Sunday, / December 22, 2024
Home / news

Sukkot and The New Europe: Parallel Themes

STRASBOURG, FRANCE

Father and son, Chabad representatives Rabbis Shimon and Mendel Samama, put up the first sukkah in Strasbourg, home to the European Parliament.

Joining them in the sukkah at a cocktail reception on Sunday were government representatives of the European Council and of the Court for Human Rights. Among them, the Israeli Ambassador Gilber Ross, and Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Council of Europe, Ambassador Igor Gaon, who participated in the mitzvah of lulav, and then shared in a toast of L’chaim!

“Sukkot represents the unity of the Jewish people,” said Rabbi Samama, reflecting on the four species that are held together in the mitzvah of lulav and etrog. Rabbi Samama explained that the mitzvah is symbolic of a unity that transcends differences, drawing a parallel with the goals of the new Europe, “which is effecting a transformation for the improvement of humankind.”

Comment

Be the first to write a comment.

Add

Related Articles
Art as Avodah: A Visual Conversation with Tobi Kahn
Tobi Kahn’s art lives in two worlds. His paintings of expansive oceanic horizons, akin to the color field works of Mark Rothko, hang in the…
Chabad Welcomed in Mountain Principality of Andorra
Amid Warming Relations, Jewish Community Welcomes its First Rabbi
What Israel Means To Them Now: Shehekhiyonu
Following the events of October 7, I reached back to a poem I committed to memory when I first read it—a poem written when we…
Exodus of an Artist
Ukrainian-born painter Michael Gleizer’s journey from the Soviet Union to America tells a new story about art, freedom, and faith
Newsletter
Donate
Find Your Local Chabad Center
Magazine