There are only 2 mitzvot that we can do with our entire being, both body and soul: The mitzvah of building/dwelling the Sukkah, and the mitzvah of living in the Land of Israel. (Vilna Gaon)

How meaningful it is to appreciate the union of these two mitzvot as Sukkot arrives in Israel.

When the Israelites left Egypt and traveled for forty years to the Land of Israel, they built tents to live in along the way. But in the period surrounding the harvest, temporary huts or booths - Sukkot סוכות - were built with the date and palm branches that signified the completion of the season. The distinction of living space was a reflection of their faith - as a celebration of the life-giving harvest infused with awareness of its Provider, generating true joy and thus making this one of our most festive holidays!

The tradition has been carried on for these thousands of years in keeping with the commandment “You shall dwell in Sukkot for seven days… so that your future generations shall know that I had the children of Israel live in Sukkot when I brought them out of Egypt….” (Leviticus 23:42-43).

The finale of the Chag Season, ending with Simhat Torah in honor of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, the sukkah is in its own way a symbol of peace: it is open to the elements of nature, to the heavens above and to our family and friends...
How wonderful if we can also ensure that this temporary dwelling is an open reflection of our connection Israel?

Sukkot are build all over the world; But in Israel, it is a truly unique experience. You can enjoy the experience of spending time in your sukkah without the heat of the summer as the nights are cooled by the brisk fall air, as the breeze of this incredible land brushes your skin with such sweetness, such caress, it brings a smile to your face...knowing we are in the land our ancestors journeyed towards, the land in which we were destined to thrive as a people.

Within the modern day mosaic of this incredible country, Sukkot is felt on every corner - yet another part of Jewish life in the Jewish state that unites history, tradition, family and faith in a celebration of our freedom as a people on the ancestral land we have inherited. Here in Israel, there is certainly no need to stay confined to the backyard: nearly every restaurant in the country has a sukkah in which to eat, some even have a lulav and etrog on hand - It's a beautiful sight to see soldiers, tourists, and locals filled with the joy of this special holiday! The country is (again) on vacation and there are more festivals than one might imagine to fill these days with meaning.

In so many ways, Sukkot offers us the opportunity to connect with the Land in which we were destined to thrive as a people. Every year, we take ourselves out of the comforts of our home to relive an experience that spans the generations and helps us connect with the memory of our ancestors and the journey they traveled to reach the land promised to the Children of Israel.

So much meaning has been placed on these temporary dwellings, wherein families gather, guests are welcomed, and delicious dishes concocted to celebrate the abundance of the Land of Israel.

Many people grace the walls of their sukkot with the blessings, images of the species, and sometimes images of the Kotel. As you decorate your Sukkah this year, we invite you to adorn your dwelling with images of the Land that will help remind you of the journey - both ancient and modern - that the Jewish People have traveled to our ancestral homeland, to the place that we can all call home no matter where in the world we might live.

Select a special image that will help you celebrate that connection. Imagine driving the roads of the Judean Hills, or under the canopy of the date trees, wandering the streets of Jerusalem, or standing at the Kotel (The Western Wall) and shaking the Arbaa Minim (The Four Species) with thousands of other Jews...

Indeed, it was once said that "One should concentrate on being part of the entire people of Israel, with intense love and peace, until it may be considered as if all of Israel dwells together in one sukkah." While we may not all be together in the land to fulfill the mitzvah of dwelling in the land, we can unite in our mitzvah of inspiring Israel by combining something temporary with something permanent: our commitment and belonging to Israel.

Click here to download your favorite image to hang as a decoration and always be reminded of Israel as we celebrate this special holiday and the journey of ancestors to the land we can all call home.

Recommended for you:

Breakfast In The Sukkah

Israeli Kids Explain Sukkot

Cooking Israel Chagim Cookbook

Create Your Own Cornerstone

As we enter the Sukkah, let us consider the impermanence of existence and find our connection to Zion, the one place that has always been a permanent fixture of Jewish life.

All photos: www.davidbrianbender.com, All Rights Reserved. “Behind-the-Scenes” photographic notes follow.

As night gathers over the birthplace of Kabbalah, a devout Jewish scribe readies his tools alongside a nearly-completed Torah scroll 

As he prepares, cool, pine-scented air wafts through the painted arches of Safed’s striking 16th cent. Abuhav Synagogue.

Mulling the task ahead, Meir Biton carefully scans the Biblical text.

Alongside the unrolled scroll awaits a compact, ornately decorated Sephardic-style wooden enclosure.

Biton’s ink-stained fingers deftly carve, and then attach a nib to a split bamboo stylus, and he takes a seat at a cloth-covered table along the bima.

Biton and others present intently study the quality of the hand-lettering, previously prepared by another scribe.

In the sacred silence, Biton whispers an ancient blessing to help focus on his crucial deed; one misspelled letter would invalidate the entire scroll.

“I have placed God before me, always” (Ps. 16:8), emblazoned above the opening to the Aron Kodesh, where the scrolls are kept.

This is the second such Torah donated by the Elishkovs of Rishon L’tzion, both occasions marking the Bar Mitzva of sons of the Georgian immigrant family.

One after another, Biton gently rests the hand of the son, then, father and then guests upon his own, as he repeats the sacred act, painstakingly inking letter after letter.

Each Jew is enjoined to write their own Sefer Torah; this ritual allows them to partner in the holy moment, and become living links in the chain they themselves forge.

