Succot schedule to be a busy one for President Rivlin

This year he will visit Acre, where he will meet with community leaders and local residents.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Updated: OCTOBER 17, 2016 23:51
President Reuven Rivlin (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
President Reuven Rivlin
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
In addition to hosting an open house in the presidential succa on Wednesday, President Reuven Rivlin will this week continue a tradition he began after taking office and visit a communal succa outside of the capital. This year he will visit Acre, where he will meet with community leaders and local residents.
But first will be a Tuesday visit to the International Alternative Theater Festival, where he will meet the performers and be the guest of honor.
From there he will continue to the municipal plaza outside City Hall where he will be welcomed by children in their first year of school. Next he will meet with Jewish and Arab student musicians from the Jerusalem Conservatory, after which he will discuss – along with other religious and educational issues – coexistence among Acre’s mixed Jewish-Arab community. Joining in the exchange will be Zionist Union MK and former broadcasting personality Zuhair Bahloul, as well as by Jewish and Muslim spiritual leaders, educators and local community leaders.
On Wednesday, all roads will lead to the capital, not only because of the traditional ceremony of the blessing of the priests at the Western Wall, the many concerts, exhibitions, festivals and the annual Succot Jerusalem March, but also for the conclusion of the nationwide trek by Women Wage Peace and the president’s open house. Due to the large number of visitors from Israel and abroad last year, the period during which the general public will be admitted has been extended from early morning until late afternoon.
In addition to the traditional partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, the event this year will be held in conjunction with the Ministry for Economics and the Israel Manufacturers Association’s Blue and White campaign to encourage purchase of products and produce made in Israel. There will be numerous family-oriented activities as well as musical performances.
Anyone who wants to hear the welcome addresses by President Rivlin and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel should arrive by 8:30 a.m.
Several Knesset Members and representatives of the organizing bodies are also expected to attend.
On Thursday, in accordance with the custom of his predecessors, President Rivlin will visit the two Chief Rabbis in their private succot – Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau in Modi’in and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef in Jerusalem.