With each passing day before Sukkot Jews the world over turn their faces toward the heavens, collectively wondering if the weather will hold for the seven-day festival. The holiday is a time for family, food and stargazing, but for many, it’s also a time for parkas, rain jackets, bee traps and outdoor air conditioners.
Whether the Weather Be Fine, Holiday Booths Will Weather the Weather
With each passing day before Sukkot Jews the world over turn their faces toward the heavens, collectively wondering if the weather will hold for the seven-day festival. The holiday is a time for family, food and stargazing, but for many, it’s also a time for parkas, rain jackets, bee traps and outdoor air conditioners.
This year’s timing of Sukkot, however, has given some celebrants something extra to be happy about. Because it arrives earlier on the Gregorian calendar than usual – the night of Sept. 22, instead of sometime in October – some spots, like say in Anchorage, Alaska, will be enjoying a milder than average holiday. (For a full list of locations offering Sukkot celebrations, click here.)
“It’s going to be nicer this year than most,” said Rabbi Yosef Greenberg, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Alaska, where the weather in the state’s largest city is currently fluctuating between the upper 40s to low-60 degrees Fahrenheit.
A normal Sukkot in Anchorage sees the snow and bitter cold that typically begin next month, making staying warm in a sukkah a difficult task.
“We’ve tried every method in the world to warm up in the sukkah,” said Greenberg, who predicts that this year’s Sukkot weather will likely be “cold,” dipping into the 30’s and 40’s, but still a welcome change from the regular snowstorms and below-freezing temperatures.
According to Greenberg, each year, the natural roof known as schach “freezes and falls. And last year’s heaters were stolen.”
Alaskans love the holiday, and appreciate the environmentally-friendly huts and the chance to bask in the elements. This year, Greenberg’s Lubavitch Jewish Center expects 100 people Wednesday night for the holiday’s first of many festive meals.
“People love to bundle up and eat hot soup,” explained Greenberg, who has arranged a “sukkah-hopping” activity to take the city’s Jewish children to the few sukkahs around town. “The steam warms everyone up.”