Pen inks parchment, as the faintly-traced Hebrew letters become the last word of the five Books of Moses: Israel.

After the ceremony, the scroll takes its place among the other scrolls brought over the centuries from locations across the Middle East, back to their ancestral home.

A synagogue member kisses a Torah scroll, reposing within the Aron Kodesh.

PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES

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My main DSLR camera setup is a Nikon D750 and assorted macro to telephoto lenses, and an LG-V20 as Smartphone. However, impromptu opportunities like this prove the dictum that “the best camera is the one you have with you,” hence my suggestion: always have a device on hand.

Initially, I’d just ducked into Abuhav earlier for evening services, and hadn’t known of the planned event.

I shot these images with a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, via the Better Camera app. I carefully set the ISO (the sensor’s sensitivity to light), exposure, white balance for the fluorescent lights, and, finally, set macro or standard focus settings, depending on the shot.

But no matter what level camera/smart/phone you may be using, here are two important suggestions:
   * Always shoot at the highest resolution possible, so you’ll have more to crop from later.
   * Don’t preset in any effects (Black & White, HDR, “Instagram,” etc.), since they make it far harder to correct or remove later, and can easily be added in via an in-camera editing app instead.

Flitting around the action (well, as discreetly as possible…), I tried to get as many angles as possible, at different aperture and focus settings. I tried to avoid the all-too-common Smartphone and DSLR “eye-level-now-everybody-smile-for-the-camera!” shots.

Editing in Lightroom 5, I tightly cropped and vignetted several of the shots, both to draw attention to the specific subject and to suggest the drama of the moment.

I saved the images in lower-resolution .jpg format, as seen here, as well as far higher .tiff. Both .tiff and in-camera .raw save all the information in the image, thus allowing far great flexibility in editing the image afterward.

I welcome your thoughts and feedback on this first in what I hope to develop into a photo essay series, featuring various sites and events in Israel. I also offer photography workshops for individuals and groups here in Safed and elsewhere in Israel via the booking page on my website: https://www.davidbrianbender.com/book-online

I’ll do my best to share both the story in the photos themselves, and take you behind the scenes of how I got the shots.

In order to foster a two-way dialogue with you, the reader, and beginner and intermediate photographer, feel free to include your photos of the same locales in your comments so we can “contrast and compare” results.

More Photo Blogs:

15 Photos That Will Make You Want To Visit Israel

From Above to Below: Trekking Around Israel

A Photo Tour of Israel

Photo Blog: World by a Jew

Do You Have a Story to Tell?

Become an Israel Forever Blogger Today!

However you may honor this day, we at Israel Forever hope that it includes an exploration of your personal connection to the one thing in the world that can indeed unite us: Israel, however you may define her.

On my first Yom Kippur is Israel since I was about 2 years old, I couldn't help but compare it to what I was used to in America. For my four years of college, I had spent the day praying in the Hillel House at UMass Amherst, trying to block out the sounds of partying college students, trucks driving on the road outside, and focusing on not letting my lack-of-caffeine-headache turn me into a total witch in front of my friends. While last year I still struggled with not becoming a witch with my host family, there was one noticeable difference that I had never before experienced.

There was a shocking silence in Jerusalem that I had never before heard in any city. On this day no cars are started unless a matter of life and death arises. Even for those who do not observe Jewish law join the rest of Israel by "cutting off" from the hectic noise of daily life. Televisions stay off, telephones don't ring (who would dare call on such a day?), computers are given a well-deserved respite from gmail, facebook, google, twitter, and the rest of the social media etcetera etcetera etcetera.... Israelis, children and adults alike, take to the streets and relish the quiet. And the stillness is startling.

Those who aren’t fasting celebrate a holiday of bicycle riding through the empty streets, some lying smack dab in the middle of what would otherwise be a jam-packed Ayalon highway.

Bicycling on a car-free highway, Yom Kippur (photo: Ari Miller)

This Day of Repentence, Day of Judgment is transformed in Israel into a Day of Peace and peacefulness. Yom Kippur remains special on some level, even for the secular Jews within the Jewish State. The concepts of soul-searching, calculating your actions good and bad, and asking forgiveness from our friends and family are simply a part of the national culture.

To honor the holiness of this day as a cultural and national essence in addition to its religious meaning, the State of Israel is essentially closed down. There is no public transportation, there are no stores, restaurants, or governmental offices open, no flights in or out of Israel, public or broadcasts such as radio or the news are canceled unless the country is in a state of emergency. Border crossings to Gaza and Jordan are closed as a preventative action against potential terrorist infiltrators. With a hope for peace, the sounds of prayer and reflection emanate from every corner, as the streets come alive with Jews of every walk of life. Dressed all in white, the religious intermingle with the secular as Jews all over the country use the day to reflect and enjoy the silence that rarely graces us in today’s world.

Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem after the end of Yom Kippur.

There is a strong common thread among all Israelis on Yom Kippur; a feeling of connecting to others and being part of a community.

The fast ends and normal life resumes at sundown after 25 hours of this blessed peace with a blast of the shofar and the immediate singing of Next Year in Jerusalem. And then, the return to the hubub of the daily reality with a glimmer of hope that the People of Israel, and the State of Israel as a whole, has been sealed in the Book of Life.

by Anat Goldberg

I ask myself what makes Yom Kippur here in Israel unique compared to those I have known in other places such as in travels to Italy and Ireland and especially my home town of Rochester, New York. The most obvious difference here is that it is not only a religious holiday but it also involves everyone in the country. Although we may not all be religious to the same degree, there is a common sharing and a tradition in being together...

