Succah, Executive Edition

For the first time ever, a succah was erected at the White House

Last week, White House staffers could be seen adjusting their glasses as they approached the blue hut with the bamboo roof on the White House grounds.

Well, not exactly, but they did witness an unusual occurrence. In fact, for the first time ever, a succah was erected at the White House, the work of American Friends for Lubavitch and its local representative, Rabbi Levi Shemtov.

Rabbi Shemtov told Mishpacha that the idea for a succah was first raised by the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, during last year’s Succos event at the White House. For many years, Rabbi Shemtov said, he has brought arba minim to the White House for government employees who want to fulfill the mitzvah. Last year, Rabbi Shemtov recalled, Ivanka said that “hopefully, by next year, we will have a succah.”

“And this year we got it done,” he said. “We built it on a lane that runs between the White House and the Treasury Department called East Executive Avenue.”