A HOUSE IS NOT A SUKKAH
Siegel, Richard
CATALOG A HOUSE IS NOT A SUKKAH Richard Siegel '' You shall live in booths (Sukkot) seven days; all citizens of Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made...
...Once the structure is complete, it is up to each of us to add those touches which make it beautiful...
...Decorating the Sukkah_ "This is my Cod and I will beautify Him...
...If there is such a covering on one side of the sukkah, you should not sit under it...
...4. If you are still at a loss, you can order a prefabricated sukkah...
...How do we make it...
...He publishes a new catalogue of models each year...
...Go to construction sites where trees may have been removed and arrange to pick up some of their uproot-ings...
...Last year's featured two basic aluminum and magnesium pipe frame models with canvas sides: the community size, seating up to 28 people, 10'x 15', sold for $275...
...Some consider it traditional to hang a poster of the Seven Sublime Ancestral Guests (Ushpizin...
...Their questions were legitimate...
...Jewish bookstores or religious gift shops generally have a supply of posters, pictures and other decorations...
...Mark this well!_ __B'rachot_ Each time you enter the sukkah during the holiday, prior to eating, the following blessing is recited: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments and commanded us to sit (reside) in the sukkah...
...It is in your hands...
...thereafter, it is discretionary...
...It can be as large as you want, depending on how many people will use it and what your budget will permit (although, if you are resourceful, even a large sukkah can be constructed inexpensively...
...On one level, the Ushpizin serve to indicate that we sit with all the generations of Jews before us...
...You will be performing a service...
...Everyone is invited to exercise creativity and imagination within the given parameters...
...Jewish tradition articulates options, and does not restrict the possibilities...
...In the past, basic decorations have consisted of fruit and seasonal vegetables hung from the s'chach or from the walls...
...This has been interpreted to mean that you should eat and sleep in it...
...Given these requirements, there are several alternatives...
...Each evening of the holiday, a different ancestor is invited to participate in the meal — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and David...
...Walls:_ A sukkah must have at least three walls, although the third need only be 3 handbreadths wide...
...If you are near woods, rummage through them for fallen trees or branches...
...Additional 2x4's are nailed across the posts in the middle and near the top for lateral support...
...And just what do you mean by 'live in' it...
...Some people weave the bamboo together which makes for convenience, easy installation, removal and storage...
...In inviting them, we are trying to "get it together," to become a synthesis of the various forces...
...3. It is considered praiseworthy to begin construction immediately following the conclusion of Yom Kippur...
...It must not be anything which has a foul smell or which withers quickly (pine needle soup is often an unanticipated appetizer...
...Basically an obedient group, a little short on initiative, but eager to perform God's bidding, their reaction was, probably, This column derives its title—and its editor—from THE JEWISH CATALOG, the best selling guide to Jewish living which was published by the Jewish Publication Society...
...Furthermore, the inviting of guests to share in the pleasure is essential to the "correct" performance of this mitzvah, making it almost irresistable...
...It is customary to make strings of cranberries, threading them with a needle, to hang across the sukkah...
...If none of these sources is available to you, the Jewish Press runs ads each year with information about s'chach supplies, which you can order by mail...
...There is an incomparable satisfaction in putting together a structure which is actually livable...
...For extra stability, corner pieces can be nailed to the cornering 2x4's, making a triangle...
...Fine...
...As with every mitzvah, but particularly with this one of building and living in the sukkah, we are expected to perform the act with as much beauty, grace and style as possible...
...In mysticism, however, they each represent a different S'firah or manifestation of God — Love, Justice, Beauty, Victory, Grandeur, Foundation, and Kingdom...
...What does it look like...
...Included are a waterproof lighting fixture, wind stabilizing cords, instructions, and a storage box...
...The invocation, the specifics, and the Aramaic formulae can be found in almost any prayerbook or on the poster of the Ushpizin available from a Jewish book store...
...Some additional notes_ 1. The sukkah must be under the open sky — not underneath a tree or other roof...
...then we must rely on the Oral Tradition...
...2. The material of the sukkah, including all the decorations, are forbidden to be used in any other function during the holiday...
...Unfinished raw wood planks or boards can be used provided that the width of each is less than 4 handbreadths...
...When it all finally comes together, the Messiah will indeed have come...
...The following is a synthesis of their responses to the hypothetical but plausible Israelite questions, along with some contemporary ideas for construction, decoration, and use of the Sukkah...
...Get into this mitzvah, literally...
...The walls have Ushpizin decorations silk screened onto them...
...There are several possible methods of construction which are economical, easy to assemble, and reusable...
...2. A more durable (and elaborate) structure can be designed by nailing large plywood boards to a frame of 2x4's...
...It is, simply, a pumpkin carved back and front with a Magen David, which can nicely accommodate a thick candle...
...The roofing material should not extend over the walls more than 3 handbreadths...
...If it rains, eat inside...
...Tradition provides guidelines for the minimum amounts of eating and sleeping which constitute fulfillment of the obligations...
...However, this method creates a screen (therefore, a vessel) and so is not universally accepted...
...In fact, if it rains, one is forbidden to sleep or eat in the sukkah because it is presumptuous to perform these acts when exemptions have been allowed...
...3. Consult an aluminum awning contractor about designing a simple aluminum pipe frame structure with socket joints...
...On the first night, the Festival Kiddush (sanctification of the day and the wine) is recited, followed by the above blessing and then by the blessing for all new things and times: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has kept us alive and preserved us and enabled us to reach this season...
...This also precludes the use of nails (manufactured product) to secure the roofing onto the structure...
...If there are many doors and windows, the sukkah is still legal even if the open spaces exceed the covered spaces...
...Tree Wardens, or Conservation Offices to see if you can assist them by carting away some of the cuttings or prunings...
...This is the joy of the mitzvah — to use its structure as a basis for expressing individuality and spontaneity...
...Once these sections are constructed, assembly and storage are quite simple...
...The name for booths, and thus, for the holiday itself, is a form of the word s'chach (pronounced s'ha'ch, with the first /; being hard and the ch as if you were clearing your throat...
...Sufficient bamboo sticks one inch thick and six feet long can be provided for an additional cost of $85 and $35 respectively...
...all citizens of Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I the Lord your God...
...Eating in the sukkah on the first night is obligatory...
...It is considered praiseworthy to invite the wives as well...
...Height — Minimum height is stated as 10 hand-breadths and the maximum as 20 cubits (1 cubit = 521 mm...
...Basic, but non-decorative, is to purchase some thin planks (lxl's or lx2's) at a lumber yard and lay them across the top of the sukkah...
...Walls can be covered with any material whatsoever...
...Use caution, however, to avoid depletion or destruction of natural resources...
...Use the materials outlined above for siding...
...of a size larger than an egg satisfies the minimum requirement for eating...
...But what's a booth...
...S'chach — The Roof:_ This is actually the essence of the mitzvah and has the greatest number of specifications...
...No material can be spread over or under the s'chach...
...Leviticus 23:42-43 The commandment of God to Israel seems straightforward enough—a divine prescription with a plausible rationale...
...This provides a more "earthy" atmosphere in keeping with the harvest festival nature of the holiday...
...You can use a few planks for support across which you place cut branches, straw, corn stalks, or similar material...
...Constructing the Sukkah _Dimensions:_ Width — As stated in the Talmudic Tractate Sukkah, the minimum width should be sufficient to contain a man's head, most of his body, and a table — an area of 7 handbreadths square (1 handbreadth = 74 mm...
...According to the Talmud, the walls must be strong enough to withstand "a healthy breeze...
...Ashkenazim customarily paint the walls...
...1. At Havurat Shalom in Boston, the custom has been to root 2x4's through the center holes of three stacked cinder blocks which are then wedged with rocks and sticks...
