new york | Makeshift bleachers rock with young Chassidim swaying back and forth, singing paeans to God and to their rebbe, Moshe Yehuda Leib Rabinowitz, to whom they look with fervid intensity and unabashed affection.
Several tables line the floor in front of the rebbe’s. When the rebbe takes a bite of fish or kugel, food from his plate is then passed around the sukkah for tasting by devoted Chassidim who believe that it’s good luck to eat off the rebbe’s plate.
A few dip their pinky fingers in mashed sweet potato pie, passing it around so hundreds of others can get a taste and a share of good luck.
Behind the rebbe and out of sight, a young man plays the keyboard while two others sing Chassidic melodies into microphones, electrifying the crowd. Somewhere behind a dark one-way mirror at the rear of the sukkah, Chassidic women crane their necks to watch the festivities and catch a glimpse of the rebbe, dressed in a special white robe for the occasion.
Literally the Celebration of the Water Drawing, Simchat Beit Hoshoeva festivities originally marked a ceremony that involved anointing with water and that took place in the Temple in Jerusalem on the second night of the holiday which will be Saturday, Oct. 11.
The Talmud writes that righteous men used to dance for assembled crowds that juggled flaming torches, sang, made merry and praised God all night long.
The nights of Sukkot are still filled with the sounds of Simchat Beit Hashoeva festivities in Jewish neighborhoods around the world.
In Brooklyn, one can hardly pass through the borough’s Chasidic neighborhoods without hearing the nightly parties.
In Borough Park, on 14th Avenue and 47th Street, there is so much pushing to get into the sukkah of the charismatic Munkatcher rebbe Rabinowitz, that young children risk getting crushed in the crowd.
Thousands of Chassidic Jews with long black coats, dark mink hats, long beards and sidecurls fill the bleachers in what is one of the biggest sukkahs in the world.
The party goes on all week, until Sukkot turns into Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. Then the sukkah huts come down, the willow and palm branches find their way onto garbage heaps, and Borough Park goes back to being, well, Borough Park.