Building the sukkah immediately after Yom Kippur is one of the important traditions of preparation for Sukkos, and active preparations for the approaching holiday are currently underway at the Jewish Community of Dnipro. Booths are being built in all synagogues and numerous institutions of the community, so that everyone can fulfill one of the main mitzvos of Sukkos – “leishev ba-sukkah,” dwelling in the sukkah.
The largest sukkos are traditionally erected at the complex of the Central “Golden Rose” Synagogue and the world’s largest Jewish center, “Menorah.” A spacious festive booth is being built in the inner courtyard of the “Golden Rose,” where on the days of Sukkos congregants of the Central Synagogue and numerous participants in the community’s programs will be able to gather, and where special meals and special mivtzah-posts will be organized for the proper fulfillment of the mitzvos. Another large sukkah will appear in the courtyard of the Menorah Center, and a festive booth will also be located on the roof of the Menorah Grand Palace.
Sukkos for the holiday are also being built at many other Jewish locations in Dnipro. They will appear near the “Alter Shul” Synagogue on Kotsyubynsky Street, at “Beit Chabad Levi Yitzchak” on Nauky Avenue and “Beit Chabad on Poly,” at the boys’ and girls’ boarding schools, at the unique social institution of the Jewish Community of Dnipro – the “Beit Baruch” Home for the Elderly, as well as on the grounds of the Jewish Lyceum No. 144 named after Levi Yitzchak Schneerson – a leading educational institution of the Jewish Community of Dnipro – and at a number of other Jewish organizations. In addition, numerous sukkos will be erected in the courtyards and on the balconies of private homes of community members in various districts of the city.
Throughout the festive days, Jews strive to spend as much time as possible in the sukkah, primarily eating their meals there, fulfilling the mitzvah of “leishev ba-sukkah.” The sukkah recalls the sojourn of the Jewish people in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt and the Divine protection with which the Almighty surrounded His people during their wanderings.
Another central mitzvah of Sukkos is the mitzvah of the “Four Species” – the lulav, esrog, hadas, and aravah. On the days of the holiday, they are joined together and a special blessing is recited over them. This mitzvah, like dwelling in the sukkah, holds a special place in the celebration of Sukkos, uniting community members in the fulfillment of the precepts of Jewish tradition, and every Jew will be able to fulfill them in the public booths built at the synagogues and Batei Chabad.
The preparation of numerous sukkos in various districts of Dnipro enables members of the Jewish Community of Dnipro to greet the approaching Sukkos by fulfilling its most important mitzvos and preserving the traditions of the Jewish people that unite the generations of the united and cohesive Jewish Community of Dnipro under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki.
