Photo Friday: Make Temporary Shelters

Stand for Israel | September 29, 2023

Yemenite Jewish family of olim build sukkah for Sukkot, Israel, 1950 — (Photo: Fritz Cohen)

“…proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: ‘Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters’—as it is written.

“So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God…” (Nehemiah 8:15-16)

In this photo taken in Israel in 1950, a Jewish family from Yemen—new olim (immigrants to the Holy Land)—prepare their sukkah, the temporary shelters that the Bible commands be built for the weeklong Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, which begins tonight at sundown. We wish a Happy Sukkot to all who celebrate, and to all of our friends, Shabbat Shalom.