Most impressive to me is that the country is ‘Quiet’. I write this in bold print although perhaps it should be in soft script like quiet. In Israel, unlike any other place I have lived, the whole population participates. We become a world without cars and their accompanying horns and brakes. Along with this absence of motor vehicles are the many children and adults readying themselves with their bicycles, scooters and so forth. They await the exact moment to begin their easy riding down the streets.

Walking down the street to the Bet Knesset, I pass the children and their parents and notice that even the houses are quieter than usual. There is no music or TV or loud voices. It is the beginning of a time of peace and quiet. I join with others approaching our small neighborhood Bet Knesset. Men and women and children are walking quietly, dressed in traditional white, carrying their prayer books. Unlike my childhood memories, when fashion was held in high regard on the holidays, here in Israel there seems to be less attention to dress. Styles vary; dresses, skirts and blouses, pants and even jeans are worn. Comfort in apparel in the heat is important here...

Here I feel closer to others and as we are singing I have a stronger sense of hope for our country.

Excerpted from YOM KIPPUR A LIFE EXPERIENCE IN ISRAEL 
by Netta Kaplan

Maybe it isn’t so clear to Jews or others outside of Israel what happens on Yom Kippur in Israel. Cars stop for the day. They just stop. It looks like a post -apocalypse movie where the oil ran out one night and all we have left are bicycles and roller blades.

There really is no enforceable law against driving, it just isn’t done. The police could stop you, but they’d just ask why you were driving, tell you to be careful and let you go. There is no religious police to enforce this kind of thing in Israel as it isn’t a religious state.

...On Yom Kippur, everything stops. Non-observant Jews and observant Jews alike, just hide the car keys. For sure, if your kid falls off his bike or your wife goes into labor and needs the hospital nobody (from both those communities) would think twice about driving the car to the hospital... The air smells good, the visibility gets better and from sundown to sundown the streets are full of people strolling or cycling along 10 lane highways. People have found a way to organize their lives that for just one day a year, nobody drives except for emergencies. I left my apartment to have a look last year and I saw one pickup truck and 3 policecars moving. Slowly.

So why is being Jewish so different when you’re in Israel?  Here we can just BE Jewish and the calendar and the customs and norms push us into being culturally Jewish even if we don’t want to study the Torah 9 hours a day.

Jews don’t want anywhere else, we just want this one tiny little place to feel Jewish in.

Brian of London,
Being Jewish is Easy in Israel even on Yom Kippur

A somber day of introspection in most of Israel...With all cars banished from the pavements for 25 hours, helmet-clad children take to the streets in their masses. In contemporary Israel, where land is running out, asphalt is eating up the landscape, the air is thick with smog and gas isn’t getting any cheaper, a day like this is an absolute necessity, reminding us all that the car’s dominance of our living space is not a divinely-ordained decree, but a conscious decision that we have made - and that we can decide otherwise if we wish."

An unusual quiet pervades the city - no honking, no tires squealing - and suddenly the air is clean. People take to the streets to casually stroll about. Absolutely nothing is open.

The city center, which on most days feels cramped, crowded and stressful, suddenly feels spacious and open. This frenetic metropolis, the country's financial and cultural capital, acquires the feel of a remote village.

Of course, not every day can be like this in the city - people have to work, study and somehow get from place to place. However, the experience of reclaiming the city's public spaces certainly leaves an impression. Perhaps one day Tel Aviv will create a system of transport that makes the city feel like it's Yom Kippur every day...

Jesse Fox, Yom Kippur In Israel

So as you enter into this unique and special day on our Jewish calendar, think about how lucky we are to have a place where our daily life is in sync with our faith and identity, where Jews of every background and practice feel the peace that emanates from our land, and where we can all accept our misgivings and differences of opinion and say "for this I am grateful."

Recommended:

Israel, too, Deserves Our Forgiveness

Adon: Lord of Forgiveness Israeli Style

A Yom Kippur Melody: Grief, Atonement & Memory

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Wherever you are in the world, may this
Yom Kippur give a spark to your Ahavat Yisrael.

]]> Wed, 20 Sep 2023 08:00:00 +0000 http://preview.israelforever.org/interact/blog/17_ways_sukkot_israel/ http://preview.israelforever.org/interact/blog/17_ways_sukkot_israel/ Check out these interesting and quirky ways that are described as Sukkot approaches! The excitement can be felt throughout Israel! 1. The tourists have landed! Overwhelmingly religious, English and French speaking, they jam the city’s take-out places and restaurants. The well-dressed visitors may be seen in packs wandering up and down Emek Refaim Street and through the glitzy Mamilla Mall talking to their friends on their Blackberry or iPhones in English at top volume.

2. The clang of metal poles and the sounds of hammering are practically constant as Jerusalem’s apartment dwellers hurry to erect their sukkot and squeeze them into small balconies, odd-shaped gardens and otherwise derelict rooftops.

3. Almost every non-profit group worth its salt has scheduled a fund-raising and/or familiarization event for the intermediate days of Sukkot.

4. Real estate agents are taking a deep breath before their busiest week of the year as they prepare to pitch their over-priced wares to eager foreign buyers. Each of the many luxury residential building projects around town has managed to put up billboards depicting the completed construction and inviting prospective buyers for a tour of an unfinished building site.

