Our Stories

Fourth Graders Help Decorate the Sukkah at the Israeli Embassy

October 22, 2014 by Adina S (’17) (Students) Eliav B (’17) (Students) Emmett B (’17) (Students) Gabriel T (’17) (Students) Leah Z (’17) (Students) Noah K (’17) (Students) Zachary S (’17) (Students)

JPDS-NC’s fourth graders visited the Israeli embassy to decorate their sukkah. A sukkah is a tent-like structure built from organic material with the roof having gaps in it so you can see the sky. A sukkah is used on the holiday of Sukkot to symbolize how the Israelites lived in the desert, as described in the book of Exodus. During Sukkot, some Jewish people eat and even sleep in their sukkah to remind them of this time.

When we arrived at the embassy, some of us started to make decorations to put in the sukkah, while others began hanging decorations already made by the pre-kindergarteners and kindergarteners at our school. We had a lot of fun making the decorations, especially the paper spirals. It was also fun hanging colorful paper chains from one end of the sukkah to the other. Once we had finished, the Israeli Ambassador came outside to greet us. He asked us questions about Sukkot, looked in the sukkah, and joined us for a drink of grape juice. We then ate lunch and were given special Israeli candy!

Our trip to the embassy was excellent and we were so honored to meet Ambassador Dermer. Fourth Grader Noah Klugman said that “It was really fun!” and Elliot Bramson reported, “It was awesome meeting the Ambassador!” We will never forget our trip to the Israeli Embassy!