While Israel enjoyed relatively mild weather during Sukkos, the Jewish community in Siberia prepares each year for the possibility of rain, freezing temperatures and even snow during the festival. But this year the snow waited until after the second day of Simchas Torah, and the local Jewish community was able to celebrate Sukkos in relatively pleasant conditions.
Rabbi Yechiel Gurlik, the Chabad shliach in Siberia, told Kikar Hashabbat: "Thank G-d, He waited for us with the snow until Isru Chag so that we could celebrate Sukkos warm and pleasant, baruch Hashem."
According to Rabbi Gurlik, although they do not sleep in the sukkah, the mitzvah of sitting in the sukkah is fulfilled even in harsh weather conditions. "We don't sleep in the sukkah, but even a cup of water only in the sukkah, even in rain and snow. It's not easy to sit for a Yom Tov meal in rain or cold. Baruch Hashem it was warm and pleasant."
In Siberia, where winter temperatures can drop well below zero, the sukkah is built in a way that helps cope with the cold. "Because it's often very cold here, it can even be minus, so we build the sukkah fairly sealed. We make it like a greenhouse, and that helps a lot so cold doesn't come in through the walls," Rabbi Gurlik explains.
