In this spe­cial install­ment of the Jew­ish Book Council/​MyJew­ish­Learn­ing Vis­it­ing Scribe series, we spot­light book illus­tra­tor and visu­al artist Eliyahu Alpern.

Eliyahu Alpern is an amaz­ing pho­tog­ra­ph­er. With author Alli­son Ofanan­sky, he’s done two children’s books that put dis­tinct­ly dif­fer­ent spins on Jew­ish hol­i­days: In Har­vest of Light, they walk through the process of mak­ing olive oil from tree to bot­tle. And, in Sukkot Trea­sure Hunt, a fam­i­ly tracks down all four species grow­ing in the hills of rur­al Israel to use for their lulav and etrog.

We asked Eliyahu to take his cam­era on a stroll through Safed, Israel, where he lives. What he found was a menagerie that would put the sukkah scenes in Ush­pizin to shame — and, if you’ve seen Ush­pizin, that’s say­ing a lot.

Here he walks us through the sukkah mar­ket in Safed, show­ing us the detail and agony with which some peo­ple pick out their own lulav­im and etrogim, and the oth­er tools for cel­e­brat­ing Sukkot, too — from bam­boo mats to sukkah decorations.

Eliyahu Alpern is the pho­tog­ra­ph­er of Sukkot Trea­sure Hunt and Har­vest of Light. See his orig­i­nal art, and his blog, at Golem​Pro​duc​tions​.com.