Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 14, 1995                   TAG: 9510170003
SECTION: RELIGION                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROANOKERS SUCCESSFULLY REVIVE INTEREST IN JEWISH FESTIVAL HOLIDAY

Today, Succot - the Festival or Booths or Tabernacles - is one of the less-well-known Jewish holidays, especially among non-Jews.

Even among Jews, the tradition of building a temporary hut - called a "succah" in Hebrew - for meals and other rituals during the seven-day festival is not widely practiced, said Marcia Brumberg of Beth Israel Synagogue.

Brumberg, long involved in religious education for both the synagogue and Temple Emanuel, was instrumental in inspiring more widespread participation in the opening of the festival in the Roanoke Valley this year.

The festival began last weekend with "Super Succah Sunday," in which 110 people participated in the construction of the huts at four locations and in a series of rituals connected with the holiday.

"It was wonderful," Brumberg said this week. "People are already asking about building a succah next year."

Succot is the plural form of "succah," giving the holiday its name.

Though the origins of the festival are somewhat cloudy, its biblical roots go back to the travail of the Israelites wandering in the desert before reaching the Promised Land. It followed the Exodus and the giving of the Torah at Sinai. The succah or huts represent the wanderers' temporary dwellings in the deserts.

Some scholars also believe there is a connection to an ancient harvest festival in which temporary huts might have been used by workers in the fields as they brought in the crops.

In either case, biblical injunctions to build huts and live in them for seven days as a remembrance of the wandering in the desert are recorded in Leviticus, as well as other biblical writings.

The commandments for the observance for the festival were recorded in the Torah or Law: living in the succah; gathering the "four species''; and rejoicing.

It is one of the most joyous Jewish holidays, Brumberg said, especially coming as it does immediately following the solemn and penitential holiday of Yom Kippur.

This year, Arthur Haas designed the buildings for use in the communitywide celebration. The frame-and-lattice panels were constructed at the synagogue, then taken to the homes of their four sponsors.

Friends then helped set up the succot, including the traditional leafy ceiling. When finished, there were blessings, candle-lighting and a ceremonial meal.

Tradition also calls for gathering together the "four species" of plants, which are shaken after a blessing is recited. The "four species" are "etrog," commonly known as citron, "lulav" or palm branch, branch of myrtle, and a branch of willow.

Many Jewish families have never built a succah for themselves, Brumberg said, but know the traditions from ceremonies connected with a community succah built at the synagogue or temple.

This year, "people got the opportunity to experience the beauty and richness of the holiday" in a new way, she said.