Editor's Note:
Dear Friend,
The contrast between the High Holidays and Sukkot, which follows them, couldn’t be more striking. We’ve spent a month in the lead-up, not to mention Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur themselves, in solemn prayer and reflection. Then, the moment Sukkot approaches, it all seems to go to the wind!
Sukkot is called “the season of our rejoicing,” and for good reason. In Temple times, the revelry was so great that our sages proclaimed, “He who has not seen it has never seen joy in his entire life!”
While part of the joy is celebrating the certainty of being granted a sweet new year, there is a lot more to it.
The mystics teach that we each contain amazing reserves of spiritual energy. Through joy we can unleash this amazing dynamism. The chassidic masters teach that joy has the power to break through all obstacles and boundaries. Thus, the Sukkot merriment is not a step down from the spiritual heights we’ve just achieved; it’s a huge leap forward!
This Sukkot, let’s rejoice and break through the final boundaries of exile, bringing about a time when G‑d will finally spread His “Sukkah of peace” over His world!
Yehudah Shurpin,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
___________________________
Daily Thought:
Life Lives On
Why is there death in the world? So that evil will not live forever.
Because, since we ate of the Tree of Knowledge, no one walks forward without stumbling, no one climbs without falling, no one does good all his life without causing some damage along the way. Until, at the end, our lives are an absurd muddle of good and evil inextricably bound.
With death, evil dies as well. The failures, the ugly acts and the damage done—all these wither and eventually perish. But the good we have accomplished—and that we truly are—this lives forever.(Maamar Tziyon b’Mishpat 5736)
___________________________
| This Week's Features |
| ||||
That’s what’s so often missing from our presentation of halachah—the juiciest, most fascinating part. Without in-depth study, halachah becomes a checklist of dos and don’ts. Once you dig a little deeper, it becomes a harmony of wisdom in action.
So that’s what we’ll attempt to present here: not a comprehensive manual to cover everything you can and cannot do, but a guide to the principles and reasoning behind all that. We’re confident that once you get those, everything will fit in place. And your experience in the sukkah this year will be all the more enriched.
Sukkology in Five
First, let’s lay out those basic principles. Then we’ll see how they are derived from the original text, and how they are applied.
A sukkah is a hut for shade and only shade.
The sukkah must be made directly, and not happen on its own, or through indirect action. Fascinating idea—and we’ll get to it soon.
The roofing of the sukkah (called sechach, with two guttural ch sounds) must be materials that grow from the ground, are detached from the ground, and do not receive tum’ah (we’ll explain that later, too).
Functional design: A sukkah is for living in, as you live in your own home (just that it’s not a home, it’s a hut). What exactly is “living” will also be discussed later.
A stolen sukkah is not a kosher sukkah. How do you steal a sukkah? Not so simple. Again, we’ll get to it.
Aside from these, there are important safeguards added by the rabbis to ensure that these principles won’t be broken.
You’ll also need to know some rules of measurement:
If you live in the USA or the UK, you’re used to a measurement called a foot. Originally, the foot was the length of an average man’s foot. Similarly, the basic measurements of Mishnaic times are the width of a hand and the length of an arm. In Hebrew, that’s a tefach and an ammah. Plural: tefachim and ammot. A tefach is the breadth of a closed fist. An ammah is the length of the arm from the tip of the middle finger until the elbow, or six tefachim.
We generally consider a tefach to be 3.15 inches, or 8 centimeters. An amah is six times as long: 18.9 inches or 48 centimeters.1Keep those in mind—we’ll be using them a lot.
If a gap is less than three tefachim, the boards are still considered contiguous.Later, we’ll get to the dimensions of the walls and roofing of the sukkkah. An important rule to know is that if two things are within less than three tefachim of each other, they are considered to be touching, and therefore contiguous. The Talmudic term for this principle is lavud.
Now let’s go through this step-by-step.
1. It’s All About Shade
The Why
Here’s the key verse about the sukkah (plural: sukkot):
You shall dwell in huts (sukkot) for seven days. Every member of the Jewish people shall dwell in huts, so that your generations shall know that I had the Israelites dwell in huts when I took them out of Egypt.2
What kind of huts is the Torah speaking about? Like many things, that’s a matter of debate in the Talmud.3 Rabbi Akiva is of the opinion that it’s speaking of the temporary huts that the children of Israel built while traveling in the wilderness of Sinai. But Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion is that it’s talking about the “clouds of glory” that miraculously sheltered the Jewish people from the heat of the sun while they traveled through the Sinai desert.4 Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion is the accepted one, and that is why the defining element of the sukkah is that it is meant for shade from the sun—just like those clouds.5
That also means that the defining element of the sukkah is the roofing—the sechach. The walls are there to render it a human dwelling. But the sechach is what makes the sukkah a sukkah.6
The verse also tells us another thing—not about the sukkah itself, but about how we are to fulfill the mitzvah. The mitzvah is performed not just by physically being in the sukkah, but also by having in mind that we are sitting here to fulfill G‑d’s mitzvah which He commanded as a memento of the exodus from Egypt. It’s a mitzvah that encompasses the entire body and mind.
A Sukkah Is Not a House
So, to put it simply, a sukkah is a temporary hut built to provide shade. To this day, there are shepherds and nomads who will throw together such structures from whatever sticks and leaves they find lying around.
A house, on the other hand, is a structure made for permanent use that protects not only from the heat of the sun, but from everything else the sky may throw at you as well. It may be used for human occupancy, or for storage, or simply to provide privacy to get some work done.
So, for your sukkah to be a sukkah, it must have been made to provide shade, and not for any of those other functions provided by a house. It may provide those as well, but that’s not what it was made for. If it was—meaning that someone built a sukkah that was kosher in every way, except that he built it for one of those house purposes rather than for shade—then you will have to lift the sechach and place it back down, this time with the right purpose in mind.7 (More on that in the next section.)