5. You can’t get on a bus or ride the light rail without being poked in the rear a dozen times by someone’s stray lulav.

6. The sweet smell of etrogim in Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda is overpowering. Huge crowds descend on a lot on Jaffa Road near the market to vie for the most shapely lulav and etrog.

7. One enterprising bookstore is offering “Machzor rentals” for tourists who inadvertently left their holiday prayer books at home.

8. You’ve never seen such gaudy sukkah decorations in your life—unless you’ve been to Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve. Kiosks manned by bearded Haredim are selling gold, green and red tinsel hangings, made in China and exact replicas of Christmas decorations in the old country.

9. Huge piles of schach (palm fronds for the roof of the sukkah) cover major city squares, and citizens are invited to take as much as they need for free.

10. The usual throngs of traditional Jews are expected at the Western Wall for the thrice-yearly observance of the ancient ritual of Birkat Cohanim –the Blessing by the Priests–that takes place during the intermediate days of Sukkot.

11. Thousands more Jerusalemites and visitors will stand in line outside the official Presidential Residence on Hanassi Street in Talbieh to press the flesh with President Shimon Peres. Traditionally every Israel president opens the residence on Sukkot.

12. Like Christmas tree lots back in the US, empty city lots all over Jerusalem are taken over to sell sukkot of every size and description. Some are marketed by large companies and feature the latest space-saving technology and hardiest materials, while others are simpler affairs made of tubular piping and fabric walls. Every kosher restaurant in town has a sukkah of some kind and each boasts bigger and better holiday specials to entice customers.

13. Since the entire week of Sukkot is a national holiday you’ll have a tough time deciding which festival/event to take part in. There’s the Fringe Theater Festival in Akko; the Haifa International Film Festival; The Tamar music and arts fest at Ein Gedi; the Storytelling Festival in Givatayim and the Gush Etzion Jewish Music and Theater Festival to name just a few.

14. Touring the country is another favorite Sukkot activity and every political group is promoting trips to “See For Yourself.” Hebron is a perennial favorite for the intermediate festival days as the Isaac Hall in the Cave of the Patriarchs that’s normally off-limits to Jewish visitors is open for the holiday.

15. Not to be left out, Christian friends of Israel who will take part in another annual Sukkot event, the Jerusalem March, where tens of thousands proudly march through several routes in the capital.

16. Another prominent group of tourists set to arrive are refugees from the young American frum singles scene who make an annual migration to Jerusalem from the Upper West Side for Sukkot. Discreet meetings of earnest, well-scrubbed, modestly dressed twenty-somethings take place in all the major hotel lobbies.

17. The Israelis living in the south or in Northern Israel will not need to be reminded of one of the essential messages of Sukkot – our reliance on God for sustenance and shelter.

Posted by Judy Lash Balint, Jerusalem Diaries Blogspot

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Recommended for you:

Cooking Israel Chagim Cookbook

Mosaic Israeli Flag

A Temporary Dwelling: The Journey Toward The Land

Breakfast In The Sukkah

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As we enter the Sukkah, let us consider the impermanence of existence and find our connection to Zion, the one place that has always been a permanent fixture of Jewish life.

]]> Wed, 20 Sep 2023 03:38:00 +0000 http://preview.israelforever.org/interact/blog/israel_inspiration_days_of_awe_playlist/ http://preview.israelforever.org/interact/blog/israel_inspiration_days_of_awe_playlist/ Songs help me try harder and help me feel closer to what matters during these days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, these Days of Awe.

Prayer is a lot of things;
It is union.
Connectivity.
Flailing and finding.
Prayer is reaching.
Grabbing. Loosing.
Looking.
Tripping.
Bowing.
Slurring,
and Trying.
Mostly, for me, it’s about trying.

What follows are some of the songs that help me try harder and help me feel closer to what matters during these days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, these Days of Awe. I hope they can be of some service to you. At the very least, I hope you enjoy.

Kol Nidrei.

Just listen.

Karav Yom – Eviytar Banai.

There is something about Eviytar’s voice that melts the hard spots in me. This song is from a debut album called “Ha Lev V’ha’Ma’ayan” – “The heart and the fountain.” The words in the song are attributed to Israel Ba’al Shem Tov.

“The day is coming that is not day and is not night.
My gratitude for You is great even though it is still night
We are keeping guard of your city all day and all night
Daylight illuminates the darkness of night.”

Back Porch - Lazar Lloyd

Promise Land – Trevor Hall.

We don’t read the parsha Zot HaBracha before Yom Kippur, but we’re gonna get to it soon. Among Moses’s last words to the Jewish people are: “Ashreicha Israel” – How fortunate are you Israel. “Never again has there arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom G-d had known face to face.” This isn’t a song about Moses – it’s a song that reminds me how deeply he wanted the Promise Land. I want to want the Promise Land that deeply. I want to do the work it takes to get there.

Shanah Tovah!

Come check out Sarah's full Holy Days Playlist here.

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Recommended for you:

Elevate Our Pleas: Ya'Aleh Tahanenu

Shirat Machar: Hear my Prayer

One Day, I Pray, L'Chayim

U'Netaneh Tokef

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Share your love of Israel as a Virtual Citizen of Israel today!

