This year, Jonathan York’s family and friends will have to visit his sukkah at a new location, as he has transferred his elaborate installation from his backyard to the Skirball Cultural Center.
York, a 32-year-old real estate attorney, has spent the past six months crafting a sukkah dedicated to the events of Oct. 7. “It was an opportunity to create something that really reflects the state we’ve been in for the past year,” he told the Journal. “I wanted to find a platform where I could share this with a larger audience and make a greater impact. That’s why I chose the Skirball, and I was thrilled that they agreed to host an exhibition of my work.”
In previous years, York has welcomed over 100 guests to his backyard during the Sukkot holiday. “They were always people I already knew, part of my orbit,” he said. “This time, I wanted to create a sukkah for all of Los Angeles.”
York’s love for Sukkot began at a young age, thanks to his grandfather, who built a sukkah with him every year. “He was an engineer and a military man, so we built this sukkah every year with precision and discipline, but it was also with so much love and so much joy, with all of my cousins. Sukkot really became a very personally wonderful holiday for me,” he said.
It was during law school that York rediscovered his artistic side. “I’ve lived this sort of double life of being an attorney and an artist and six years ago in service of that art-half of my life, I started to look at the sukkah as an art medium and what could I make out of a sukkah that was unique and responsive to the time,” he said. “And so every year for the past six years, I’ve built a new one and it always involved a lot of research and a lot of different inspirations and also always sort of reacting to what I’m absorbing that year.”
To achieve this, he built the sukkah from 6,000 pounds of birch wood, painstakingly burned one piece at a time by hand. Surrounding it is a garden of over 200 plants. “The idea was to tell a story of hope—new life emerging from tragedy and destruction,” he said. “Visually, it also mimics the experience of visiting kibbutzim after Oct. 7, where homes were burned but life and nature continued to thrive.”
York visited Israel and toured the kibbutzim in December 2023, about six weeks after the conflict began. He returned five more times, visiting burned, ruined and looted kibbutzim and the site of the Nova Festival, attending the funeral of a soldier he had never met and participating in the shivah for another.
“I had a profound experience, similar to when I visited Auschwitz as a teenager,” York said. “In both places, despite the atrocities that occurred, the surroundings were remarkably beautiful. It’s both challenging and inspiring to see nature bloom amid tragedy. It serves as a powerful metaphor for resilience and how we can emerge stronger.”
After returning to the U.S., York found himself with nearly 20 hours of footage on his phone and felt a responsibility to share these stories. This inspired him to create a 30-minute documentary titled “Al Tira: Diary From a Nation at War” (from Hebrew: “Al Tira,” meaning “Do Not Fear”). He premiered the film at the Sephardic Temple in April, and it has since been accepted into a major film festival.
On his second trip to Israel, coinciding with Memorial Day and Independence Day, York wanted to understand how the war had impacted the country. His third trip in July was dedicated to producing the sukkah. “I traveled from the Negev to the Carmel and the Golan, recording sounds from every kind of ecosystem—rivers, forests, streams, and deserts,” he said. “My goal was to capture the sounds of nature to recreate them in the Skirball space.”
York was also assisted by the new national library in Jerusalem, which opened in 2023. They contributed sounds from their archives that are now incorporated into this immersive sound experience.
During his trip to Israel, York engaged in conversations with various individuals involved in nature conservation—farmers, foresters, beekeepers and others. “These discussions aimed to explore what we can learn about resilience from nature and they contributed significantly to the Sukkah Project,” he said.
Just as the sukkah brings people together, working on this project has brought together a team of friends to help create the sukkah.
Just as the sukkah brings people together, working on this project has brought together a team of friends to help create the sukkah.
“In past years, I did everything by myself, but this year I have an incredible team of friends,” he said. “One of the real joys of this project has been tapping into the creativity and skills of those around me. One friend produced the documentary about the sukkah, another is assisting with the garden design and yet another is helping create the multisensory experience that will envelop visitors. This year’s project has truly become a collaboration with many dear and creative people in my life.”
The Jewish Federation and the Jewish Community Foundation, along with the Skirball Museum, funded the Sukkah Project. York also organized his own fundraiser to support the initiative.
With this ambitious installation, York hopes to inspire others while honoring the resilience of nature and the human spirit.
York’s sukkah is going to be open to the public free of charge at the Skirball between October 8–November 3 during museum hours. The sukkah is installed in the courtyard behind the main lobby. Visitors are welcome to enjoy their lunch there or simply spend time with their family and friends.
Learn more at: skirball.org/museum/skirball-sukkahhttp://skirball.org/museum/skirball-sukkah
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