I just love Sukkot in Arad! 

Here I am, learning how to bundle the palm branches for the schach on our sukkah..... the bottoms of the branches have already had their spikes trimmed off, thank G-d. 

Meet Suleiman, the man who makes sure Arad stays beautiful. He's holding the dates he gave us. Don't be fooled, however; Suleiman is incredibly strong and those dates require the muscles of a weight-lifter. 

This is David Avraham. He came straight to Arad from Ethiopia 20 years ago and two years later came to work at the job he still has today. 

These are canary dates. When they are big and ripe, they are sweet as sugar. When they are small and unripe, they are beautiful but... 

Trimming a canary date palm.