Warmer than usual temperatures and the completion of the shmitta year are adding a new dimension to this year’s Sukkot celebrations in Israel.
The fact that the Jewish holidays began in early September this year has provided Israelis with an extended summer vacation — and they are making the most of it.
Taking advantage of the sultry weather, and the fact that all schools and many companies are closed for Sukkot, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have flocked to the seashore or completely flown the coop to Europe, Greece and Turkey.
About 1,000 Israelis with second passports were also expected to travel to Jordan, now that Israel is permitting dual passport-holders to visit their Arab neighbor.
Many of those who decided to remain in the capital for the holiday shopped for lulavs, etrogs and sukkah decorations in the huge Mea Shearim open-air market.
Located on the main street of Jerusalem’s most religious neighborhood, the market is a once-a-year happening that attracts religious Jews from all over the country.
Closed to traffic a few days before the start of the festival, Mea Shearim Street was all tumult and activity as people walked from booth to booth, comparing the price and selection of sukkah decorations.
In addition to posters of religious texts and famous rabbis, the decorations included red and green tinsel and tiny flashing lights– decorations usually associated with Christmas.
CHRISTMAS LIGHTS BECOME SUKKAH DECOR
American yeshiva students in Israel for the year could be heard exclaiming, “Those are the lights people put on Christmas trees. What are they doing here in Mea Shearim?”
Amused by the question, which he had heard many times before, a vendor told the students, “These are just decorations, and since Israelis don’t celebrate Christmas, they don’t associate lights and tinsel with anything Christian.”
This year’s selection of etrogs was smaller than usual, other vendors said, because of the shmitta year that was just concluded.
Oded Elbert, one of the hundreds selling etrogs, explained that “during the shmitta year, the land lies fallow. Theoretically, all of the fruit is there for the taking, but the reality is that the farmers must continue to make a living.”
In order to comply with tradition and still make a living, he said, “the farmers sell their land to the Beit Din (the religious court), which in turns sells the produce to the public at cost.”
This year’s crop of etrogs was much smaller than usual, Elbert said, “because during shmitta, farmers are prohibited from providing all but the most basic care to their trees and plants. They can keep their plants alive by watering them, but nothing more than that.”
The etrogs on sale reflected this low level of maintenance. According to many vendors, much of the shmitta-year crop was not fit for use during Sukkot. Yet, despite the smaller number of etrogs on the market this year, prices remained fairly consistent with non-shmitta prices, thanks to the non-profit policy of the Beit Din.
A young yeshiva student who identified himself only as Yonasson admitted that the shmitta year had made the selection of etrogs “much more challenging.” But, he added, “only people living in Israel can fulfill this mitzvah.”
David and Ayala Levin-Kruss, one of the few married couples shopping together for lulavs and etrogs, recalled how they bought a sukkah before they were married.
“It was our first joint purchase before we were married,” Ayala Levin-Kruss recalled, “and we used four of the poles for our chuppah.”
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