Yom Kippur doesn’t mark the end of the fall holiday season. It’s the start of sukkah-building time. The harvest festival begins Friday night this year.
Traditionally, Jewish families start erecting the temporary huts as soon as they break the fast: though some people get a head start in Elul, and some wait till the last moment.
In Crown Heights, outside the headquarters of the Lubavitch Chasidim at 770 Eastern Parkway (known simply in Chabad circles as 770) the sukkah is a communal effort each year. A senior member of the community, above, supervises as married chasidim and single bochurim lend a hand with the sides of the sukkah. Afterwards, the bamboo goes atop the structure.
Another Sukkot tradition is visible on the streets of Crown Heights and other Jewish neighborhoods: sidewalk stands where lulav and etrog, the Four Species waved together during the holiday, are sold. A customer, below, inspects a ripe etrog.
The holiday outside of Israel lasts seven days, followed by Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.
Then comes another annual tradition: taking down the sukkah.
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