Capt. Andrew Cohen, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Jewish chaplain, is observing the holiday of Sukkot — pronounced ‘‘sue-coat” — by building and living in a sukkah — pronounced ‘‘sue-kah” — a temporary shelter with a bamboo reed roof.

Any rabbi can talk about Sukkot and its meanings or what a sukkah looks like and how to construct one, but Captain Cohen has taken it a step further. He has found a way not only for the Jewish servicemembers to appreciate the holiday while deployed and away from their families, but also for those who follow different faiths to learn something new. In the middle of a group of reinforced buildings, he has built a cloth, wood and bamboo shelter.

Sukkot, often referred to as the Season of Rejoicing, is the culmination of two other observances in the Jewish faith — Passover and Shavuot. The eight days of Passover celebrate the Israelites’ freedom from enslavement and Exodus from Egypt. Shavuot — the Festival of Weeks — commemorates the time when God is said to have given Moses the Torah. This Sukkot began at sunset on Oct. 13, 2008, and ends at nightfall Oct. 20.

‘‘It’s a time of rejoicing,” said Captain Cohen, who is deployed from Andrews Air Force Base, Md. ‘‘We celebrate having emerged from the previous time of judgment, penitence and spiritual reckoning.”

Sukkot honors the 40 years the Israelites wandered the desert living in temporary shelters as they awaited entrance to the Promised Land. Captian Cohen honors these times by living in a sukkah during the holiday. These shelters, made of at least three walls and a roof of natural construction, symbolize the shelters in which the Jews lived during the Exodus. The sukkah can be any size as long as it is temporary in nature.

Captain Cohen, one of about 10 rabbis in the Air Force, reflected on his experience describing how he saw the full moon shine through the slats of his bamboo roof and felt the ground reverberate with the occasional F-16 Fighting Falcon takeoff. As people walked by they peeked in, curious about what was taking place inside the booth he constructed next to the chapel.

‘‘Dwelling in the sukkah reminds us that we are meant to be joyful in this world,” Captain Cohen said. ‘‘We are to place our trust in the Almighty at all times.”

Staff Sgt. Hal Scholnick, an aerospace medical service craftsman assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Aeromedical Squadron, visited with Captain Cohen in the sukkah, sharing dehydrated apricots and apples.

‘‘It’s been a great way to experience Judaism, and it’s broadened my experience here at Joint Base Balad,” said Scholnick, a native of Long Island, N.Y., who is deployed from the 439th Aeromedical Squadron at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass. ‘‘I’ve learned a lot. I’ve experienced a lot of growth as a Jewish person in the military.” (Courtesy of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing)