A few days ago I posted 'The End of the Fall Holiday Season' which was a series of street photos I shot on Hashanah Rabbah. I also took photos inside the Sukkat at the Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway. It was quite a challenge to work in extremely an crowded environment, especially because part of the ritual requires the celebrants to make seven circuits around the podium holding the Torah. There were concurrent services going on in several rooms, none of which had any room to spare for a photographer. The hats, the lulav and etrog, the Torah, and all the people milling about generated some interesting compositions. But to get the shots I had to twist and contort, and climb and kneel. Not easy for my aging body.
Here's quite a few shots. Some people tried to avoid the crowd in the back alley:
Although women don't enter the same sanctuary as the men (another time), they have their own ritual of holding and saying blessings with the lulav and etrog:
A rare quiet moment of respite:
In one of the rooms adjacent to the main Sukkot:
Marching around the Torah:
A short break from the marching:
All that marching and praying can be VERY tiring!
Here's quite a few shots. Some people tried to avoid the crowd in the back alley:
Although women don't enter the same sanctuary as the men (another time), they have their own ritual of holding and saying blessings with the lulav and etrog:
A rare quiet moment of respite:
In one of the rooms adjacent to the main Sukkot:
Marching around the Torah:
A short break from the marching:
The Torah in an adjacent room. I was stuck inside the marchers, pinned up against the podium. So I
took advantage of the close position. Thankfully, I had a super wide angle lens:
All that marching and praying can be VERY tiring!
