Saturday, October 10, 2009
Beth Israel Synagogue: A time for food, fellowship
For members of Roanoke's Beth Israel Synagogue, Sukkot, the harvest festival, is an opportunity to rekindle friendships and celebrate with family.
JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
Al Baril delivers pizza to the succah outside the Beth Israel Synagogue in Roanoke. Members of the congregation gathered this week to share meals during Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival.
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It's what Rabbi Fabian Werbin wanted: synagogue members getting together to bake the pizzas and eat them in the hut and then share some laughs.
The occasion? The Jewish harvest festival called Sukkot, which is a remembrance of when the Israelites left Egypt and wandered the desert, building huts for shelter.
Many people today set up huts -- or succahs -- outside their own homes. But Werbin, the rabbi of Roanoke's Beth Israel Synagogue in Old Southwest, said that for congregations it can also be a time when friendships are rekindled.
"It's a holiday for the whole family, and Beth Israel is a great family," he said. "The best lesson today is that we should spend time with our family."
Held five days after Yom Kippur, an important holiday on the Jewish calendar and a solemn time to repent the sins of the past year, Sukkot is a time of joy.
In its biblical origins, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles commemorates the 40 years Israelites spent wandering the desert during the Exodus. It also celebrates the fall harvest.
So at Beth Israel, the eight-day celebration began Sunday with members raising a hut in the parking lot. They covered the roof with branches and hung plastic apples, bananas and grapes.
They had activities with catchy names such as "Soup in the Succah," "Sushi in the Succah" and on Tuesday, "Pizza in the Hut." About 60 people packed in after pizzas with tomato and broccoli and salads were served.
Adam Sarbin said celebrating the holiday with his wife and three daughters reminded him of doing the same with his parents and siblings.
"I get joy from seeing how much my children and my family enjoy the holiday," he said. "It's exciting to put up the structure and decorate it and have meals in it, and I think that's sort of enjoyable family holiday."
For Jodie Caplan, president of the synagogue, it's also a time to welcome guests (or ushpizin, in Hebrew.)
"It's nice to have people over," she said to one visitor. "For me, it's sort of an extension of the summer because we're doing stuff outside."
Next year, Werbin said, Beth Israel will name one of the nights after a popular "Star Wars" character: Java in the Hut.
