Marc Chagall created this painting immediately after the outbreak of the war, when he returned to Vitebsk from Paris. In it, he used the Cubist method of fragmenting pictorial elements to clarify and strengthen forms with clear contours. The color harmonies and subjects in Chagall’s pictorial world reflect his fascination with folkloric representations of his homeland, as well as religious scenes based on Judaism. Here we see a Jew in a prayer shawl holding a fruit called an etrog (citrus medica) in his fingers. We recognize this scene as the Western holiday of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of the Tabernacle, from the enclosed date palm pond associated with myrtle and willow branches. By changing the scale of the miniature man, Chagall gives the painting a fantastical element, allowing it to transcend time and space.