Holishkes

Holishkes, holoptshes, and geluptzes – eastern European Jews have many names for stuffed cabbage leaves. In the Ukraine the dish is generally known as prakkes, derived from the Turkish word "yaprak", or leaf.

These Romanian stuffed cabbage leaves can be eaten year round, though they are particularly poplular for Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Booths. Stuffed foods are eaten to emphasize the oppulence and festive nature of the holiday. Sukkot is celebrated to commemorate the wanderings of the Israelites through the wilderness before reaching the Promised Land. As a reminder that the Israelites did not have permanent dwellings, pious families today build a hut of plants and branches called a sukkah in their garden or on their balcony. Through the sukkah’s roof you can see the sun and the stars. Jews are commanded by the Torah to live in the hut during Sukkot, but nowadays, particularly in temperate climates, many of the faithful no longer sleep outdoors. Instead, families meet in the sukkah to eat and celebrate during the seven days of Sukkot.