Bank Of England Erects First Sukkah For Jewish Employees
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — The Bank of England erected a sukkah in London for its Jewish workers for the first time in its centuries-long history.
The sukkah, a ceremonial hut in which Jews consume their meals for one week each year on the holiday of Sukkot, was inaugurated this week, marking the first such installation in the bank’s 324 years of existence, The Jewish Chronicle reported Friday.
Members of the bank’s maintenance team helped its Jewish Network erect the tabernacle on a first-floor balcony, which was open to the sky, at its headquarters in Threadneedle Street.
On Wednesday, Jewish Network members welcomed colleagues to a lunchtime talk about the festival’s significance led by Miriam Lorie of the Jewish Leadership Council umbrella group of local Jewish organizations.
The bank was opened in 1694, 38 years after the resettlement of Jews in England.
Sukkot ends on Tuesday.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
