Sukkah Goes Up at Occupy Wall Street

By JTA October 12, 2011

A sukkah was erected in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York.

The sukkah, which was built Wednesday at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, was sponsored by Occupy Judaism NYC, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, Kolot Chayeinu and CBST.

No permit was obtained to build the sukkah and, according to the Facebook Event page, there is a strongly enforced rule against building structures in Zuccotti Park.

“We chose to erect and occupy our sukkah here at Zuccotti Park,” Dan Sieradski, the organizer of Occupy Judaism NYC, wrote in a statement. “There is no better place to celebrate the festival of Sukkot this year than right here at Occupy Wall Street. We stand in solidarity with all those who are challenging the inequitable distribution of resources in our country, who dare to dream of a more just and compassionate society.”

The sukkah was donated apolitically by PopUpSukkah, a Chabad organization.

Six other Occupy protests across the country – in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta, Oakland and Los Angeles – have plans to build sukkahs at the demonstrations.

Last week, Occupy Judaism NYC organized a Kol Nidre service that was performed in solidarity with the protesters across from Zuccotti Park. Demonstrators have been protesting what they see as economic disparity in the United States for nearly four weeks.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO