Joyous Simchas Bais in Los Angeles

On Sunday night, the Los Angeles Jewish community once again showed up en masse for the annual Simchas Bais Hashoeva in the streets of Hollywood.

The Succos Festival and Concert is organized by Chabad of North Hollywood, in association with the Young Chevra, Chabad of the Valley and corporate sponsors, the Jewish Link and Milano Collection Wigs.

Over the last several years, with the increasing involvement of broader spectrums of the community, the event has really taken off, with a very large attendance in recent years made up of both Anash and the wider communities of Los Angeles and the Valley.

The MC and Host of the event, Rabbi Nachman Abend opened the evening introducing Rabbi Mendel Duchman, of Kol Yaakov Yehuda Jr Congregation to lead a children’s rally with the 12 Pesukim, this was immediately followed by a short inspirational address by Chabad of the Valley’s Rabbi Yehoshua Binyomin Gordon. As the evening set in, an increasingly growing crowd was formally welcomed by Rabbi Aaron Abend, Chabad of North Hollywood’s Executive Director.

The main event followed, this year featuring one of Jewish music’s fastest rising stars, Dovid Gabay. “We wanted to step things up a few notches, so we brought in Dovid Gabay along with The Shira Orchestra to perform at this year’s event,” said Jonathan Herzog, one of the event’s organizers. “And it really paid off,” he added.

The Family Succos Festival and Concert also featured local talent Yanky Lunger and a guest performance by Nissan Friedman, together with street performers, fire jugglers, acrobats, balloon artists, a stilt walker and a variety of food vendors all keeping the streets of Hollywood on a closed off Burbank Boulevard buzzing with excitement.