Sukkot

A celebration and dinner organized by David Bernstein, Jaz Okolodkoff, Lara Bongard, Michelle Woods, and Oleg Asoiev. Hosted by Morpho, Antwerp.

The Jewish holiday of Sukkot celebrates the transition of the seasons and the bounty of the harvest by building a temporary hut (Sukkah) outside where meals can take place and invisible guests can be invited and honoured. The event featured a conceptual dinner, collective decorations, and a queer film screening program.

Typically we shake the “four species” on Sukkot. They are traditionally Date palm, willow, myrtle, and the etrog, a large fragrant citrus fruit. These species have different symbolism, relating to smells and to different body parts, and this bouquet is shaken in all directions as a kind of rain dance for a good future of abundant crops in the coming year. but as we are not living in the biblical land of Palestine/Israel where these plants indigenously grow, we are currently here. So in the spirit of Doykeit, the Yiddish concept of ‘Here-ness’, David created a Diasporic Lulav and Etrog out of plants in Belgium. Lara created a menu in collaboration with Michelle Woods.