More on Sukkot

It's about time I finish my post about the rest of Sukkot! One of the things we learned about Sukkot is that it is a time spent in prayer for rain. We had our second rain this past weekend (the first was the morning that Sukkot began, but it was early enough in the morning that we were not able to experience it). On Friday, after Tim's fever broke, we went to the bakery for some challah (Shabbat bread) and pastries, then headed home. It began to rain, so we put on our shoes and grabbed the umbrellas so we could go for a walk in it. By the time we all got ready, the rain had stopped. But we went out in it anyway, hoping to have more rain.

This was taken at a vista near our house, overlooking the Old City. (No, it wasn't raining in the picture, but the boys wanted to use their new NEW umbrellas anyway.)

Beautiful!

While Tim was gone on his field study on Saturday, I took the kids on the 40-minute trek to church for our Shabbat worship service. The early morning had been cloudy, so I grabbed the umbrellas and rain jackets and stuck them in the stroller. The sun was shining by the time we left our apartment. As we walked down the street, I considered running back in to return the umbrellas and rain coats because it was so warm and sunny. Ten minutes into our walk, as we started the uphill portion of the trek, the clouds rolled in and it began to rain. The boys were thrilled! We had been told that, in Jerusalem, the sun can be shining brightly with no clouds in sight, and in an instant there can be a downpour. That was why I chose not to return the umbrellas and jackets. Boy, was I glad we had them along! We managed to get to church fairly dry.

A few more pictures of our Sukkot week....

One night we went to the Jewish Quarter and were able to partake in some special treats: cotton candy and popcorn!

Here we sit inside the sukkah that belongs to our favorite pizza place in the Old City.

We had an amazing week of learning and experiencing. Do you remember the palm fronds, willow, myrtle, and citron? Together, these make up what the Jews call their lulav (pronounced loo-lahv):

Tim went to the Western Wall and watched as many people waved their lulavs as they prayed for rain, recognized the omnipresence of God (by waving it in all cardinal directions and up and down), and beat their willow branches on the ground to symbolize God saving Israel from her enemies. We have a great video but are having trouble with it. Maybe another time....

Tim came home to tell us about it and taught the boys how to hit their willow branches on the ground, too.

The Western Wall on the last night of Sukkot - much celebration taking place!

We ended the festival of Sukkot by going to a local park to see the celebration called Simchat Torah - a time of dancing before the Law (the Scriptures). They literally DANCE around the Word of God! They hold up a giant scroll and sing and dance around it. So cool! We were blessed to be a part of this celebration.