Functionally speaking, if rain can’t get through the roof of your sukkah, it’s not a sukkah. That’s why we don’t use wide beams of wood for sechach (four tefachim wide or more)—even though wood is perfectly kosher sechach, your sukkah will seem more like a house than a hut.8
Shade Means Functional Shade
Not only must the sukkah be made for shade, but it must functionally be providing shade—meaning that it must be directly under the open sky, just like those clouds of glory. A sukkah built inside a house is not a functional sukkah, and therefore not kosher, since you would be shaded by the house’s roof without this sukkah. The same applies to a sukkah built under a tree, or under anything that does not fulfill the requirements of kosher sechach—whether the tree came first and the sukkah after, or vice versa. As long as the sukkah is not functionally shading its occupants from the open sky, it is not a kosher sukkah.9
Note the awning, pulled out when unoccupied, retracted all but one tefach when in use.That doesn’t mean you can’t have a rollback awning to roll out when it rains. Many people do this, just to keep the sukkah dry. But when they want to fulfill the mitzvah of sitting in the sukkah, they first roll back that awning. And, just as important, when they build the sukkah, the awning is rolled back. (Keep the awning open just one tefach if you want to be able to open it on Shabbat or Yom Tov. Alternatively, make sure the awning is less than one tefach above the sechach. Otherwise, rolling it out would be considered creating a roof, which is a form of work not allowed on those days.10)
What about that tree? Let’s say you built your sukkah and then realized it’s under a tree. Any part of your sukkah that’s covered by the branches of that tree is considered as though there is no sechach there at all—since the sechach you put is not serving any function. You’ll want to either move the sukkah or cut back the branches of that tree. But just cutting back the branches is not enough—since the sukkah was not built as a kosher sukkah (more on that later). Later, we’ll discuss the solution to this problem.
Sitting in the Shade
A step further: When you are sitting in the sukkah, you must be sitting under that element of the sukkah that provides the shade—meaning the sechach. You may be tempted to bring your patio umbrella into your sukkah, but then, under that umbrella you are no longer in your sukkah (a handheld umbrella could also be a problem).11 You may also be tempted to hang a plastic sheet under the sechach—but again, under that plastic sheet you are no longer in a sukkah. Decorations are different—they’re considered an adjunct to your sechach—on condition that they are within four tefachim (12.6 inches or 32 cm) of the sechach. So decorative drapery above your head may be okay.12
Now, here’s a common situation: You’re being resourceful and using a wall of your house as one of the walls of your sukkah. Problem is, there’s an eave of that roof that extends over part of the sukkah. If you’re sitting there, you’re not in the sukkah. Best to put some sort of marker in the sukkah so people will know where not to sit.
Can that wall still be considered one of the walls of the sukkah (we need a minimum two and a half walls)? We’ll get to that in part 4.
How Much Shade Is Shade?
If a sukkah is built for shade, then it should be providing at least as much shade as it lets in sunshine. And that is the requirement: If there’s more sun coming in than shade, it’s not a kosher sukkah. Since sunshine radiates, if you’ve got an equal amount of sechach as you have gaps, you will have more sun than shade on the floor of your sukkah—rendering it not kosher. So you need at least a little more sechach than you have gaps.13
That doesn’t mean you can cover the first 51% of your sukkah ceiling with sechach and leave the rest uncovered. If there’s a gap in your sechach of three tefachim by three tefachim (9.45 inches or 24 centimeters) or more, that section cannot be considered part of your sukkah. That’s related to the rule of lavud we discussed in the intro. This can create major complications, more complicated than you want to hear about right now. Best to avoid it, and if you have to do it, check in with an expert in the subject.14
Now let’s imagine a situation where you’ve got a fairly large sukkah, with lots more sechach than gaps—except that in one area you’ve got more gaps than sechach. Can you sit under that flimsy-sechach area and still be considered in the sukkah? That depends. If that area measures less than seven tefachim square, you’re okay. Larger than that, and you might as well be outside of the sukkah. That’s because the minimum size of a sukkah, as we’ll see, is seven tefachim square. So this little area is like its own little unkosher sukkah within a kosher sukkah.15
On the other hand, if your sukkah’s sechach is so thick that rain can’t get through, it’s more of a house than a sukkah—and therefore not kosher.16Can I place a clear glass covering over my sukkah?
That answers a very neat question: Can I place a clear glass covering over my sukkah? The sechach is still providing shade, right? But since the glass doesn’t allow rain to get through, it still disqualifies your sukkah.
You want to do your best. So, what’s the optimum thickness for sechach? That’s a matter of debate. Some say you should be able to see the stars through the sechach at night.17 Others pile it on and make it very thick.18 But no worries—perfection is still attainable. You follow the latter tradition, and keep the first opinion as well by simply leaving one area of the sechach through which you can see the stars. See Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin’s article Energy Through the Cracks of the Sukkah for more on this.
2. Creating Versus Becoming
The Why
Here’s a line from the scriptural text of the Torah to ponder:
You shall make for yourself the festival of Sukkot for seven days . . .19
How do you “make for yourself” the festival of Sukkot? And why is only Sukkot described as a holiday that you “make”—and not just celebrate or observe?
Take, for example, Passover. Passover comes ready-made—you’re in the season when we left Egypt; now you just have to do the rituals that are appropriate for this time. You’re eating matzah on Passover because it’s Passover. But Sukkot is different: Sukkot is Sukkot only because we have a mitzvah to build a sukkah at this time. It’s the converse of Passover—the mitzvah makes the time special, and not the other way around.20
Think about that a little more and you’ll realize that it’s not just the dwelling in these sukkahs on Sukkot that makes it Sukkot, but our building them for Sukkot as well. Building the sukkah is itself a mitzvah.What if a sukkah appeared all on its own? You didn’t make Sukkot.
Which now brings us to an interesting question: What if the sukkah appeared all on its own? Let’s say the wind blew it together. Or perhaps someone built it over a month ago, not thinking of Sukkot. Or perhaps it was built to shelter animals, or for some other purpose. In all these cases, the sechach was not laid down for the mitzvah of the sukkah. You didn’t make Sukkot.
