Students may have noticed something different outside Hillel this week: a hut. Made of branches and decorated with gourds, this hut, called a “Sukkah,” is meant to commemorate the 40 days and nights that the people of Israel walked through the desert. This celebration, called Sukkot, the Festival of Booths, represents the homes made by the people of Israel during that time. Inside the hut are lists of prayers that one should recite while under its roof. To commemorate the occasion, students were invited on Sept. 28 to help build the Sukkah and eat s’mores at a firepit arranged next to the hut. Building a Sukkah is a yearly tradition for Hillel, which, once completed, remains standing outside the Hillel House for a week every October.