]]> Tue, 19 Sep 2023 11:34:00 +0000 http://preview.israelforever.org/israel/cooking/fun_with_figs/ http://preview.israelforever.org/israel/cooking/fun_with_figs/ Food blogger Natasha Nadel shares a delicious, healthy, and easy fig recipe. This dish could be served as an appetizer or dessert. Enjoy!

Looking for a new recipe this holiday season? Fresh figs are delicate, yet easy to prepare and eat. This dish will also warm you in your Sukkah.

Figs are one of Israel’s special seven species. Honey is too, but it is date honey, not this type of honey. See serving options for also adding date honey to your dish.

INGREDIENTS

 Makes 5 one-bite appetizers or desserts.

• 5 figs
• 1 teaspoon raw honey
• 1 Tablespoon pistachios (It’s up to you if you like them raw, roasted or salted).
• Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Slice the tops off of the figs. Scoop out a tiny bit of fig to make space for the pistachios. (You can just pop those pieces in your mouth so you don’t, G-d forbid, waste any food!)
3. Spray a small Corningware-type pan or cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
4. Mix the pistachios with the honey and stuff a few pistachios inside each fig.
5. Shake a bit of cinnamon over each fig.
6. Place them on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. (Watch the pistachios closely to make sure they don’t burn.)
7. Serve warm as a new fruit appetizer for Sukkot or as a dessert with non-dairy ice cream, such as Tofutti’s “Blind Date” ice cream with date honey and a hint of tahini.
   
   I don’t normally like halvah or sesame in my dessert, but the precise amount of the tahini in this ice cream, in combination with the date syrup, is the perfect complement to the taste and texture of the figs. In addition, figs are one of the seven species of Israel, as is date honey.

BeTeavon and ENJOY! 

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More recipes by Natasha:

Lemony Beet Salad

Star Sukkot Salad

Persimmons Salad

Apple and Honey Cookies

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Bring Tastes of Israel into your Kitchen!

Check out more Cooking Israel Recipes full of aromas and flavors to remind you of Israel today and everyday!

Click HERE to download our FREE Cooking Israel Cookbook.

]]> Tue, 19 Sep 2023 04:01:00 +0000 http://preview.israelforever.org/interact/blog/12_places_to_look_for_sukkot_jerusalem/ http://preview.israelforever.org/interact/blog/12_places_to_look_for_sukkot_jerusalem/ If you're in Israel for Sukkot, Israel Forever Blogger, Judy Lash Balint, suggests a few of the best places to see the most interesting Sukkot in Jerusalem.

Sukka takes over my parking spot on the street outside my apartment (photo credit: Judy Lash Balint)

A non-Jewish friend coming to Israel on business this week wrote to ask if I could explain what an American Jewish colleague had warned him about in advance of his visit. “Don’t freak out, but the whole country will be on vacation, and people will be sitting around in these little flimsy booths…”

Yes, I confirmed to my friend: A few days after Yom Kippur, Israelis celebrate Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, as it’s known in English. For seven days, we commemorate the time our ancestors spent wandering in the desert as well as pondering the temporary nature of our own existence.

How do we do this? By actually building and living in temporary booths (that’s the meaning of the word Sukkot) and Jerusalem is one of the best places to see how many variations and interpretations of a “booth” people can come up with and attach to their home or business or even build in their parking spot on the street.

So here are my suggestions to my friend, and anyone who happens to be coming to Jerusalem, of a few of the best places to see the most interesting sukkot this year–the holiday goes on for seven days, so there’s plenty of time to plan a Sukkah route.

Have any favorites of your own? Add them to the comments section below.

1. Start out with one of the grandest sukkot–that would be at the President’s Residence on Hanassi Street in Rehavia. President Reuven Rivlin holds court at an open house in his sukka one morning of the intermediate days. You’ll get a cold drink, a hand shake and a photo op with the president–providing you have the patience to stand on line for a while…

President Rivlin prepares his sukkah with the help of some local kids. Photo: MFA.gov.il

2. Head over to the Jewish Quarter in the Old City via St James Road. Head straight down to the main square in front of the restored Hurva Synagogue and join the crowds reveling in the huge sukka there.

Building the Hurva Synagogue sukka (photo credit: Judy Lash Balint)

3. Walk a few streets north into the back streets of the Jewish Quarter and look up on the rooftops and into the courtyards. You’ll see mattresses piled up and kids running in and out of their neighbor’s sukkot.

4. Wend your way out of the Old City via Mt Zion and stop by the funky Diaspora Yeshiva sukka that overlooks the southern view over the Gehinom Valley.

5. For the most luxurious sukkot in town, stop by for a peek at the mega-sukkot of the deluxe hotels on King David Street–the Waldorf Astoria, David Citadel and the King David Hotel.

6. Vying for the title of sukkot with the best views are those in the restaurants atop the Mamilla Alrov Mall just outside Jaffa Gate. Try Kedma on the roof level, or Cafe Rimon or Aroma on the mall level. A few steps away is Jerusalem’s town square, Kikar Safra, which boasts the world’s largest sukkah, sponsored by the Jerusalem municipality.

7. For the strictly ecologically-minded, walk through the green space across from the Jerusalem Theater on Chopin Street (it’s known locally as the chursha) and spot the simple sukka amongst the trees.

