While many UF students were road-tripping back from Baton Rouge, La., on Sunday, Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity brothers and UF Hillel members were building a large sukkah.
A sukkah is a temporary hut built for Sukkot, the Jewish holiday for the harvest festival, said Jeffrey Kaplan, UF Hillel program director.
It took Kaplan, 25, and about 20 AEPi brothers 30 hours over three days to build the sukkah. Its 2,273-square-foot structure is made from all-natural materials, including 24 plywood boards and two tons of palm fronds.
The Hillel's sukkah is is one of the largest sukkahs in Florida, Kaplan said.
Executive director Keith Dvorchik challenged him to surpass 1,800 square feet.
Computer engineering sophomore Greg Valle, 19, designed the plans for the sukkah.
A Jewish commandment says people should dwell in their sukkah as they would their house, Kaplan said.
To support this idea, UF Hillel will host a week of events inside its sukkah.
UF Hillel hosted a sleepover in the sukkah Thursday night. Tonight, guests can eat Shabbat dinner there following services.
For information about other events, visit ufhillel.org.
Kaplan estimates that about 600 to 800 non-unique visitors will see the sukkah before he takes it down Oct. 24.
"All I can think that is if the Tyrannosaurus rex was a Jew, this is the kind of sukkah he would hang out in," Kaplan said.
Jeffrey Kaplan, 25, UF Hillel's program director, helps to construct one of Florida's largest sukkahs.
