75 years ago, my parents and other Holocaust survivors celebrated Sukkot on their own terms

(JTA) — The festival of Sukkot, which begins five days after Yom Kippur, is traditionally referred to as the time of our rejoicing. It is an upbeat, celebratory weeklong holiday during which we are commanded to eat and, ideally, sleep in a temporary dwelling to remind us that the children of Israel lived in booths during their desert sojourn after God had taken them out of Egypt.