We have had one Jewish holiday after another here. First was Rosh Hashannah, then Yom Kippur, and most recently was Sukkot. Sukkot, or Feast of the Tabernacles, is celebrated all week long. Most of the Jewish people build succas (huts) outside their homes that they eat in. Some even sleep in them. We walked through an ultra orthodox Jewish neighborhood called Me'a She'arim to see the tabernacles and to explore the town. Most things were closed but we did get to see some people out on the streets (which I had to discreetly take pictures of). There was also an annual parade which brings together Christians from dozens of countries in support of Israel. Here is a link to an article about it: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/thousands-of-christians-march-in-jerusalem-in-support-of-israel-1.468354
On the last day of Sukkot, we headed to the Western Wall to see the whacking and waving of the willows. The Jews hold four species, the aravah (the branch of the willow tree), etrog (citron), the lulav (top leave from a palm tree), and hadas (myrtle) branches. These four species are waved in all four directions to symbolically voice a prayer for rainfall over all the Earth's vegetation in the coming year. A special bunch of five willows (which are dependent of much water) are taken and smacked into the ground. It was very interesting to see.
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