pilgrimages to Jerusalem to make offerings in the Temple in honor of these holidays,” according to the site.
Sukkot is “a festival commemorating the wandering in the desert and the final harvest. Also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Festival of Ingathering,” according to the site.
“Like Passover and Shavu’ot, Sukkot has a dual significance: historical and agricultural. Historically, Sukkot commemorates the 40-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival and is sometimes referred to as Chag Ha-Asif, the Festival of Ingathering,” according to the site.
“The word ‘Sukkot’ means ‘booths,’ and refers to the temporary dwellings that we are commanded to live in during this holiday in memory of the period of wandering. The Hebrew pronunciation of Sukkot is ‘Sue COAT,’ but is often pronounced as in Yiddish, to rhyme with ‘BOOK us,’ ” according to the site.