Chabad ensured that hundreds of Jews who couldn’t otherwise celebrate Sukkot were able to do so by building sukkahs at shopping centres, universities, and retirement facilities.
With the COVID-19 pandemic stretching into its nineteenth month, it brought observance of the holiday to Jews of all ages while being mindful of pandemic-related precautions.
In Johannesburg, Chabad built public sukkahs manned by rabbinic interns at shopping centres including BluBird, Benmore, Norwood, and Grayston, among others, as well as at universities and retirement facilities. The portable “Sukkah mobiles” were also active throughout the intermediate days of chol hamoed, allowing many thousands to engage in celebration of the holiday at their convenience.
And, as he has been doing for more than a decade, Rabbi Ari Kievman and his children took to the streets with a sukkah in the back of his Mitzvah Tank minivan, helping to bring the holiday right to people’s doorstep with snacks and inspiration.
