10-09-2022: Sukkot

Sunday morning we learned more about kibbutz living by walking to the market. On the way Carol walked us through the second hand shop that had all kinds of stuff available for reuse and repurposing, the epitome of one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. We also saw the bicycle shop, the mechanic shop, and the pub. The market is well-stocked and is cashless as purchases are tallied and money then comes out of your account. Carol also showed us how to sign out a vehicle by reserving online one of the 250 kibbutz-owed vehicles. You then go pick it up by getting the keys from a lockbox. Many of the cars are hybrids and there are a number of charging stations on the kibbutz.

David and Carol then took us to one of the several archeological sites found on the kibbutz. David said that anytime you dig in Israel, you’ll probably uncover antiquities which then have to be studied by archeologists to determine their significance. The site we saw was maybe from Roman times, at least that’s what it reminded Christine and me of from from the mosaic that was visible. We were pretty amazed that the dig site was on the kibbutz and not at all protected. Apparently, it was not felt to be that significant. We were impressed, though.

We stopped at the cemetery on the kibbutz. It is running out of room so the kibbutz will need to address that problem soon. The cemetery seemed like a lovely, serene place.

We stopped to see the holocaust memorial on the kibbutz and a children’s memorial to 3 kids who were killed when an Egyptian plane mistakenly dropped a bomb on one of the children’s houses.

We then returned home and rested up in preparation for the arrival of family as today starts a significant Jewish festival holiday. Sukkot is a week-long Jewish holiday that comes five days after Yom Kippur, this year celebrated October 9-16. This is a harvest and thanksgiving festival and families get together to celebrate. David and Carol’s four children (Eron and wife Dana, Danit, Gadi and wife Shira, and Sivan and boyfriend Orrie) and 7 grandchildren (Roni, Lihi, Moran, Ruth, Amalia, Eitan and Peleg) arrived Sunday afternoon to prepare for the festival. It became a very full house with a lot of commotion. It was great meeting the whole family and everyone worked very hard to speak English.

Sukkot celebrates the gathering of the harvest and commemorates the miraculous protection God provided for the children of Israel when they left Egypt. Sukkot is celebrated by first building a sukkah, a temporary dwelling, which is symbolic of the shelters Jews lived in during their 40-year wandering in the desert. The sukkah also represents the fact that all existence is fragile, and therefore Sukkot is a time to appreciate the shelter of homes and bodies. The sukkah is decorated and the kids had fun making decorations to hang in the sukkah. David was the sukkah building foreman and he instructed the kids on how to put the boards together to make the sukkah. Eitan was trying to master pounding nails and David was so patient with him. He finally got the hang of it and banged in several nails.

It took some time to get the structure erected, but it was fun watching everyone doing a little piece of the work. Carol even played the recorder and everyone sang.

For dinner we all went to the dining hall to eat. We filled a big long table. Here are a couple of photos of most of the adult family members; the kids didn’t stay still long enough to photograph.

After dinner there was a performance detailing the Sukkot festival. It was all in Hebrew, so I didn’t understand what was being said, but the various dances and narration told the story of why this festival is important. The Gilad children related that through the years of their growing up they each performed in the various performances, so the routines apparently don’t change from year to year. A couple of the grandchildren participated in the performances this year. And there were hundreds of people in the audience which was held outdoors on a hillside. It was very fun to watch and get swept up in the enthusiasm everyone showed for the performance.

After the performance, everyone was invited up to the stage to dance. Carol and Christine, along with a couple of the grandchildren danced and had a great time.

It was a wonderful day and a real honor to be here to celebrate Sukkot with the Gilad family.