Foreign Office to hold Sukkot celebration for first time in 236-year history
search

The latest Jewish News

Read this week’s digital edition

Click Here

Foreign Office to hold Sukkot celebration for first time in 236-year history

Sukkah to be put up in the main quadrangle of FCO, as landmark move welcomed by Jewish civil servants

Example of a colourful Sukkah
Example of a colourful Sukkah

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is to hold a Sukkot celebration for the first time in its 236-year history.

Mandarins, civil servants and diplomats will help put up a Sukkah in the main quadrangle on Wednesday, decorated with lanterns and paper chains made by children in the FCO Nursery.

The first-of-its-kind initiative is the brainchild of the Department’s Religion and Belief Group, and was welcomed by Josh Nagli and Katie Kochmann, co-chairs of the Civil Service Jewish Network.

“This is an exciting development for Jewish Civil Servants, enabling many to eat their meals in a Sukkah during Chol Hamoed,” they said in a joint statement.

“We want to see a thriving, diverse Civil Service, and we are delighted that we are able to support Jewish colleagues during Sukkot, as well as sharing awareness of Jewish practices and festivals amongst all Civil Servants.”

Rabbi David Lister of Edgware United Synagogue will give a talk on the history and meaning of Sukkot to attendees including sponsors Melinda Simmons, head of the National Security Strategy Joint Programme Hub, and Nigel Baker, former British ambassador to Bolivia and the Vatican.

Sue Breeze, Chair of the FCO Religion and Belief Group, said: “I was delighted when my Jewish colleagues suggested we mark Sukkot by putting up a sukkah inside the FCO building.

“I hope that having a sukkah on display at the FCO, where lots of people will walk past it, will create a buzz, and that we’ll have more people learning more about this important Jewish festival.”

In December, 150 civil servants attended the FCO’s Chanukah celebrations, sponsored by the Board of Deputies, while the Department has also ramped up its Holocaust commemorations in recent years.

LISTEN to this week’s episode of the Jewish Views podcast:

Support your Jewish community. Support your Jewish News

Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.

For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.

Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.

You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.

100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...

Engaging

Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.

Celebrating

There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.

Pioneering

In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.

Campaigning

Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.

Easy access

In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.

Voice of our community to wider society

The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.

We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.

read more: