The sukkah courtyard at Piotrkowska 88

Above the courtyard at Piotrkowska 88 hangs a wooden structure unlike anything else on this street: a kuczka, a first floor gallery with an openable roof, built for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. It is one of the few surviving testimonies in Łódź to the city's once large Jewish community, which before the war made up a significant share of the city's population.

A sukkah for Sukkot

The kuczka, or sukkah in Hebrew, is a temporary booth built for the week of Sukkot, commemorating the forty years the Jews spent wandering the desert after leaving Egypt. Instead of building it on the ground, in densely built up Łódź some residents mounted sukkahs at floor level, with an openable roof through which the sky was visible at night, in line with religious requirements. The building at number 88 was erected in 1887 for an owner named Meyer, later expanded by Berko Grzywacz, who in the 1890s added further outbuildings and storerooms in the courtyard.

Practical information

The sukkah can be seen from the courtyard, which is open to everyone from the street, entry requires no fee or prior permission. It is a small architectural feature, so it is worth bringing a camera with a zoom or a good phone lens, since the structure sits at first floor height. The spot is sometimes missed by people walking along the main street, it is worth deliberately stepping off the route to see it. It is one of the few physical traces of the time when Jews made up a significant share of the population of Łódź and co-created everyday life in this part of the city, it is worth giving the place a moment of reflection, not just a photo for the gallery.