Sukka in a Jerusalem park (photo credit: Judy Lash Balint)

8. For a change of pace, walk down Emek Refaim or the Ben Yehuda Street pedestrian mall in the center of town–almost every restaurant and cafe has its own sukka. Back when the kosher Burger King was in business this was one of the best Kodak moments…

Sukka in front of kosher Burger King (photo credit: Judy Lash Balint)

Apt Balcony Sukkah (photo credit: Judy Lash Balint)

9. End your Sukka tour with a stroll through the mostly orthodox neighborhoods of Geula and the Bukharan Quarter. Keep your eyes wide open and look up as you meander through the back alleys. Even the tiniest apartment will have a sukka perilously perched on the balcony.

10. Oh, don't miss the yurt sukkah on Zichron Tuvia Street in the funky, mostly religious neighborhood of Nachlaot.

Funky Sukkah Nachlaot Photo- Lisa Richlen

11. And, yes, you might just see a sukka at your bus stop too…

Bus stop sukka (photo credit: Judy Lash Balint)

12. Anyone for the Loading Zone Sukkah?

Loading Zone Sukka (photo credit: Judy Lash Balint)

All photos (except where noted) © Judy Lash Balint. All rights reserved.

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Recommended for you:

Cooking Israel Chagim Cookbook

Yerushalayim Micrography

A Temporary Dwelling: The Journey Toward The Land

Breakfast In The Sukkah

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As we enter the Sukkah, let us consider the impermanence of existence and find our connection to Zion, the one place that has always been a permanent fixture of Jewish life.

]]> Tue, 19 Sep 2023 03:38:00 +0000 http://preview.israelforever.org/interact/blog/selichot/ http://preview.israelforever.org/interact/blog/selichot/ Selichot services are communal prayers for Divine forgiveness, said during the High Holiday season.

Selichot services are communal prayers for Divine forgiveness, said during the High Holiday season.

The Selichot are a collage of Torah verses and poetically written Hebrew works in which we ask G‑d to forgive us on a personal and communal level.

For example, Adon Selichot, one of the passages, means “Lord of Forgiveness” in Hebrew.

An oft-repeated line in the ceremony is what is known as the “13 Attributes of Mercy,” which G‑d revealed to Moses at Sinai as the key to forgiveness. 

This year, over the Chagim period, let us embrace forgiveness for each other and ourselves. Let's join together and celebrate the Jewish traditions that connect us together as one nation.

 

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Recommended for you:

Adon: Lord of Forgiveness Israeli Style

Shabbat Talks - Forgiveness

Asking for forgiveness

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Your Israel Connection For Rosh HaShanah

LEARN MORE about Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year

]]> Wed, 13 Sep 2023 10:35:00 +0000 http://preview.israelforever.org/interact/blog/am_yisrael_can_we_call_ourselves_one/ http://preview.israelforever.org/interact/blog/am_yisrael_can_we_call_ourselves_one/ This article is a companion piece to the Stronger Together activities “Am Yisrael - Can We Call Ourselves One?” and the “Limits of Labels” designed to enhance Jewish unity across different denominations within Am Yisrael.

Unity. It’s a topic we often bring up but rarely choose to dive past the sentiment that yes, unity is in fact important. Rarely do we delve into the topic of why. Or what. Or how. We simply glaze over this idea like it’s obvious; like we have all the answers.

However, if we’re being honest with ourselves, I’d have to begrudgingly point out that we rarely take initiative to have the uncomfortable conversations, knowing that while we agree on the end-goal, we may not agree on the process.

Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, 2008 photo by Dovywiarda distributed under a CC BA_SY 3.0 license

When it comes to the idea of Jewish unity, I also have to point out that our greatest fault is our inability to hear each other’s perspectives. We’re moving so passionately in one direction that we don’t even pause to entertain another perspective.

As I heard it eloquently put by Rabbi Grossman, Chief Rabbi of Migdal HaEmek, “Our forefathers allude to the idea that as there are different faces in the world, there are different opinions. Our sages ask: “Would we go to one another and point out our physical differences? No; we accept. Why should opinions be any different?”

The important question to be asking now is how do we open up the space for these types of conversations? And more importantly, how do we do so in a way where everyone feels heard?

In my own personal endeavor to explore such questions, I was determined to create such a forum. I wanted to cultivate a space where people can have the platform to freely share their ideals regarding the issue of Jewish unity, in hopes that it would be a starting ground for a larger conversation.

After developing the Limits of Labels activities for The Israel Forever Foundation, that focus on the challenges to achieving unity as a people, I had the honor of spearheading a conversation entitled “Am Yisrael: Can We Call Ourselves One?” with a group of about 20 young women at the local seminary in Jerusalem, Israel that I attended for several months.

I began by opening the floor to them with an ice breaker, asking them to complete several phrases beginning with the words “Being part of the Jewish People...” followed by the words “makes me feel like...” or “connects me to…” or “gives me the opportunity to...” The goal was to uncover common threads between the various elements of how we feel we are able to express our Judaism. At the end, not to much surprise, the most quotes phrases and themes were “community, meaning, purpose, and being a better person.”

After, I went on to set the stage a bit more, providing various quotes such as the following:

“The bonds of Jewish peoplehood are not unbreakable. If we keep dividing ourselves, pushing away that which we don’t like and clinging only to what’s comfortable, we’ll wake up one day without a Jewish people. We’ll have small circles of like-minded people, but no eternal bond, linking us through time and space.” - Samantha Vinokor

I also shared a video titled Why I am a Jew? by the renowned Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. This material was meant to spearhead additional thoughts about the idea of the importance of unity. We dove into a discussion session answering questions such as “How would you describe the concept of “Jewish Peoplehood” in your own words? Why do you feel non-Jews see us as one Jewish nation (i.e. anti-semitism is directed at all of us - not one group versus another) but we ourselves don’t feel this unity? If we take away the ability to label, would you still be able to describe your Jewish identity?”

The thoughts shared were truly incredible. The participants, many of whom have chosen a more observant path, exclaimed that they too feel this is such an important conversations - one that needs to be had because individuals from all perspectives are feeling the struggle to connect. There was a all-around appreciation for being a Jew (there were even a few emotional tears shed), but an expressed concern for the continued divide.

As one individual put it, “I think this activity created an awesome space for an important conversation. I think everyone has comments and questions about the Jewish people and how we are related despite our differences. Especially after being in Jerusalem for a while, where we are constantly exposed to the diversity amongst Jews and Israelis in general. It was great to be reminded of the power of being a Jew despite differences in observance.”

At the end of the discussion, a majority of the participants shared that this is the type of conversation that needs to be had in all settings - religious (of all denominations) and secular alike, in order to open the space for a greater understanding and unity between our people. And it is my hope that “AM YISRAEL: Can we call ourselves one?” may act as such a platform for you.

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Recommended for you:

Jewish Identity Divided: Our Labels Make Us Weak

Names of Israel: Tracing our History and Identity

Unity without Uniformity: Learning to Love the Jews Again

What do we mean when we say 'We are All Israel'?

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STRONGER TOGETHER

AM YISRAEL: FOSTERING JEWISH UNITY AND PRIDE

]]> Thu, 07 Sep 2023 09:05:00 +0000 http://preview.israelforever.org/israel/cooking/spring_chicken_dried_fruit/ http://preview.israelforever.org/israel/cooking/spring_chicken_dried_fruit/ Enjoy this stuffed spring chicken dish because Passover has never tasted so good!

Copyright © Adi Peretz

Cooking Israel with a Puzzle Israel Recipe

Serves 6

Ingredients

● 6 pieces spring chicken, without bone
● 6 sprigs fresh rosemary
● 1 cup pitted prunes
● 1 cup pitted apricots
● 1 cup pitted raisins
● 1/2 cup olive oil
● 3 garlic cloves, crushed
● 1 tsp. cinnamon
● 1/2 tsp. ground coriander seeds
● Salt and black pepper to taste
● Aluminum foil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 430F
2. In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, spices, and spring chicken
3. Marinate in the refrigerator for an hour
4. Cut aluminum foil into an 8x12 inch sheet
5. Combine olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread on aluminum sheet
6. Place the spring chicken in the center of the sheet
7. Fill the chicken with a handful of the dried fruits and a bit of garlic
8. Cover the chicken with the aluminum foil and twist both ends like a candy wrapper
9. Cook in oven for an hour, after which lower temperature to 360F for an extra hour
10. Serve warm

This dish is good cold too, if you have leftovers.

BeTeavon and ENJOY!

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More Recipes:

Stuffed Vegetable Medley

Chickpea and Tomato Salad

Barley Salad

Stuffed Mushrooms

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Bring Tastes of Israel into your Kitchen!

Check out more Cooking Israel Recipes full of aromas and flavors to remind you of Israel today and everyday!

Click HERE to download our FREE Cooking Israel Cookbook.

]]> Wed, 06 Sep 2023 04:01:00 +0000 http://preview.israelforever.org/news/israeli_archaeologists_find_1500-year-old_kosher_bread_stamp_near_acre/ http://preview.israelforever.org/news/israeli_archaeologists_find_1500-year-old_kosher_bread_stamp_near_acre/ The tiny stamp was used to identify baked products; experts think it belonged to a bakery that supplied kosher bread to the Jews of Acre in the Byzantine period. The tiny stamp was used to identify baked products; experts think it belonged to a bakery that supplied kosher bread to the Jews of Acre in the Byzantine period.

The 'bread stamp'

Copyright © Dr. Danny Syon, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

A 1,500-year-old seal with the image of the seven-branched Temple Menorah has been discovered near the city of Acre.

The ceramic stamp, which dates from the Byzantine period in the 6th century CE, was found during ongoing Israel Antiquities Authority excavations at Horbat Uza, east of Acre, which are being undertaken before the construction of the Acre-Carmiel railroad track.

It is thought the stamp was used to mark baked goods, and is known as a “bread stamp.”

“A number of stamps bearing an image of a menorah are known from different collections. The Temple Menorah, being a Jewish symbol par excellence, indicates the stamps belonged to Jews, unlike Christian bread stamps with the cross pattern which were much more common in the Byzantine period,” said Gilad Jaffe and Dr. Danny Syon, the directors of the excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The 'bread stamp'

Copyright © Dr. Danny Syon, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

According to the excavation directors, this was the first time that a stamp of this kind has been found in a controlled archaeological excavation, meaning that it is possible to determine where it comes from and when it was made.

“The stamp is important because it proves that a Jewish community existed in the settlement of Uza in the Christian-Byzantine period. The presence of a Jewish settlement so close to Acre - a region that was definitely Christian at this time - constitutes an innovation in archaeological research,” Syon said.

“Due to the geographical proximity of Horbat Uza to Acre, we can speculate that the settlement supplied kosher baked goods to the Jews of Acre in the Byzantine period,” Jaffe and Syon added.

