First-Ever Sukkah Built at the White House

Dozens of White House officials and staff joined for a special celebration held at the first-ever Sukkah on White House Grounds, sponsored by the White House.

(A sukkah has been placed in the general complex before, but this one was actually within the gates of the East Wing itself.)

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Executive Vice President of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) and senior Shliach to Washington, DC, was invited to share the meaning of Sukkot and the Arba Minim (Four Species) central to this major festival. He was joined by his wife, veteran Shlucha Mrs. Nechama Shemtov.

The event was coordinated by the dynamic White House Liaison to the Jewish Community, Ms. Shelley Greenspan.

Among the senior officials present were Deputy National Security Advisor Mrs. Anne Neuberger and Assistant to the President and Director of Vice Presidential Administration, Ms. Cynthia Bernstein, as well as senior officials from the White House Counsel’s Office, Office of Management and Budget, White House Visitor’s Center, National Security Council, Office of Public Engagement and others.

In addition to the beautiful new Sukkah, this was reportedly the largest group of officials and staff ever to participate in an event to mark Sukkot with a Lulav and Etrog at the White House, a tradition going back to the Clinton administration.