In Practice
Now it gets more fascinating: Let’s say you put up this sukkah and lay the sechach over it, all for the sake of building a kosher sukkah for Sukkot. Problem is, it was raining when you built the sukkah, so you put a shelter over your head—and your sukkah—while you were building. Now that the holiday is about to start, you remove that shelter.
Did you make Sukkot? No. Because the sukkah became a sukkah only when you removed that shelter. It didn’t become a sukkah through your action of building it. You didn’t make it—it became.
But don’t fret—there’s a simple solution: Walk inside your sukkah with a long stick (or climb on a ladder, or whatever), push up the sechach of the sukkah, and let it back down again. Now, when you are letting it back down, you are directly making your sukkah—and thereby rendering it a kosher sukkah.
There are other examples. You may have built your sukkah and then discovered tree branches hanging over it. As we learned above, anything under those branches was not built for shade, and is not a sukkah. Cutting the branches back now won’t be enough—again, you’ll have to do the long-stick-lifting trick to make your sukkah kosher.
Before laying down the sechach, make sure you first have three walls.Another example: A sukkah must have walls to be a sukkah. Let’s say you assembled a structural frame, place the sechach on top, and then paneled the frame with walls. When did the sukkah become a sukkah? When the walls were placed in. But, as we said at the very outset, the sechach is what makes a sukkah a sukkah. Turns out that this sechach became a sukkah only indirectly—by the placing of the walls. Again, do the stick-lift trick and make your sukkah by placing down the sechach.
One last example: We’re about to discuss what makes kosher sechach. One requirement is that it is no longer attached to the ground. Let’s say you trained crawling ivy over your sukkah, and only then cut it from the ground. Again, no good. The sukkah was not made a sukkah by the placement of the sechach. Get out that stick and make it right.
3. The Kosher Roof
The Why
Traditionally, the roofing of the sukkah—called sechach—was composed of loose vegetation, cut off from the ground. The Talmud searches for a scriptural source for this tradition, and finds it in the same verse we just quoted above—but this time, reading the entire verse:
You shall make for yourself the festival of Sukkot for seven days, with your gathering from your threshing floor and from your wine vat.21
The plain meaning of the verse is that Sukkot is celebrated in the season when all the wheat has been harvested and threshed, and the grapes have been picked and pressed.
But then, as we pointed out, the verse is also telling us that this mitzvah of the sukkah is what makes it Sukkot. If so, when the Torah says to make Sukkot “with your gathering from your threshing floor and from your wine vat,” it’s also telling us how to make the sukkah that will make it Sukkot: The sukkah must be from materials similar to whatever you’ll pick up from your threshing floor.
So, what do you pick up from your threshing floor? Materials that grew from the ground, but have already been uprooted from there.22 Now we know what makes kosher sechach.So much for cement, metal poles, leather hides and plastic sheets.
So much for cement, metal poles, leather hides and plastic sheets. None of those are from vegetation that grew from the ground. Neither will training ivy or sunflowers over your sukkah do any good—as long as they are attached to the ground (see the long-stick-lift trick for fixing this, described in part 2 above).
Western cedar is a popular choice for sechach in temperate zones.Typical materials for sechach depend on climate. In temperate climates, it’s often western cedar. In a Mediterranean climate, it’s often palm branches. Bamboo is also a good choice.
All sorts of other greenery is also okay, but many present side issues. Pine and fir tend to fall into your food much more than western cedar. Deciduous leaves and plants tend to dry up and fall down within the first few days. If the sechach is not capable of lasting for seven days, it’s considered as though it was never there, even on the first day.23
Some greenery exudes a foul odor. You wouldn’t live in a house that smelled that way, so you can’t use it for your sechach, either.24
We don’t use thick boards or planks for sechach—meaning, anything wider than four tefachim (12.6 inches or 32 centimeters). Even if you turn them on their side, still no good. The reason? Because if we did use them, we would end up saying, “What’s the difference between sitting under these planks and sitting under the roof of my house?” In actual practice, we avoid anything thick enough that you might make a roof for a house out of it.25
Now, to cut corners, some bright guy came up with the idea of taking a large plank, punching holes in it, and laying that over his sukkah. Nice idea, but unfortunately still doesn’t cut it. Since the plank was not good for sechach to begin with, punching holes doesn’t make it kosher.
A bamboo mat can make a convenient sechach, but you’ll need assurance it was not made for household use.The All-Natural Sukkah
When that straw and chaff is lying on the threshing floor, it has yet to leave its raw state. Halachah makes a distinction between the natural state of an object and a utensil for human use. For example, take that same straw and weave it into a basket, and now it’s no longer straw—it’s a utensil. Same if you made it into a mat for sitting or sleeping on. But if that same straw was made into a mat to provide shade above your sukkah, then it never became a utensil, and is perfectly good sechach. (Now you understand why mats made for covering your sukkah come with a seal of rabbinical supervision—a.k.a. a “hechsher.”)
Once something has become a utensil, it becomes capable of receiving tum’ah. Tum’ah is a very weighty concept discussed in scripture and in the Talmud. It’s usually translated as “ritual impurity”—which puts it in a neat little box without really explaining anything. But, to make it simpler than I should: Certain things and people become unfit for use in the Temple, or for tithes to the priestly class, because they have come in contact with a dead body or some other source of tum’ah.
What’s important to us is that only utensils, food, drink and human beings can carry this tum’ah. Raw materials are unaffected, no matter who or what touches them.
The materials used for sechach cannot be made of any of those things that can receive tum’ah—even though they haven’t received the tum’ah in actuality. So strike out any utensils from your sechach list, such as broken furniture, old cotton t-shirts, hemp rugs and bamboo sleeping mats. Strike any sort of food off your sechach list.
Also strike any sort of food off your list. The corn in a cornstalk, for example, is not kosher sechach. So if you covered your sukkah with cornstalks, either make sure to take out the corn, or ensure that the stalks exceed the corn (including the part of the corn you hold to eat it) in volume.26
How about using some of these non-sechach materials to support the sechach? For instance, using a frame of metal bars or mesh to hold cedar branches. We don’t do that, since it may lead someone to think that the metal bars are kosher sechach. But if someone went ahead and did it that way, we can still use that sukkah—as long as there is more of the kosher sechach than whatever is holding it up.
