Posted on 10/02/23
Jerusalem Israel - Oct. 2, 2023 - With every Yeshiva and group hosting Sukkot celebrations, there are Simchat Beit Hashoeva events throughout Yerushalayim on the nights of Chol Hamoed.
A public one featuring Chassidic Singer Barak Grossberg was across from Heichal Shlomo, in the open area next to the Leonardo Plaza Hotel on King George Street on Sunday night. Drum Circle, Singing, Dancing, Arts and Crafts were sponsored by Rabbi Yisroel Goldberg and the Chabad of Rechavia. Tourists and locals participated.
Another of hundreds of celebrations at the same time was the annual Derech Bet Lechem Festival. Beit Lechem Streets were blocked to traffic as hundreds of people of all ages filled the area. Besides live music and food there were chess games, arts and crafts, and everything for sale from shoes to jewelry and giant bubble balloons.
While over 50,000 people crowded into the Old City for Birchas Kohanim in the morning, all day, and into the evening families arrived to go to the Kotel. The Mamilla Mall and Rechov Yaffo were filled with tourists and hungry visitors looking for the sukkah to their liking to sit and enjoy the food.
The weather turned from hot and sunny on Sunday, to cool and rainy on Monday, but the temperature and raindrops did not seem to dampen the holiday spirit on Sukkot in Yerushalayim.
