Read the full story at The Canadian Jewish News.
Dalhousie University’s sukkah was so full on Oct. 1 that the head of the newly founded Centre for Jewish Studies had to find extra chairs.
The fall 2026 semester is the Centre’s second academic year operating at Dalhousie, and its first time building a sukkah. More than 35 people packed into the temporary hut on the patio of Dalhousie’s Department of Classics office to wave the lulav and etrog that day with Eva Mroczek.
“All these people were crammed into our little sukkah which was built by four different groups of students that didn’t even know each other,” says Mroczek, the first permanent Simon and Riva Spatz Chair in Jewish Studies.
Mroczek turned what she calls the “weirdest” and hardest to explain Jewish holiday into a public event explaining the religion’s traditions. Scholars agree that Sukkot helps Jews focus on hospitality, especially for those without shelter or stability, she explains.
“It really felt that way in the sukkah with this big group of people, some of whom had really solid Jewish backgrounds, who had maybe gone to Hebrew day school, and then others who had never heard of this holiday before,” Mroczek says. “We were all sitting together and learning.”
This high turnout is only one of many signs the Centre is growing. Increased enrollment in Jewish studies courses, new cross-cultural events, and fresh partnerships with Jewish organizations have all been made possible thanks to Mroczek’s welcoming nature.
Photo caption: Dorota Głowacka (back) is the associate director at Dalhousie’s Centre for Jewish Studies. She was one of the many speakers to deliver a lecture to the sukkah’s visitors. (Credit: Eva Mroczek)