SUKKOT & THE POWER OF WOMEN

 Keeping my promise of filling in more about the harvest holiday of Sukkoth in the sukkah (booth) are photos from our recent visit to the Twin Cities family. It's been a couple of years since we have been able to attend.

Every year Natureman's eldest sister's kids  have created Holiday plays and artwork including Succoth, the Harvest Festival to share with guests under their father Yefet's direction. With 7 kids they have had quite a creative, musical and theatrical cast.  But the offspring have grown up as kids do and the youngest now's in his first year of college. This cast of 7 is down to 2 in town this year. Suffice it to say the family has had a lot of nachas (joy) this past year with triplets born to the eldest niece Hela now in California along with one of her brothers Amir who married this past August, the eldest sibling Tomer living in Chicago, nephew Avi-Natan and his wife moved from Israel to N.Y. and are expecting :) and an engagement of niece Noam now in Israel with her intended... Therefore just 2 nephews, Ethan and Leeor remain in the Twin Cities area along with their parents to add decorations to this year's feminist theme of  Jewish Heroines.

Yefet explaining Samaritan customs & language

After dinner which included a traditional Israeli pomegranate cold compote prepared by Yefet, the  patriarch shared his Samaritan ethnic group's traditions with some 30+ guests. Although most sukkahs are built out of doors this sukkah is built within their enclosed porch. In the olden days the Samaritans gathered to pray and celebrate in secret. Hence inside, out of sight. I also learned the Samaritans speak Aramaic, ancient Hebrew, so we also had a quick language lesson comparing modern Hebrew to ancient Hebrew.

Robin, the matriarch

Sister-in-law Robin started the presentation of the Women of Valor with Ada Ascarelli Sereni, an Israeli pioneer originally from a prominent Italian family who when her husband disappeared on a parachuting mission during WWII, joined in immigration work herself and travelled back to Italy to help and also to learn of her husband's demise. After convincing Italian officials that she could 'help' alleviate Italy's Jewish population, Sereni helped some 28,000 Italian Jews escape Italy by boat. 

 The artist in the family, Ethan,

Ethan's rendering of Hannah Senesh

 drew and spoke about Hannah (Szenes) Senesh, a Hungarian Jew, who parachuted by the British Army into Yugoslavia during WWII to assist in the rescue of Hungarian Jews about to be deported to the German death camp at Auschwitz. Caught and tortured at the Hungarian border she refused to give information regarding her mission and was executed by a firing squad at the age of 23.

After being witness to part of the Armenian Genocide, the third heroine was Israeli born Sarah Aaronsohn who joined with her siblings in a Jewish spy ring, the Nili, working for the British in World War I.  Aaronson headed the Nili in Palestine. After a carrier pigeon was discovered with Nili info by Ottomans, Aaronsohn was captured and tortured. Rather than divulge Nili secrets, she committed suicide.

This particular Sukkoth night was spent celebrating with family and their community learning about 3 Jewish heroines and the difference even one person can make. May we never underestimate the power of one, especially a woman...