But then, it’s likely you’ll need some sort of frame to hold up your sechach. People use thin wooden lattice slats, one-by-twos, or long, straight branches for this purpose. You can even nail down this framing material if necessary.
Don’t nail down the sechach itself, however, or use any other material that is not kosher sechach to hold it down. Again, the reasoning is that once such things would be used to hold down the sechach, people would start using them for the actual sechach itself. Don’t tie it down with rope, either—even if the rope is made of natural materials, it’s been altered to the point that it can no longer be considered vegetation.27
4. Living Space & Functional Design
The Why
Let’s get back to that very first verse with which we started:
You shall dwell in huts (sukkot) for seven days.28
Ponder those few words a little and you’ll realize that the experience of the sukkah is a paradoxical one: On the one hand, you have to dwell in it, and dwelling doesn’t mean hanging out once in a while for a little shade. It means this is your place, your dwelling, the home in which you live. You are making yourself at home in a dwelling that’s purposely not a home.
On the other hand, it’s a hut built for shade—not for dwelling. So you are making yourself at home in a dwelling that’s purposely not a home. And that’s the mitzvah.
Since that’s the mitzvah, it has import on how this sukkah is going to be designed. Design reflects function. For one thing, it has to be able to facilitate the basic things you do in a home: eating and sleeping. If you can’t do that in this sukkah, it’s not a kosher sukkah.
On the other hand, the design has to be a reminder that this is not a home. It’s just shade from the sun, as G‑d protected us from the sun as we left Egypt. You have to be able to aware of that shade above your head.
Important to note: Really, anything you would normally do in your home should be done in your sukkah for those seven days. Want to chat with a friend? Do it in the sukkah. Read a book? Pull that La‑Z‑Boy into your sukkah. Have a home office? Why not make it in the sukkah too? Just that those don’t define the structure of the sukkah, as eating and sleeping do.
Now let’s see how this is reflected in the rules and guidelines of the sukkah’s structure:
Dimensions for Living
How much room do you need to eat inside a sukkah? Well, you need enough room for your table and food. And then you’ll have to get your head in there. And if most of your body is not in there, you can’t really be said to be eating in the sukkah. So that’s gives us one clue: A sukkah must be big enough to contain your head, most of your body and a tray with your food. How big is that?
The Talmud determines that you’ll need an area of seven tefachim by seven tefachim with a height of ten tefachim bare minimum to do this. And so, that’s the minimum requirements for the surface area of your sukkah.29 Note that this can’t possibly mean 49 square tefachim in any shape or form—since a human body does have certain limitations.
That’s bare minimum. But keep in mind that you’re supposed to be living in this sukkah just as you would live in your house (even though it must not be a house). Most of us non-street-people wouldn’t live in a house where we would have to cramp ourselves into a little ball just to sleep. You need to make your sukkah spacious enough that you would feel comfortable eating and sleeping inside it. Bring in comfortable furniture, a nice table, proper lighting—make yourself at home in this hut. In practice, you’ll find many sukkahs that could showcase in Better Homes and Gardens.
How High Is High?
There’s also a maximum—in height: twenty amot (31′ 6″ or 9.6 meters). Why is that? Three reasons are provided in the Talmud:
As you recall, the sechach is there as a memento of the clouds of glory that protected us in the desert. If the sechach would be twenty amot above your head, you probably won’t be aware of it—and that awareness is part of the mitzvah.
You also recall that sechach is all about shade. At twenty amot, the shade is no longer from the sechach, but principally from the walls.
And then there’s the issue of this being a hut and not a house. It’s not often you see a hut 9.6 meters tall. That’s more of permanent structure, a.k.a. a house.
As far as maximum width and breadth, the earth’s the limit. The optimum sukkah, the rabbis say, is one that can fit inside it every Jew in the world.
Large sukkah erected by the Jerusalem MunicipalityWalls, Shapes and Dimensions
Back to functional design: Without walls, a sukkah can’t be called a dwelling. The minimum requirement for a shade-providing dwelling is just two walls plus a third small extension. The two walls can’t be parallel, though—that’s not a living space if you can walk right through it. So they’re two perpendicular walls, with the third extension from one of them.
Theoretically, that extension needs to be only four tefachim wide. It doesn’t even have to touch either of the two walls. You could place a pole a little wider than a tefach within less than three tefachim of either of them (recall the lavud rule in the intro), and add a beam above joining that pole to the wall, to make a kind of doorway. But practically speaking, nobody does that. Use three full walls minimum, four optimum.
Now here’s something neat: Take a look at the letters of the word sukkah in Hebrew and you’ll see that they form the three possible shapes of a sukkah, from optimum to minimum. Just use your imagination a little to straighten out the curves on those letters:
סכה
Wall Materials
You can make these walls out of just about anything, as long as they will stand in a common wind. None of the restrictions of sechach apply. People have made sukkahs by removing a ceiling over a room in their house, over their convertibles, within transparent fiberglass walls or tightly pulled canvas. You could even ask your friends to stand around and be a wall for your sukkah—if you have real good friends.
These walls do not remain firm in the wind, and are therefore questionable.A hut is not a tent, so you can’t have walls flapping back and forth. If the walls are canvas or some other fabric, they should be tied so tightly so that they don’t move in a common wind.30 That’s very difficult, and never optimum. Better to make at least the first ten tefachim from the ground up out of something solid. You can weave the canvas into that solid wall, or lay the canvas over it.
The same applies to using a tree or a bush for a wall: If it moves in a common wind, it has to be tied tightly so it will stand still.
Gaps in Walls
Talking about solid, now is time to apply that rule of lavud to the walls of your sukkah:31
Let’s say you make a wall something like a posted fence, with spaces between each post. As long as the gaps are less than three tefachim (9.45 inches or 24 cm), you’re okay—even if the posts are as narrow as your finger.32 That applies both with vertical gaps and with horizontal ones. Comes out that, unlike the sechach, you could have a wall that’s composed mostly of gaps.
