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Members of Hillel of Silicon Valley celebrating Sukkot take a seat in the tent they built, where students and community members prayed and had dinner on Friday night.
Jewish organizations deliver
holiday celebration to campus
By: Allie Figures
Posted: 10/20/08
A tent built in front of Sweeney Hall served as the hub of celebration as Jewish students and community members celebrated Sukkot on Friday evening.
Sukkot is one of three Jewish pilgrimage holidays each year, said Rachel Meis, the co-president of the Jewish Student Union, that celebrates the religion's ancient heritage by spending time and living in temporary dwellings known as sukkahs.
A sukkah, built once a year to resemble the temporary dwellings of Israelites who wandered the desert for 40 years, was erected last Monday by the Jewish Student Union and members of the Hillel House, the SJSU headquarters of Hillel of Silicon Valley, a nonprofit organization that supports Jewish life on campus.
"We use temporary materials to show the fragility of life," said Emilya Burd, a sophomore political science major from De Anza Community College.
In previous years, the sukkah was built at the Hillel House. But after the sukkah was burned down last October, the Hillel House coordinated with SJSU to have it built on campus for a week.
"We wanted to have it here so it can be more accessible for students to learn about the Jewish culture," said Adara Beamesderfer, a sophomore health science administration major, "and so campus security could monitor it."
Vavina Sandel, the assistant director at the Hillel House, said the police deemed the incident as an act of vandalism, not a hate crime.
After hearing about the fire, community members donated money to help buy materials for another sukkah, said Herzel Ashkenazi, treasurer of the Hillel House. A typical sukkah costs up to $1,000.
As members of the JSU and Hillel House congregated Friday night, there were no hard feelings about their sukkah being burned down, only sentiments of fulfillment for being able to celebrate in the tent safely.
"It was so hurtful to have our sukkah burned down," Beamesderfer said, "but forgiveness is a large part of our religion."
Jewish students from SJSU, Santa Clara University, De Anza and Foothill Colleges gathered inside the tent with Jewish community members to begin the festivities.
"We want to show students that we are religious but we can still have fun," said Beamesderfer, a JSU member.
Two small white candles were lit as prayers were sung in Hebrew. Traditional braided bread was passed among the crowd as one member prayed over the food. Ceremonial wine was poured in small amounts, representing the end of the workweek, Sandel said.
Outside the tent, tables were filled with free kosher food provided by board members of the Hillel House.
"The kugel is my favorite," said Yaelam Zallag, an occupational therapy graduate student.
Zallag described kugel as a traditional baked dish with noodles, egg, cinnamon and sugar.
"It's kind of weird, but everyone likes it," he said.
Raheem Williams, a senior psychology major, walked by the sukkah and said he decided to participate because of the free food. Williams listened as a volunteer from the Hillel House explained Shabbat to him.
"I had no idea what was going on over here," he said.
Williams stayed for the meal, but left soon after because he had to study for a midterm on Monday.
After the meal, the group stood in a circle and sang traditional songs to the tune of an acoustic guitar.
Rachel Schultz, a junior psychology major, sang two songs in Hebrew. Schultz said she is not fluent but is taking a Hebrew class at SJSU to help learn the language.
During the week, other students explored the open tent while many of the JSU students came to the sukkah to hang out between classes.
"I came to the sukkah to do some homework earlier this week," Schultz said.
Representatives were available to give tours and answer any questions about the sukkah and the Shabbat.
"It's good to have it on campus because it attracts people from all denominations," said Natan Bihari, a sophomore business major.
According to Jewish tradition, Shabbat is a celebration for all to join, not just the Jewish, said Ashkenazi from the Hillel House.
"We have had Jews, Christians and Muslims interested in what we are doing," said Bihari, a JSU member.
Sandel said this year's Shabbat was so successful that the JSU and the Hillel House want to have the sukkah built on campus next year.
"It's a great way of having our own place for all Jews on campus to congregate and not feel invisible," Schultz said.
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