Succoth / Feast of Tabernacles celebration in Paris

This morning our church celebrated Succoth, the Old Testament celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. This was an annual celebration established for Israel in which it was to remember what it was like to live in tents during the 40 years in the wilderness after escaping Egypt and before entering the Promised Land. It is a reminder that one is just a pilgrim in this life and that life's circumstances are precarious. It also was a time to celebrate.

Jesus celebrated this feast. He was in Jerusalem for it when in the Gospel of John, he makes his "Is anyone thirsty?" declaration.

This past week, a "succoth" or "hut" was built at the front of our sanctuary. There also were branches that were hanging above on wires. The succoth was decorated with hanging fruit and drawings by children.

Rather than our usual 2 morning services, we just have one that started at 10:00 a.m. and finished around 12:30. It didn't seem that long, as it was very participatory and flowed well. This was the fruit of lots of organization and reflection ahead of time.

The service began with the shofar being blown. There were 3 worship dancers who danced during the worship time, led by Corinne LaFitte. There was a procession of flags representing different nations in the church. There was a procession by family in which children hung their fruit, people gave their tithes and offerings, as well as canned goods to give to the poor and fruit to hang. Pastor/Rabbi David Schneier came from the Ukraine to help organized the service and preach the message on "remembering." He also gave several blessings