Planning for Sukkos in a Jewish State

It is hard to write about Sukkos in Israel before Sukkos has even arrived. But there is one thing I can write about now: planning for Sukkos.

This year, as we’ve all noticed, most of the Yamim Tovim fall out on Shabbos/Sunday. In theory, the only day of work one would need to take off is for the Monday of Yom Kippur. Otherwise, one can work on chol and Chol HaMoed and not miss another day of work. (Whether or not that’s the ideal is a separate question.) This offers a reprieve from the complications of any other arrangement of the Tishrei holidays, which knock out two full workdays three times within a month, not to mention the Erev Yom Tov complications and the post-Yom Tov hangover days.

This challenge is a symptom of the fact that the secular calendar and the Jewish calendar are not aligned. (And even when they happen to align, such as both the academic year and the Jewish calendar year starting around September, it usually leads to more problems than conveniences.)

But imagine what it would be like if you lived in a society that coordinated the secular and Jewish calendars? Where every year one did not need to pull favors at work in order to observe Yom Tov? (Where the Yamim Tovim falling out on Shabbos is sort of sad, because there aren’t really any “extra” days of rest?)

That, of course, is the reality in Israel. Jewish holidays are national holidays, and Jews are the majority population. Not only is Yom Tov a day off, but Chol HaMoed is generally a day off as well. Okay, maybe you don’t get a full week off before Pesach and Sukkos like the schools do (which creates its own set of problems), but the work calendar is organized around the Jewish calendar.

This is not just a technicality, a benefit that happens to work out – it points to the fundamental integration of Jewish life into society, including the ostensibly “secular” Israeli society of the workforce. This is part of what it means for Jews to not be a minority.

And that expresses itself in other ways, too. The advertisements one sees on the streets, in general newspapers, and on TV are for the upcoming Jewish holidays. It really makes a difference to have the general culture that one passively consumes be about the Yamim Nora’im, Sukkos, Chanukah, Purim, and Pesach, rather than being about Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter.

It manifests itself in buying a lulav. Instead of being relegated to shul basements, you find arba minim sold everywhere you look – from school parking lots to random street corners to all over Meah Shearim to the massive location next to Shuk Machane Yehuda. The arba minim are more than a religious errand to take care of; they become definitional to the seasonal landscape.

Sukkos being a national vacation rather than one for religious minorities also means that there is a plethora of events to choose from during the Sukkos break. We’ve been looking ahead and planning a bit, both for the extra week our kids have off before Sukkos and the six (!) days of Chol HaMoed, as well.

And we’re finding that there’s so much to choose from!

There are religious events, such as the massive Birkas Kohanim at the Kotel and all-night learning programs on leil Hoshana Rabbah, not to mention the pop-up Happy minyanim.

There are almost too many concerts to choose between: Do we want to hear Shlomo Katz, Eitan Katz, Yonina, or the United Hatzalah concert with Avraham Fried, Shwekey, Ishay Ribo, and Zusha?

There is a wide variety of fairs, tours, and hikes: Do we want to attend the Ein Kerem Festival Fair or the Ushpizin Poetry Festival? Do we want to go on a tour of Ir David, Migdal David, the Kotel, or the National Library? Do we want to go on a hike at Wadi Qelt or Ein Prat?

And there are also social opportunities. Several friends outside Yerushalayim have invited us to join them in their sukkah during Chol HaMoed – aside from all the local hospitality we have been offered nearer to our home on Shabbos and Yom Tov.

Wishing everyone a chag kasher vesameach. Enjoy the weekend Yamim Tovim!