Sukkot at Elsewhere
Sukkot at Elsewhere
September 19th-26th, 2021
Please RSVP here
Sukkot is a weeklong Jewish festival of harvest, marked by the construction of a sukkah (a temporary dwelling). Join us to build and decorate a sukkah in Elsewhere's garden.
This project is a joint effort between Carolina Jews for Justice, Greensboro Contemporary Jewish Museum, and Elsewhere.
Adam Carlin, co-director of Greensboro Contemporary Jewish Museum, led the construction of the Sukkah structure.
Sukkah-opening invited participants to add branches to a bamboo lattice, and then collectively raise the roof of the sukkah and hang their objects.
Sukkah Opening
Sunday, 9/19, 10-11AM (In-Person)
Come add a cedar branch to symbolically complete our Sukkah, enjoy some coffee and honey-baked apples with us, and bring a decoration* to release to the space. (see here).
Decorating the Sukkah
Week of 9/20-9/25
This year is the shmita year in the Jewish calendar, a "Sabbatical Year" when land lies fallow. Debts are forgiven, and adjustments made for an equitable, just, and healthy society. In the spirit of shmita, please choose an object from your home to which you have a particular attachment and release it to the sukkah and eternity. Please either drop off your object* or we will pick it up from you (see here).
Community Dinner in the Sukkah
Wednesday, 9/22, 6-7PM
Part of the spirit of Sukkot, we will feed anyone who comes to Elsewhere this evening. Special guest chef, Sehkmet, who will be preparing a vegetarian recipe from her grandmother’s hand-made recipe book filled with Afro-carribean dishes.
Sehkmet is a native Texan that grew up under the learning tree of her grandmother. She spent much of her youth on the island of Curacao and St. Kitts/ Nevis with her extended family learning about her heritage, her people and their traditions. She is passionate about ancestral food that leads to cultural healing. This led her to teach her children about food, culture and how it ties into who they are as people and how they can be unapologetically proud of where they come from. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, cooking her ancestor’s recipes and writing. Sehkmet is also, legally blind, but finds the challenge a new adventure! Her favorite saying is, “the best way to learn about a person and their culture is to break bread with them.” She recently completed two Master’s degrees in Business Administration and Healthcare Administration. She is currently employed as an Intake Coordinator/Financial Counselor for Catholic Charities. You can find her on TikTok @sehkology or via Facebook at Sehkmet Bey El.
A Material Meditation on Home: The Sukkah as Jewish Vernacular Architecture
Thursday, 9/23, 4-5:30PM EST
Register for Zoom link
Our friend and collaborator, Dr. Gabrielle Berlinger (Department of American Studies, UNC Chapel Hill), poses the question, “How can an ancient religious ritual convey current social and political needs?” For Dr. Gabrielle Berlinger, this question emerged from eight years (2007-2015) of documentation of Sukkot, the Jewish festival that annually commemorates the Israelites’ Biblical journey through the Sinai Desert to the Promised Land. In this talk, Dr. Berlinger explores the holiday’s central rite of building and “dwelling” in temporary structures—makeshift shelters that evoke the physical and metaphoric experience of wandering in the wild. The flexibility of this tradition is revealed by the rich material diversity of constructions.
Significantly, in 2010-2011, Sukkot coincided with the global Occupy Movement and the migration of African asylum seekers into Israel, highlighting the contemporary search for “home” in daily as well as ritual life. In secular and orthodox communities, suburban and urban settings, minority and majority Jewish populations, Jews build sukkot to reconcile their dreams with reality.
Seated Yoga and Guided Meditation in the Sukkah with Nicole Walters of the Ahava Collective
Thursday, September 23rd, 6-7PM EST (rain or shine)
We will gather and dwell in the sukkah for some gentle seated yoga followed by a guided meditation. We will practice “releasing” in both our bodies and our minds to honor the spirit of this year of shmita. Seating is first come, first served. We will remain masked and socially distanced.
This experience will be led by Nichol Walters, founder of Ahava Collective. Nichol provides classes to people of all levels and backgrounds, including those with financial insecurity. Donations go directly to the Ahava Collective to sustain community programming, but no one is ever turned away.
Ahava Collective is a Jewish female-owned yoga and mindfulness collective. Nicole operates her collective based upon the Jewish principle of tikkun olam, a concept defined by acts of kindness performed to perfect or repair the world. It has become synonymous with social action and social justice in modern Jewish circles.
Gathering in the Sukkah
Sunday, 9/26, 2-3PM (In-Person and Virtual)
Come experience the decorated sukkah and learn about Sukkot and the Jewish tradition of shmita. We will discuss contemporary applications of this year of shmita and local social justice efforts.
We will serve light refreshments, including a variety of breads from locally-owned and operated Peppelah Challah!
Releasing Decorations into the Sukkah. Aligning with the shmita year in the Jewish calendar, we offer the prompt below for your decorative (and meaning making) sukkah bric-a-brac. But wait! What is the shmita year? Commonly translated as the ‘Sabbatical Year,’ shmita literally means ‘release.’ Of biblical origin, this is the final year of a shared calendar cycle, when land is left fallow, debts are forgiven, and a host of other agricultural and economic adjustments are made to ensure the maintenance of an equitable, just, and healthy society.
*Decoration: CHOOSE a small(ish) object from your home to which you have a particular attachment (emotional, physical, financial etc) and release it to the sukkah and into eternity. FEEL into the discomfort (or joy) of letting go. CONSIDER this a setting of intention for the coming year. IMAGINE the sukkah decorated with these quirky and personal symbols of release. VISIT the sukkah and take a tour of this collection of objects and their meaning. PHOTOGRAPH your object before (or when) you DONATE it to the sukkah. SEND the image to: greensborocjm@gmail.com. We offer these quotes on letting go for inspiration.
Questions/Ideas? If you have questions, want to set up an appointment to drop off decorations or to have us pick up decorations from your house, or want to contribute to our celebration of Sukkot in other ways, email matthew@goelsewhere.org or call 336.907.3271.
Directions: Elsewhere is located at 606 S. Elm Street and is open Fridays 4-9PM and Saturdays 11AM-9PM. Our garden is accessed by an alleyway behind the museum, west of Elm St. from Bain St. or W. Lewis St.
Coordinates are 36.06574633803754, -79.79126969486369 on GoogleMaps
Utilize street parking on the surrounding streets. We do not have our own parking lot, so please do not park in the lot behind our building as that belongs to Transform GSO.
