The Talmud states that one who has never the joyous ceremony in the Holy Temple during Sukkot, has never seen joy. Jewish residents of S. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands will take that message to heart tonight when they commemorate the thousands-years-old ritual during a special party almost snuffed out by Hurricane Omar.
S. Thomas’ Jews Celebrate Sukkot ‘Miracle’ of the Hurricane That Wasn’t
The Talmud states that one who has never the joyous ceremony in the Holy Temple during Sukkot, has never seen joy. Jewish residents of S. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands will take that message to heart tonight when they commemorate the thousands-years-old ritual during a special party almost snuffed out by Hurricane Omar.
According to Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Asher Federman, radio disc jockeys throughout S. Thomas were talking about the “miracle” that saw Omar, a strong Category 3 storm packing 125 m.p.h. winds, abruptly turn to the east Wednesday night, thereby sparing the tiny island. Had it hit, not only would the historic island have seen vast devastation, but the sukkah set up by the rabbi and wife Henya Federman for the benefit of the community would likely have been destroyed.
“Thank G-d, we’re all fine,” said Asher Federman, who moved to S. Thomas as a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in 2005. “Practically the whole island was telling us yesterday to cancel this party, that our sukkah was in peril, that we shouldn’t make ourselves crazy.”
But now, laughed Anna Paiewonsky, 42, whose 97-year-old grandfather is S. Thomas’ oldest-living Jewish resident, “nothing will stop this party.”
Known as a simchat beit hashoeva, the party commemorates daily rituals held during the time of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, which saw the pouring of water on the Temple’s altar. Today, such festive gatherings take place across the world throughout Sukkot’s intermediate days.
In S. Thomas, about 50 people are expected in the Federmans’ sukkah.