As for windows and doors, as long as there isn’t a gap of ten amot in the wall, it’s still a wall.
The Rule of the Bent Wall
Now for a very neat rule:
As we brought up earlier, you may have resourcefully built your sukkah next to the wall of your house, using that wall as one of the three required walls of your sukkah. Problem is, the wall has an eave or awning that stretches over your sukkah. Obviously, that eave is not kosher sechach, and as we said, you can’t fulfill the mitzvah sitting under it. Our question now: is it still considered a wall of your sukkah?
To solve this problem, we have a tradition that Moses received at Sinai. There are quite a few of these that were not written down until Talmudic times, but turn out to be quite helpful. They are called halachah le-Moshe mi-Sinai. In this case: Imagine one of the walls of your sukkah was bent. Is it still a wall? Well, this wall is also bent. So it could still be a wall—a bent wall.
But the rule states that bending has its limits. If the eave extends more than four amot outward, we can no longer apply this rule. Four amot is quite a bit, so most eaves are okay. Just, as stated above, make sure everyone knows that they’re not fulfilling the mitzvah of sukkah while sitting directly under that eave.
5. The Stolen Sukkah
The WhyElsewhere, we deal with the rules of eating in the sukkah. Basically, meals are to be eaten in the sukkah for all seven days, but snacks outside the sukkah are okay. Nevertheless, many people are careful only to eat in the sukkah, no matter how small a nosh.
So let’s say you don't have your very own sukkah, or even if you have one at home but you're on the road during the holiday. The kids are screaming, “When can we eat our salami sandwiches already?!” and you see a sukkah sitting right there on somebody-you-don’t-know’s front lawn, and he’s not at home. What do you do? If you walk in and grab a nosh, are you “stealing” his sukkah?
It’s amazing how much the rabbis pulled out of one short verse to deal with questions just like this. Let’s go back to the text again:
You shall make for yourself the festival of Sukkot . . .33
What is that “for yourself” doing there?
There are other mitzvot where we are told “make for yourself”—like the tallit, or the four kinds we take on Sukkot. In those cases, it means you have to own the object of the mitzvah. If you want to say a blessing on a tallit, it has to be your tallit. The same with the four kinds—you have to acquire them, or someone has to give them to you (at least temporarily). So perhaps here, too, the verse is telling us that the sukkah must belong to you. Maybe you can’t be a guest in someone else’s sukkah?
But don’t worry, guests are not only okay but recommended. As the verse says, “Every member of the Jewish people will sit in sukkot.” From this the rabbis learn that “all the Jewish people can sit in one sukkah together.” We can all be guests. The wording “for yourself” is just to exclude a stolen sukkah.34
Why the difference in interpretation?
Simple: The verse says clearly: “You shall dwell in sukkot for seven days.” You can’t really be a guest in a sukkah—as soon as you’re there, it’s your homeDwelling means living, like it’s your own home. So if someone is inviting you into their sukkah, they’re obviously inviting you to partake of the mitzvah of sukkah—and that means “mi casa es su casa”—make yourself at home, as though it was your own home. Turns out that you can’t really be a guest in a sukkah: as soon as you’re there, it’s your home.35
So, instead, the rabbis of the Mishnah understood this verse to mean something else: That you can’t fulfill the mitzvah of sukkah with a stolen sukkah.
How to Steal a Sukkah
Problem is, how do you steal a sukkah? Not so easy.36
Let’s say Joe and his fellow (Jewish) hoodlums break into Max’s sukkah, chase out Max and his family and sit down to enjoy the sukkah. Have they stolen the sukkah? Not quite. You can’t steal something, halachically speaking, by simply sitting inside it. Real estate simply is not stolen that way. Joe and his gang have committed a crime of invasion of private property. They can’t say a blessing on their mitzvah, since it’s a mitzvah facilitated by an act contrary to Torah. And I doubt that Max would consider them to be guests in his sukkah. But they haven’t stolen anything, so technically, they are performing the mitzvah.
This gets yet more ironic when we look at things the other way around. Let’s say Joe and some fellow homeless people have come and built a sukkah—using their own materials—on Max’s property. Max decides this does not please him, calls the cops and chases them out. Now Max and his family sit down and enjoy a free sukkah. Problem is, it’s built from the property of someone else who never gave permission to use it. And since it’s sitting on Max’s property, his sitting in it is a form of (illegal) acquisition of property. Max and family are not fulfilling the mitzvah of sukkah, because they’re sitting in a stolen sukkah.
The same would apply if Max drove off with a sukkah Joe built on the back of his pickup truck or on his yacht—even if the truck or yacht belonged to Max.
We’ll go further: This time, Joe asked Max if he could build a sukkah on Max’s property. Max said yes. Joe built the sukkah. Then Max barged in and chased Joe away. Now, who is stealing from whom?
Turns out that no one is stealing a sukkah. Since Max lent Joe the property on which this sukkah is built for all seven days of the holiday, the property is still Joe’s property. Max may have committed a crime, but he hasn’t stolen a thing.
Of course, all of this is de facto. Without an invitation, Joe should not be entering Max’s sukkah while he’s sitting there. Maybe Max doesn’t feel comfortable about someone watching how he eats, especially uninvited. In which case, you can throw out the “mi casa es su casa” line—you’re no longer being told to make yourself at home.
The same goes with Joe building a sukkah on Max’s property. Sure, Max appreciates someone doing a mitzvah on his property—but there are limits. We’re talking about a structure that’s going to be up for at least a week—and in such a case, Max might not be so happy. Which means the structure is a stolen sukkah.
But, We assume that Max would be delighted that another Jew is using his sukkah for a mitzvah.as above, if it’s an empty sukkah, and Joe is not damaging anything, we assume that Max would be delighted to hear that Joe is using his sukkah for a mitzvah. Always better to ask permission, but as to our original question, if you and your kids drop into this Jew’s empty sukkah for a sandwich, as long as you don’t damage anything, you’re perfectly okay.
