A Queenly Sukkah Sukkah 2 Hello Masechet Sukkah! There are many fascinating connections to Eretz Yisrael in this masechet, we will start with the unusual personality whose sukkah is featured here at the beginning: Queen Helene הלני המלכה . Her sukkah was over twenty amot high (more than ten meters, quite a structure) and yet the rabbis visited her in it and seemingly allowed her and her sons to use it. Who is Queen Helene? She appears in a number of places in the Gemara and Josephus, as a wealthy, generous and religious woman. She donates a chandelier to the Bet HaMikdash (Yoma 37) feeds the poor during a year of famine (Josephus) and even becomes a Nazirite for seven years to fulfill a vow she made when her son went to war (Nazir 19b). Josephus also mentions her palace in the City of David and her massive tomb north of the city, which is known today as the Tombs of the Kings. (a 19 th century picture of the tomb, courtesy of Wikipedia) The most fascinating fact