In honor of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez paid a visit to the two sukkahs at the Queens College campus in Flushing on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
Sukkahs are temporary huts built as settings to celebrate the holiday. They are traditionally topped with branches and decorated with fall, harvest or Judaic themes. Meals are eaten and people sleep there throughout the holiday. During each day, a “shaking ceremony” is performed with a palm frond bound with myrtle and willow and the fruit from a citron tree.
The student-led clubs Queens Hillel and Chabad on Campus constructed the two sukkahs at Queens College.
Rodríguez, along with Queens College President Frank Wu, joined the school’s Jewish students in celebrating this special holiday, which spans seven days.
“The harvest sukkah symbolizes courage and fragility—themes that coexist in so many of our lives,” Wu said. “Commemorating Israelites’ bravery in seeking new lives in freedom from slavery, the holiday of Sukkah offers lessons in resilience and community for us all.”