Stolen Branches
Now let’s say Joe doesn’t barge into Max’s sukkah, but he does cut branches from Max’s cedar to use it for sechach. Obviously, he’s committed a crime of thievery, but is his sukkah a stolen sukkah?
Depends. If Joe is willing to pay Max for the stolen branches, then he can rely on a ruling of the Talmud that makes the sechach his, so that he won’t have to tear down the whole thing and start all over again. But if he has no such intent, then yes, it’s a stolen sukkah.
So be careful where you get your sechach from. If you’re cutting it yourself, get permission from the owners of the property first. Best if you pay them something beforehand, in case they change their mind. If they are not Jewish, pay them or someone else (who won’t be sitting in your sukkah) to cut it. And cutting from public property is a big problem, since it’s much harder to get permission.
A Sukkah on Public Property
Sukkot in the Meah Shearim district of JerusalemWhat about if you have no space on your property to build a sukkah? Can you build it on the sidewalk, or some other publicly owned area?
Generally, the answer is no. The public—even if they are mainly Jewish—most likely do not appreciate their walkways being blocked. De facto, you may be sitting in a kosher sukkah, since it’s technically not stolen. But it’s certainly not optimum, since neither is it borrowed. (This does not necessarily apply in many streets in Israel today. Some streets are filled with sukkot, to everyone’s delight.)
With public permission, however, there is no problem. So park your sukkahmobile in a public parking space, and invite others to participate in the mitzvah.
And make your own sukkah big and wide. As the verse goes:
“All the members of the Jewish people shall sit in sukkot.”
Which the rabbis of the Talmud interpret to mean, “The Jewish people are a people that can all sit in one sukkah together.”
FOOTNOTES
1.According to Rav Avraham Chaim Naeh, Shi’urei Torah.
2.Leviticus 23:42–43.
3.Sukkah 11b.
4.See Midrash Tanchuma, Parshat Beshalach.
5.Tur and Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 625.
6.See Likkutei Sichot, vol. 32, p. 148.
7.Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 635:1.
8.Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 629:18; Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav 629:29.
9.Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav 626:2.
10.See Shmirat Shabbat Kehilchatah 24:15; Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav 315:15–18.
11.Hilchot Shlomo 2:8, 20; She’arim Metzuyanim ba-Halachah 135:5 (Kuntres Acharon).
12.Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 627. Also see ibid. 638, where it’s explained that it’s best not to use any of those decorations for any other use until the holiday is over.
13.Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav 631:1–3.
14.See Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 631:4, and Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav 631:1.
15.Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav 631:4.
16.Ibid. 631:5.
17.Ibid.
18.Minhagei Maharil, Hilchot Sukkah 15.
19.Deuteronomy 16:14.
20.See Likkutei Sichot, vol. 22, p. 122.
21.Deuteronomy 16:14.
22.Talmud, Sukkah 11a; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 629.
23.Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav 629:19.
24.Ibid. 629:21.
25.Ibid. 629:29–33.
26.See ibid. 629:15–17 for more details.
27.Ibid. 629:6, 11.
28.Leviticus 23:42.
29.Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 635:1.
30.Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 630:10; Magen Avraham ad loc 16. See also Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav 362:2.
31.Shulchan Aruch 630; Magen Avraham ad loc 16.
32.See Rashi, Sukkah 7a, s.v. “dofen sukkah.”
33.Deuteronomy 16:14.
34.Talmud, Sukkah 27b.
35.See Likkutei Sichot, vol. 19, pp. 348–350.
36.For this entire section, see Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav 637.
___________________________
SUKKOT TOOLKIT
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
A spectacular celebration of Jewish unity, faith in G‑d, and the completion of the annual Torah reading cycle.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
More in Sukkot Toolkit:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• The Complete “Four Kinds” Owner’s Manual (Chabad.org Staff)
On every day of the holiday ofSukkot (with the exception ofShabbat), there’s a mitzvah to take the “Four Kinds”—a lulav (date palm frond), an etrog (citron), at least three hadassim (myrtle branches) and two aravot (willow branches). In the words of the verse (Leviticus 23:40), “You shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of the hadar tree [citron], date palm fronds, a branch of a braided tree, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the L‑rd yourG‑d for a seven day period.”
Many purchase their “lulav sets” from their rabbis, in which case the rabbi ensures that they receive a ready-to-go, quality, kosher set. For the adventuresome folks, however, who wish to venture into the uncharted waters of the Four Kinds market, here are some basic guidelines and tips that, when followed, will allow you to be a relatively knowledgeable consumer.
In addition, the information below is valuable regardless where you purchase your Four Kinds—for certain common defects can invalidate an originally kosher set.
(The laws concerning the Four Kinds occupy several chapters of the Code of Jewish Law. Below we will only discuss the most common issues that arise nowadays. It is always wise, however, to show your Four Kinds to your rabbi, to be absolutely certain that they meet all requirements.)
General InformationBeauty
The Torah (Leviticus 23:40) commands us to take a “beautiful” fruit. Since “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” no two people share the exact same taste when choosing their setsThe Torah is referring to the etrog; but the sages, employing Talmudic methodology, deduced that the requirement of obtaining a beautiful product applies to the other three species as well. Therefore, while we will discuss various concerns that can possibly invalidate any of the Four Kinds, it is also important to choose specimens that are fresh and aesthetically pleasing. And since “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” no two people share the exact same taste when choosing their sets.
The Vendor
It is of utmost importance that you purchase your Four Kinds from a trustworthy, G‑d-fearing vendor, and that the etrog is rabbinically certified. An etrog that is harvested from a tree that was cross-grafted with another species—a practice that is quite common, as the hybrid product is quite beautiful—is invalid for Sukkot use. Rabbinical certification guarantees that the etrog is from a tree that was inspected to ascertain that it is “purebred.”
This is one of the reasons why many prefer to use an etrog that comes from the Italian province of Calabria, also known as a “Yanover” etrog. The etrog orchards in this region have been providing etrogim for centuries, and are known to be of untainted pedigree.