Horbat Uza is a small rural settlement where other archaeological finds, a Shabbat lamp and jars with menorah patterns painted on them, have alluded to it having been a Jewish settlement.

The stamp bears the image of a seven-branched menorah, and the handle of the stamp is engraved with Greek letters. According to Dr. Leah Di Segni of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, this is probably the name Launtius, which was common among Jews of the period and has appeared on other Jewish bread stamps.

General view of the excavation

Copyright © Sky View Company, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

“This is probably the name of the baker from Horbat Uza,” Jaffe and Syon said.

]]> Mon, 04 Sep 2023 15:40:00 +0000 http://preview.israelforever.org/israel/cooking/tehina_cookies/ http://preview.israelforever.org/israel/cooking/tehina_cookies/ Tehina isn't just for dressing your falafel - take this classic Israeli flavor and go sweet instead of savory. These quick and easy cookies make for a delicious treat.

Enjoy these delicious cookies as a sweet treat - you won't even believe the #glutenfree goodness!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup (140 g) gluten free all-purpose flour (I use Molino green)
• 1 cup (140g) almond flour
• 150 g cold unsalted butter or margarine, cut into cubes
• 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 TBSP water
• 1 cup raw tehina
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp ground ginger

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC) degrees. 
2. In a food processor, blend the flours, butter, sugar, vanilla and salt, and process until the mixture looks crumbly.
3. Add water and tehina and process until a smooth dough begins to form.
4. Remove the dough from the food processor bowl and knead it a few times on the counter until smooth.
5. Create small balls of the dough, place them on the baking sheet, then flatten each one slightly with your fingers.
6. Bake for about 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown.
7. Cool completely and serve.

BeTeavon and ENJOY!

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Lunchtime recipes with an Israeli twist:

Classic Israeli Salad

How to make your own pita

Potato Rösti Pancake

Israeli White Bean Soup

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HOW DO YOU BRING ISRAEL INTO YOUR KITCHEN?

Email us your favorite Israeli-inspired recipe today!

]]> Mon, 04 Sep 2023 04:01:00 +0000 http://preview.israelforever.org/interact/blog/asking_for_forgiveness/ http://preview.israelforever.org/interact/blog/asking_for_forgiveness/ Interestingly, in Jewish tradition, an individual cannot be right with God without being first right with his or her fellow men. People come first. If you know you have hurt someone you need to ask for their forgiveness before God will forgive you.

How many of the people you know find it difficult to apologize, to ask for forgiveness? How many people find it difficult to admit, even to themselves, that they have done something wrong?

“Jew’s Place of Wailing, Jerusalem” from William Bartlett’s Walks About the City and Environs of Jerusalem, 1844. (Wikimedia Commons)

Jewish tradition puts forgiveness and asking for forgiveness very high on the scale of importance. Selichot prayers are a ritual of admitting to God that we have sinned and asking for God’s mercy. This ritual is a way to make each individual internalize that no matter what they did, how they behaved in the previous year, in the next year they can do better.

Admitting, giving voice to the idea of having failed is walking half way down the path of actually doing and being better.

Interestingly, in Jewish tradition, an individual cannot be right with God without being first right with his or her fellow men. People come first. If you know you have hurt someone you need to ask for their forgiveness before God will forgive you.

Sephardic communities begin reciting Selichot at the beginning of Elul, the month before Rosh Hashana, (the Jewish New Year) so that a period of 40 days, similar to the time Moses spent on Mount Sinai, is devoted to prayers of forgiveness. The practice among the Ashkenazi community is to begin saying them on the Saturday night prior to Rosh Hashanah.

Originally, Selichot prayers were recited early in the morning, prior to dawn. There was a custom in Eastern Europe that the person in charge of prayers would make the rounds of the village, knocking three times on each door and saying, “Israel, holy people, awake, arouse yourselves and rise for the service of the Creator! It later became common practice to hold the first Selichot service‑-considered the most important‑-at a time more convenient for the masses of people. Therefore, the Saturday night service was moved forward to midnight. It is always darkest before the dawn. Dawn is the time that brings hope for a new day, for light and better times.

The mere gathering together of people at a time when they are usually asleep is impressive. There is nothing like Selichot in at the Kotel. Thousands mass together, with the same intentions, in the holiest place on earth for the Jewish people.

(Actually the Kotel is the western, side wall of the ancient Jewish Temple on top of which was built the Muslim Dome of the Rock. That is the holiest place on earth for Jews, the rock that is called the Foundation Rock, believed to be the rock on which God built the world – but Jews are not allowed to prayer there).

Selichot prayers are supposed to promote introspection. The melodies are sad and full of longing. Properly chanted, they form an oratorio expressing the despair that accompanies separation from God and the desire to change and repent. The self‑deprecation contained in the words, which express the feeling of life’s fleetingness, and the burden of vanity that motivates so much of what one does, all cause us to ponder how we can break the cycle of our lives and change ourselves for the better. The possibility of change and of a better life is inherent in these prayers:

“O Lord, hear our voice in the morning; in the morning we set them before You with hopeful expectation. Hear our voice…”

We live in very dark times but there is always hope. It will be the actions of individuals and the way they move through the world that will decide the fate of all of our lives. One person does not have the power to change the world but each person has within the power to change themselves and THAT is what change the world, possibly even could save the world.

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Remember the Sweetness of Judaism

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Versions Of Silence: Yom Kippur In Israel

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