Image Details

Photo by Reinhard Pummer

A fruitful observance. A colorful array of fruits, each hung by its own wire or thread, decorates the ceiling of a Samaritan home during Sukkoth, the Feast of Tabernacles. Commemorating the Israelite sojourn in Sinai, Jews and Samaritans alike build a symbolic hut called a sukkah (plural, sukkot), decorated with palm branches and fruits. Like the Jews, the Samaritans originally built their sukkot outdoors, but more than 100 years ago they began building them indoors to escape persecution. Although they could once again construct them outdoors, the Samaritans continue the indoor practice out of tradition.