The Lulav
All the leaves on a lulav are naturally doubled, with the two halves of each leaf folded over and tightly connected to each other. The middle leaf on the very top of the lulav, called the t’yomet—i.e., the leaf extending from the top of the lulav’s spine, as opposed to the leaves that branch off from its two sides—is quite crucial, for if it is significantly divided, then the entirelulav is invalid.1 If, however, it is only slightly divided, the lulav is still kosher—but ideally you should try to purchase a lulav whose t’yomet is complete.
The t’yomet is very delicate, and is very easily split. For this reason, the lulav should always be handled carefully; one should never allow its point to bang against anything.
Aside for the t’yomet, when choosing a lulav, one should try to find one that is straight and fresh (more green, less yellow).
The Etrog
The beauty of an etrog is determined by its cleanliness—i.e., its lack of any defects or discolorations—and its shape. The ideal etrog is somewhat oblong, not round like a ball; bumpy, not smooth; and its stem should protrude from a depression at its bottom.
An etrog that is missing even an iota of its rind is invalid2 (unless it was pierced while it was still on the tree, and a new layer of skin grew to cover the cavity). Be careful with your fingernails when handling the etrog . . .
If the etrog has bubbles projecting from its exterior in more than two places, it is invalid. Similarly, it is invalid if it is discolored in more than one area. Discoloration invalidates an etrog only if it is noticeable when taking a cursory glance at the fruit; there is no need to closely examine it for this purpose. Oftentimes, an etrog has light brown spots on its skin—similar to a scab—resulting from a leaf lying on that area while it was growing. These spots do not invalidate an etrog. Black spots on the etrog, however, do pose a problem if they are easily noticeable and appear in more than one area.
The etrog’s “pitam”
Many—but not all—etrogim grow with apitam, a stem-like piece of wood that protrudes from its top. If the pitamcompletely falls off or is entirely removed, leaving the fruit bare, theetrog is invalid. An etrog that grew without a pitam is one hundred percent kosher.
Likewise, the etrog is invalid if its stem, on its bottom, is completely removed.
The main beauty of an etrog is in its top third, the part that slopes outwards. In this area, even one bubble or area of discoloration invalidates it.
The Hadassim
Meshulash
In order for a hadas to be kosher, its leaves must protrude from the stem in sets of three (or more). This pattern is known as being meshulash, “tripled.” If the leaves grow in sets of two, with the third leaf higher or lower than the other two, the hadas is invalid. However, it is kosher as long as the top 4¼ inches of the hadas ismeshulash. Today, most hadassimcome prepackaged and certified kosher.
Note: If the majority of the “sets of three leaves” have lost more than one leaf, thehadas may not be used.
The Aravot
There are no real requirements for the aravah, other than that it be from the correct species, the “river willow.” (One thing to be wary of: aravot are often quite long, and are trimmed in order to fit the lulav. Care must be taken that they are trimmed from their bottoms, not their tops.) Note: In order for the aravah to be okay for use, most of the leaves need to be fresh and intact. If most of the leaves of the aravah fall off or dry up, the branch may not be used.
Now that you have your kosher set of the Four Kinds, they need to be bound together. See Binding the Four Kinds on how to do this.
See The Four Kinds: The the Lulav and Etrog for the blessings and Waving the Four Kinds—A Pictorial Guide on how to shake the lulav and etrog.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Your Sukkot 2014 Calendar
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SUKKOT READING
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Normally, we are connected to a particular mitzvah—and through the mitzvah, to the One who commanded the mitzvah—only as long as we are actually involved in its execution. Sukkah is an exception.
By Naftali Silberberg
Homelessness is one of the saddest social phenomena. No matter how destitute a person may be, home always provides a needed sense of security and belonging. In fact, the need for a home is so great that the Talmud says that “one who does not have a home isn’t a person.” Physically, perhaps one can survive without a home, but emotionally speaking, a home is the most basic human need.
Needless to say, homelessness isn’t about where you may find yourself at a given moment. You can be at work, visiting with friends, stuck in traffic, or on vacation thousands of miles from home—it’s not about where you are, but the knowledge that there’s a little corner of the world you can call your own that gives you the peace of mind a home provides. (My mother often repeats the aphorism: “Home is the place that has to let you in when no one else will . . .”) A place where you can let your guard down and act as you wish.
This, For seven days we are involved with a mitzvah, regardless of where we are or what we are doing the Rebbe explains, is what is so special about the mitzvah of sukkah. Normally, we are connected to a particular mitzvah (and through the mitzvah, to the One who commanded the mitzvah) so long as we are actually involved in its execution. But sukkah is an exception. For seven days we are commanded to dwell in a sukkah; for seven days the holy shelter of the sukkah becomes our home. And as explained above, one’s association to his or her home isn’t restricted to the time spent therein. It is an ever-present connection.
For seven days we are intimately involved with a mitzvah, regardless of where we are or what we are doing. And it isn’t a peripheral involvement—just as our relationship with our home is never peripheral, it is so basic to our identity.
Perhaps we can take the lesson of the sukkah a step further.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are just behind us. The theme of these holidays, as well as the preparatory month of Elul that preceded them, is teshuvah—usually translated as “repentance,” but whose literal meaning is “return.” After a year of wandering and drifting, we return. To our Father’s embrace, to our truest home, to the place where we always belonged.
One thing I have requested of G‑d, this I seek: That I may sit in the house of G‑d all the days of my life, to behold the pleasantness of G‑d . . . —King David, Psalms 27:4
But another year now beckons us. Once again, we will be forced to leave home for an extended trip. A daunting prospect, a depressing thought for the individual who is now savoring his brief stay at home.
Enter Our internal GPS will always have its arrow pointing homewardthe message of the sukkah. Once we’ve established where our true home is, we never lose our attachment to home, no matter where we are.
Come what may during this new year, no matter how far from home life’s journey may take us, our internal GPS will always have its arrow pointing homeward. And that knowledge will provide us with serenity and security.
And we don’t have to wait until the next Rosh Hashanah to return. Make some time to escape back home every day—whether it’s morning prayers in the synagogue, or even the few seconds it takes to recite a blessing on an apple you are about to bite into.