...However, it is not difficult to imagine the problems it presented to the Israelites...
...Instructions and suggestions for construction appear on the page which follows...
...Contact tree service companies or local, county, or state Park Commissions...
...This provides tremendous latitude...
...Eating and Sleeping For the seven days and nights of the holiday, the sukkah should be regarded as your principal abode...
...The general principle is that anything which imposes considerable discomfort on your "residing" in the sukkah exempts you from performing the mitzvah...
...Ushpizin — The Sublime Ancestral Guests This is a custom originating from the Zohar, an early Kabbalistic (mystical) text...
...Do not participate in needless and wasteful cutting of trees...
...They were a cautious sort, willing to please but afraid of messing up...
...There are no maximum limits for width...
...A more elegant variant is to use bamboo poles...
...There should be enough s'chach to insure that the shaded area in the sukkah is greater than the unshaded area, yet there should be sufficient spaces to enable someone sitting inside to see the stars...
...These make excellent s'chach...
...As for sleeping, one must have been asleep for a period of time long enough to have walked 100 cubits...
...There is no specific model for a Sukkah...
...Generations from Moses to the present have involved themselves in explicating such questions...
...This part is easy and fun...
...No one can tell you how to do this...
...11211 (telephone 212384-3230...
...However, if any door is greater than 10 cubits, the open spaces must not be greater in area than the covered...
...We ask that each aspect be infused in us each of the seven days...
...Rabbi Everett Gendler has suggested using a Yaacov-lantern, descended from the more widely known jack-o'lantern...
...The s'chach must be made from a material which once grew in the soil: however, it must not be growing in the soil when used (e.g., grape arbors and overhanging trees are unacceptable...
...The oldest and most imitated model is designed by Earl Spero, Traditional Educational Association, 260 Broadway, Brooklyn, N.Y...
...the family size, seating up to 10, 7Vi'x 6', sold for $150...
...Of course, you are free to use electric lights, Japanese lanterns or kerosene lamps, but none of these conveys the authentic reminder of ancient harvest booths...
...It is also customary to invite other guests to participate — particularly the poor in the community and those who do not have their own sukkah._ _Sh'mini Atzeret_ On Sh'mini Atzeret, the Assembly of the Eighth Day, the sukkah is no longer used, but as you depart from the sukkah you say: May it be Thy will, O Lord our God and God of our fathers (and mothers), as I have obeyed and sat in this sukkah, so may I be worthy to sit in the sukkah made of Leviathan's skin...
...Two excellent alternatives are canvas or thin plastic sheeting available at hardware or Army and Navy stores...
...On the second night, the order of the last two blessings is reversed, because on the first night the shehecheyanu refers both to the new holiday and the first "residing," while on the second night, the holiday is still considered new, but residing in the sukkah is not...
...If you are near farm country, ask local farmers if you might cut, harvest, and remove their corn stalks for them...
...If any readers have devised other structures suitable for sukkot, please send them in and share them with us (the designs, not the sukkot...
...Some type of illumination is almost always needed despite the brilliance of the full moon — moonrise is much later than the usual dinner hour at this time of year...
...This is light, compact, quickly assembled and quite stable...
...A portion of bread, preferably challah...
...The Written Torah only goes so far...
...This may be a bit more expensive but if you are intending to construct sukkot for years it may be worth it...
...This is actually a redemption of otherwise discarded good natural resource...
...It cannot be anything which is already a "vessel" (i.e., a finished instrument, such as a door, chair legs, or varnished boards...
...Sukkot presages the Messianic Age when everyone is to be brought together under the Sukkah of the Divine Presence to eat the defeated Leviathan (chaos...
...These sections can then be nailed or hinged together...
...On this superstructure, old curtains, blankets and assorted shmatas are stapled or nailed, giving a true nomadic feeling to the sukkah...
...For extra stability, use the back of your house or garage for one wall if you can...
Vol. 1 • September 1975 • No. 3
