Family Affair
You polished the silver. You rolled 129 matzo balls. You made gefilte fish from scratch. And you entertained your mother-in-law. Feeling fatigued from the High Holy Days? Celebrate Sukkot this year amid the tranquil apple orchards of the National Yiddish Book Center, and forget about the kitchen.
The Sweet Harvest Festival, a daylong event for families, includes such activities as the raising and decorating of a timber-frame Sukkah; musical performances; a staged reading by the Enchanted Circle Theater; art projects; nature walks; yoga; family games; readings by such children’s authors as Jane Yolen, Chaim Kosofsky and Barbara Diamond Goldin; Sukkot text study, and “enviro-activities.” The program includes musical performances in the outdoor amphitheater stage by the Mak’hela Community Chorus, the Freiliche Farmer from Vermont, environmental singer-songwriter Debbi Friedlander and A Besere Velt, the Yiddish Community Chorus of the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring of Boston. Kosher Eastern European and Israeli cuisine will be available for purchase.
The event is co-sponsored by Pioneer Valley synagogues, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts and the Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts.
National Yiddish Book Center, Hampshire College, 1021 West St., Amherst; Oct. 9; 12 p.m.-5 p.m.; $5 for adults, $3 for children ages 3-12, $18 maximum for families. (413-256-4900 or www.yiddishbookcenter.org)
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