After spending Yom Kippur in Antwerp last week, I expected Sukkot to be disappointing in comparison. All the more so as I do not get the days off and still have not come round to building my own sukkah (an idea which is both tempting and daunting as far as I am concerned).
However on Tuesday I got a FB message from one member of our tiny community telling me that we were all invited for the Friday evening service followed by a meal in a family sukkah. Our hosts are a middle-aged couple with three children. His family comes from Algeria while hers is from Tunisia.
The hostess had prepared a very appetizing meal with a distinctly Sephardic flavor (pizzas, makoud, tuna-filled savory pastries, dates, …) I had contributed by making an apple cake (not a Sephardic dessert at all) whose recipe I had found in Kosher Revolution. This cake is absolutely delicious and I have made it three times in two weeks. It proved to be a success once again.
Quite a number of people turned up and it ended up being a wonderful evening and a meaningful continuation of the High Holidays.
So nice that you had that pleasant evening! And I so wish you could come for a meal in our sukkah. We had lots of rain (+ wind), but in between, we managed to eat all meals except one dessert in the sukkah.
It’s easier to buy a sukkah than to build one from scratch. The canvas ones don’t seem hard to assemble, but they blow away, too.
I’d love to hop over the ocean and eat a meal in your sukkah. I think you are right about the canvas sukkah. The problem is mostly planning; I’d need to go to Paris and Antwerp a few weeks before the Holidays as I guess ordering one would be too expensive.
Here in Israel, we’re less concerned about building a succah that can withstand the wind and more concerned about building a succah that isn’t too hot. Fortunately, this year, the weather – so far – has been lovely, and sitting in the succah has been a real pleasure.
And I would love to host you in our succah too!
Pretty picture! The meal sounds delicious. Moadim L’simcha
Thank you Elisheva. Moadim L’simcha to you too!
You’re also invited to ours, any time…
Thank you Mrs.S. and Batya. All this sukkah-hopping sounds very good!
Lovely and serene photo. The food sounds delicious.
Thank you. Yes, the food was lovely. I forgot to mention that the hostess is a dietician.