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Recycled, refitted and re-imagined: How the succah got a global revamp

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DIY is not normally associated with Jews but, during Succot, our hidden handyman talents come to the fore.

Tabernacle-building is now increasingly an artistic, imaginative enterprise, as these photographs of constructions from around the world demonstrate.

In the town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, this year’s succah competition challenged contestants to combine tradition with 21st-century designs and materials.

The winning entry — as voted for by the public — was the Hay Bales succah by Harold Remlinger, Ralph Nunez and Shari Stein, who won a $2,000 prize.

In Chicago, Illinois, a mobile succah was placed on a horse-drawn cart. And, on the other side of the world, the people at Lennox Electronics in Melbourne, Australia, used wooden palettes as succah walls.

Some succahs have been built in city centres: Sandton, South Africa, is the location for two community succahs — one in the heart of the central business district, and another at the Chabad Savoy.

Meanwhile, Toronto’s Rabbi Catriel Blum will be marking 25 years of his Succot celebrations with a succah on his 12th-floor balcony. It boasts Venetian blinds, a music system and Wi-Fi.

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