In the run-up to Sukkot, the National Library is revealing rare photos that show how IDF soldiers managed to fulfill the mitzvah of sitting in the sukkah creatively on the war fronts in the north and south.
During the war the warriors found themselves trying to celebrate the holiday at the front, during the containment battles.
"IDF soldiers are exempt from the sukkah commandments," stated Chief Military Rabbi Brigadier General Mordechai Firon.
"Their duty is to eradicate the enemy and defeat him to the end," he ruled.
Despite the ruling, there were soldiers who tried to keep the mitzvah.
A reporter for the Guard, who accompanied the soldiers in the difficult battles in the canal area, reported that "despite the bitter battle, we do not forget that there is also civilian life.
Improvised Sukkot in front of the Golan Heights, National Library
The holiday of Sukkot 1973 began with heavy containment battles, but during the seven days of the holiday a turning point occurred, when IDF forces went from defensive to offensive. An American, the photographer Nathan Pendrich, who went on a photo trip between the fronts.
