Temple Emanu-El celebrates Sukkot harvest festival

After a drive-in celebration last year, Temple Emanu-El families returned to traditional festivities with a lively Sukkot celebration on Sept. 25. 

Rabbi Michael Shefrin led off the Jewish harvest festival celebration with a group prayer and sing-along. The event had its own sukkah — a callback to the outdoor huts the Israelites stayed in— where children and family made crafts and attached them to the structure. 

Shefrin said the celebration was a reminder of the fragility of life and the importance of cherishing it. 

He then had the assembled families join in a recognizing of the Simchat Torah holiday marking the completion of reading the Torah.

The event ended with a parade around the front of the Temple.