Daily Bulletin
Sara Harlig, 9, helps her father Rabbi Sholom Harlig (center) administer the ritual of Sukkot to La Verne businessman Kenny Schonfeld. Photo: Neil Nisperos.

Sukkah Goes Mobile for Jews of LA’s Inland Empire

The Jewish holiday of Sukkos was delivered on wheels to Eastern Los Angeles faithful on Tuesday, courtesy of Rabbi Sholom Harlig of Chabad of Rancho Cucamonga, California.

A central piece of the celebration is for the faithful to gather in a sukkah, a small hut made of wood, and covered in palms or bamboo. Jews gather to eat and recite prayers inside the sukkah.

Harlig and his family built a sukkah on the bed of his large pickup truck and parked it in downtown La Verne, where two local Jewish men were led through the ritual by Harlig and his daughter Sara, 9.

Harlig said the sukkah symbolizes the protection God provided to the Jews when they left Egypt thousands of years ago and were in the desert for 40 years. People who join in the ritual are led up a ladder by Harlig into the sukkah where they are given a blessing.

Celebrants inside the sukkah recite a prayer as they hold the “lulav,” a tightly closed palm frond, and branches of myrtle and willow tied together. Celebrants also hold an “etrog,” which is a yellow citron fruit from Israel that looks similar to a lemon.

“The different plants represent the different kinds of Jewish people and having them together symbolizes all the Jewish people united together,” Harlig said.

After reciting the prayer, the participants were treated to a cake.

“The reason why we eat in the sukkah is that when the Jewish people left Egypt and were in the desert for 40 years, until they got to Israel, clouds of glory surrounded and protected them,” Harlig said. “Just like then, today God is also watching and protecting us.”

Claremont resident Paul Gettler, a graphic designer at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, recently connected with his faith after being a nonobservant Jew for all of his life.

“It’s just kind of a great honor to be involved with the rabbi,” Gettler said. “I’m kind of new to the fold. I haven’t been observant my whole life, so the rabbi helping me is outstanding … It’s very new to me and it’s very rewarding to do something that I should have been doing my whole life, and now I have the opportunity, so I’m really grateful.”

Kenny Schonfeld, the owner of Warehouse Pizza, in La Verne, was also happy to have the rabbi park the mobile sukkha in front of his business.

“I think it’s wonderful Rabbi Harlig comes out for some of the Jewish holidays,” Schonfeld said. “Sometimes people like me have businesses and don’t have time to go to (temple) like we should. Rabbi will stay in touch and help me to be a better Jew and remember the suffering of the ancestors and why we have the good life that we have today.”

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