A Sukkot Open House Points the Way Forward  

By Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz   

Over the past year, as an educational institution located on Morningside Heights, JTS students, staff, and faculty witnessed and experienced firsthand many of the shocking and painful incidents that happened here. We encountered in our own backyard troubling statements, inflammatory rhetoric, violence, and deafening silence, all of which left us stunned and heartbroken.  

JTS moved to the Morningside Heights neighborhood in 1902 specifically to engage with the intellectual ferment—in all its complexity—on this academic acropolis. We have been blessed to have worked closely with so many of the surrounding academic institutions, including Columbia University, Barnard College, Teachers College, and Manhattan School of Music, as well as influential interfaith organizations such as Union Theological Seminary, International House, The Riverside Church, and Interfaith Center of New York. Together, our institutions share a deep history of collaboration that has enriched us all.

However, events since October 7, 2023, put all of this on shaky ground, as trust eroded, and fears mounted. Throughout the year, we all felt a tremendous amount of pain, as we mourned the loss of Israeli and Palestinian lives and the devastating impact that this ongoing war has had on countless innocent civilians. We have continued to pray, march, and advocate for the safe return of the hostages who have been in captivity for over a year. 

Amid these challenges, I reached out to colleagues at neighboring institutions and found a sincere and collective desire to re-establish bonds and work toward a future that better reflects our shared values. And so, as the anniversary of October 7 approached, JTS invited our neighbors to an open house in the JTS sukkah. The positive response was immediate, and participation was strong.

Hosted by JTS’s Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue and The Hendel Center for Ethics and Justice, the sukkah open house served as an expression of hachnasat orchim (hospitality). Its open door, temporary walls, and porous roof, signified the open arms with which we invited staff, faculty, and administrators from nearby institutions for an afternoon of conversation, refreshments, and words of hope.  

In my opening remarks, I spoke about how the sukkah has often been seen as a symbol of peace, especially in our liturgy’s Hashkiveinu prayer. It was a fitting way to welcome the community into our sukkah, foster relationships, and build connections.

We were honored to hear from guests who shared their own faith perspectives on the theme of hospitality. Reverend Serene Jones, President of Union Theological Seminary, discussed Christian-Jewish relations throughout history and the role of hospitality in shaping a better, more compassionate world. Imam Ebad Rahman, Muslim Chaplain at Columbia University, drew from the Quran and reflected on the significance of sharing food as an act of hospitality. We also heard from JTS Professor Yitz Landes as he explored Judaism’s commitment to hospitality, particularly during the holiday of Sukkot, through the Ushpizin ritual and the way in which it emphasizes the importance of welcoming in others as we seek to create holy spaces and communities of faith. 

It was gratifying to experience the heartfelt support and sense of partnership offered by neighboring presidents, senior administrators, faculty, and staff—all united by a shared commitment to taking meaningful steps to foster values of respect, empathy, compassion, critical inquiry, and civil discourse in our community. Only by working together to reaffirm the values that made Morningside Heights the great academic and interfaith acropolis that it has been, can we hope to ensure that it will continue to serve as a beacon for these values in decades to come.