Friday, October 18, 1957—THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS-6

10

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Sukkah Dominates Israeli Scene;
Festival Spirit Is Enhanced by
Enthusiasm of American Tourists

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

JERUSALEM, Israel—Sukkot 'is
one of the enchanting periods of
the year here. In spite of the un-
usual hamsin that started on Yom
Kippur and continued for several
days, the festive spirit of the
Festival of Booths dominated the
scene here, as it did throughout
the land.
Immediately after Yom Kippur,
children were seen trekking from
the maw forests that dot the
areas around the Holy City,
carrying the traditional s'chach,
the foliage to cover the roofs of
the Sukkahs. •
The municipality, conscious of
the possible danger of the de-
nuding of branches from some
of the trees, issued word to the
population that the s'chach would
be provided free to all who desire
it.
Then began the process of
building the booths. Many apart-
ment houses were surrounded
by individual Sukkah installa-
tions on the porches of home y ,
regardless of their size. Public
institutions erected booths for
holiday observances. The very
large outdoor veranda of the
King David Hotel was turned
into an immense Sukkah.
This was all preliminary to the
celebration of the rest of the
Sukkot festival, with Simhat Torah
climaxing the inspiring celebra-
tions. On Simhat Torah, many
Jews parade the streets with Sifre
Torah. They dance on the streets
of Jerusalem while rejoicing in
the Torah.

•

* *

During the Holy Day period, in
this Holy City, it becomes possible
to understand the significance of
Israeli aspirations to fulfill the
Prophecy of the "ingathering of
the exiles" from all corners of the
earth.
A tour of the colorful syna-
gogues reveals the multiplicity of
cultures and traditions that func-
tion here.
The Jeshurun Synagogue, near-
est to the King David Hotel and
the magnificent YMHA that was
built with contributions from the
United States, are more like the
Shaarey Zedek in Detroit or Bnai
Jeshurun in New York or the
Park Avenue Temple in Cleveland
—except that the mixing of the
sexes is prohibited. Throughout
Israel, except in three or four

privately functioning "minyanim,"
men and women are separated at
religious services. The tradition
of the "mehitza," the dividing line
between the men's-women's pray-
ing sections, will probably sur-
vive longest here, so adamant are
the traditionalists that it should
be enforced.
When one enters the section
known as "Meah Shearim,"
which literally means "Hundred
Gates," he is confronted with
scores of varying practices and
civilizations. Orientals and those
stemming from East European
countries, Bokharan and Turk-
ish Jews, Sephardic and Ash-
kenazic elements from Germany,
Turkey, India and 60 other lands
chant their prayers according
to the customs they brought
with theni from the lands of
their origin. •
The Yemenites and the Kurds
are among the most picturesque
in the land. They often come to
services in their native costumes.
The Shofar became an object of
special choice for them during
the Yomim Neroim. The longer
and the more twisted, the more
acceptable it is to them, even
though it is more difficult to blow.
The Kurds are among the pic-
turesque nationality groups here.
They come from the Kurdistan
mountain areas in northwest Iran
and southeastern Turkey. They
still speak a sort of Aramaic,
exactly as the language was spoken
2,000 and more years ago. They
may be the only surviving group
that has perpetuated this ancient
dialect.
In Jerusalem, the Kurds are
in the Zichron Joseph Quarter. At
their Sabbath and holiday serv-
ices, their rabbi speaks to the
congregation in Aramaic. The
baggy trousers of the Kurdistani
elders, the sight of their women,
sitting cross-legged, while cleaning
their pots, or when wearing their
gaily colored dresses, with their
red-dyed hair—which is considered
a mark of beauty—offer interest-
ing sidelights on the types of
civilizations that are fused in this
land. The men are physically
strong and are a wholesome ele-
ment in the constructive work of
this land.
Persian (Iranian) Jews also
provide marks of distinction in
their synagogues, as well as in
their daily activities.
The Yemenites have another
distinguishing mark in their

prayers. They sway back and
forth, like camel-riders. It is
said that they truly desire to
be taken for camel-riders since
in Yemen, whence they escaped
from persecutions, the anti-
Jewish laws forbade them to
ride camels.

There are the Hassidic syna-
gogues, where the "shtreimel," the
velvet hat with fur tails, and the
"kapota," the black silk robe, are
in evidence among worshippers.

Italian Jews who brought to
Israel with them the customs from
the 17th century ghetto; Bokharian
and other Jews, add color and
zest to the glamor of this nation
where 70 nationality groups are
being fused into one—the children
of all the immigrants giving
promise that in Israel, as in Am-
-erica, the "melting pot" will one
day produce a homogeneous
nation. In that sense, the colorful
atmosphere that exis4 s today may
lose much of its present glamor.

Reclamation

G'athering sheaves in the
fields in this daughter of the
Emek toiling at peace in the
ancient homeland. Thousands
who formerly slaved for the
Nazis are now free men and
women in Palestine because the
Jews of America, massing be-
hind the United Jewish Appeal,
have determined that those who
escaped the slave-pens shall live
again.