From the Desk of Jennifer Lorch Selco | Sr. Director of Jewish Living + Engagement ⋆ JCC Tucson

From the Desk of Jennifer Lorch Selco | Sr. Director of Jewish Living + Engagement

October 10, 2025

From the Desk of Jennifer Lorch Selco | Sr. Director of Jewish Living + Engagement

During the holiday of Sukkot, the festival of booths, we are commanded to be happy. Afterall, Sukkot is zman simchateinu, the time of our joy. From the Torah, we learn:

On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before Adonai your God seven days. You shall observe it as a festival of Adonai for seven days in the year; you shall observe it in the seventh month as a law for all time, throughout the ages. You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I Adonai your God. So, Moses declared to the Israelites the set times of Adonai. – Vayikra 23:40-44

In recalling our freedom from Egypt, we are commanded to be joyous. What a beautiful idea it is that we should experience joy, even when we move ourselves from the comfort of our traditional dining (and maybe even sleeping) spaces to a temporary structure. And, this Sukkot, we hold on to both joy and hope, with the news of the imminent release of the remaining hostages from Gaza, please God, may it be so.

As we celebrate the final days of Sukkot and move into the holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, may we create and embrace these moments of joy, may we hold on to hope as we pray for the return of the hostages, and may we, beyond this holiday season, experience Jewish joy and community throughout the year.

Shabbat Shalom. Mo’adim L’Simcha. Am Yisrael Chai.

Peaceful Shabbat. Time for joy. The people of Israel live.

This week at the J it was all about celebrating Sukkot! We also commemorated the two-year anniversary of October 7 with our community partners at Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona and the Weintraub Israel Center for “Together We Walk: Southern Arizona in Solidarity with the Victims, Survivors, and Hostages of October 7,” reminding us of the strength and resilience of our community.

As Tucson J President + CEO, Todd Rockoff, said on Wednesday evening in an address to our Stars of Giving, “The Sukkah reminds us that while walls may be temporary, community is eternal.” We are proud of the vibrant and connected community that joins together every day to learn, play, and grow with us.

On Tuesday, members of our senior leadership team gathered in the Sukkah for a learning moment, and took the opportunity to smell the sweetness of the etrog (citron) and shake the lulav (date palm tree frond) according to the holiday ritual. Wednesday, our Stars of Giving gathered for their annual event celebrating the impact these generous donors make on our community. And on Thursday, young adults gathered for a “Bottles + Bites” social in the sukkah, the second event in a series of artist-in-residenceexperiences centered around theatre dybbuk, a California-based theater company. Don’t miss theatre dybbuk’s performances of Dracula (Annotated) and other incredible programs and events coming later this month!

All week long kids in ECE spent snack time in and created decorations for the sukkah, while participants in Disability Program Services created their own edible sukkahs! Kids in School Days Out for fall break celebrated harvest season in tune with the holiday by picking pumpkins in our own J pumpkin patch and painting them in the art studio.

As we welcomed in guests, or Usphizin, into our Sukkah, we reflected on the J’s role as a gathering space where everyone belongs. Thank you for being here. Shabbat Shalom.