Jewish community celebrates Sukkot across Montenegro

The Jewish community in Montenegro has celebrated Sukkot, one of the three major Jewish holidays, across several cities including Podgorica, Budva, Bar, Kotor, Tivat, and Žabljak.

Chief Rabbi of Montenegro, Ari Edelkopf, noted that the seven-day festival serves as a reminder of joy and faith in divine protection, even as Jewish communities face various challenges. During the holiday, believers gather in sukkahs—temporary huts covered with branches or bamboo—which symbolize the temporary dwellings used during the forty-year journey through the Sinai desert.

To increase accessibility, the community introduced a ‘Suka mobil’ (mobile sukkah) built on a small truck, bringing the tradition directly to various Montenegrin towns for those unable to build their own structures. The celebrations will be followed by the holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.