If that is the reassuring lesson we take from the holiday of Sukkot, no wonder it is the most joyous of holidays! Is there anything more uplifting than the knowledge that you are never homeless?
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
More in Sukkot Reading:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| • Happiness: For Those of Us Who Enjoy a Good Sulk (By Miriam Karp) |  “Serve G‑d with joy,”1 the Psalmist instructs. “Joy breaks all barriers.”2 These true words can be inspiring. They can also be downright annoying. They tend to rudely knock on the door right while I’m in the middle of a funk, whether a full-blown sulking jag or a private blue moment. “Go away, you superficial Pollyanna,” I mutter to them. “I would like to pout in peace.” | Whether it’s hormones, lazy self-indulgence, childhood conditioning, or some toxic brew of the three, I have a gravitational pull toward seeing the cup as half empty. I grew up thinking being Jewish meant being worried, cynical, a bissel neurotic. I’m at home with the Philip Roth and Woody Allen style—even when these men are funny, there’s an edge and angst. Happiness was shallow fluff—Mary Poppins, Wonder Bread, Disney—for plastic Barbie dolls who all lived happily ever after in a Norman Rockwell–type existence. | Then I got into spirituality, and scoured the globe for deeper meaning. The various combos of New Age, Eastern and mystical soups I sipped didn’t quite satisfy. Something was just missing. When I finally encountered Torah, it hit home, on many levels. Jewish-style happiness seemed different. I sensed that the joy was so deep, its power so enhanced—as it had been matured like wine, tinged with mourning over our travails, with yearning. The soaring klezmer clarinet and soulful chassidic melodies are built on minor chords. As a painter, I know that contrasting colors give punch and emphasis. Add a little black, in just the right places, and the colors seem more vibrant. “Those who sow with tears will reap with joy.”3 We’ve sown a deep, rich and fertile people with our tears. And our laughter is deeper, the laugh lines more poignant, as they’ve been carved by those tears, like trickling streams carving out a path in the riverbed. | But still. Sometimes all that joy can get annoying. Like Sukkot. The time of our rejoicing. Now, You’re not just gonna tell me I have to be happy in general; You’re gonna give me eight days of an extra obligation, an extra focus on happiness? What if I’m not in the mood? | It’s five days after Yom Kippur, I would like to pout in peace!two weeks after Rosh Hashanah. I did good. I cooked and cleaned and shopped and hosted and got in some serious extra praying. I kept my kids happy. I spent many hours in shul, and had people in my home. My pity-party voice whines, “Leave me alone, G‑d, and everyone else too. I’m tired. Give me a really pathos-filled, tear-jerking book and a few days off so I can retreat to my cave.” | My husband starts in with the joy the minute Yom Kippur is over. “Gut Yom Tov! (Happy holiday!)” he exclaims, bursting through the door. After havdalah and a brief meal, he’s out in the garage, dragging out the sukkah boards, singing the cheerful Sukkot classic V’samachta b’chagecha . . .—“You shall be happy and rejoice in your holidays, and you shall be only happy!”4 | I’m torn. Part of me is pulled into the lively song, the festive mood. Part of me grumbles, in true yenta style, “Now you can find your hammer? Now you make ten trips to Home Depot in five days, for this flimsy hut that’s gonna last only eight days? What about all the home repairs there’s never time for, that you somehow never see?” | After many years of playing out this duality—madly alternating between groaning and sulking, and soaring and rejoicing—I think I’m turning a corner. There are a few things going on here, a few choices I can make. And I’m learning, maybe the last kid on the block to get it, but it’s finally sinking in. | How can You command me to be happy? my inner cynic likes to whine. Fine, I’ll paste a smile on my face. I’m happy! I’m happy! But that’s not really what I’m being asked to do, or—more accurately—helped to do. The Hebrew word for “commandment” also means “connection.” This is a time when we receive an extra infusion of simchah, happiness, flowing down from above. I do have a choice. If I use a rusty colander of negativity, well, not too much of that golden joy juice will be retained. But if I rouse myself out of my comfortable sloth enough to fashion some kind of decent vessel, I can catch some life-flowing elixir sprinkling down in a soft shower. | Sitting in that little hut is one good way to position oneself to catch some. The first sukkah I actually sat and had a meal in was at Chabad of Ann Arbor, Michigan, back in 1980. I’d helped decorate our temple sukkah as a child, but never hung out or spent more than few minutes in there once the last squash was hung. | It was a cold fall. As we sat there, one October afternoon—the rabbi, his wife and kids, some students, and varied other characters and stragglers, including one intrepid hippie-dippie soul-searcher, namely me—it started snowing. | We didn’t panic or scramble We didn’t panic or scramble to go insidesensibly to go inside. We sat there, eating, singing, schmoozing, the snow silently seasoning the abundant food and painting the table white. The delicious absurdity of what we were doing struck me. A bubble of pure joy, of transcendent joy, seemed to descend with the snow. Why were we doing this? Because we had a commandment to do so; in other words, an opportunity to connect with something divine. No logical person would have a picnic in the snow. But we were Jews, and this was our special moment to have lunch with G‑d, recharging in His power hut. | A few weeks ago, I got another insight into this simchah thing. | I was driving home from my father’s home in Detroit, several hours on the highway with a broken radio and CD player, just me and my thoughts. I was worn out, emotionally exhausted and, yeah, a bit anxious. Not kvetchy, with my broken-record pity party playing, like an outgrown, worn-out shoe I should have thrown out long ago. Thank G‑d, I really don’t pull that old shmatta-rag out too often anymore. | This was real anxiety. At my dad’s house, I had seen for myself the brazen media bias blaring on CNN. Yeah, I knew about this, but seeing it relentlessly marching across the ticker tape, hour after hour, was terrifying, imagining the millions drinking this in. The terror tunnels. The lost lives. ISIS on the march. Et cetera. It’s pretty darn scary. | But, as I drove, I thought about the Rebbe. And his personal life story. His father, exiled and destroyed by Stalin. His brother, exterminated by the Nazis. His childhood culture, laid waste by these evil men. The Rebbe knew the most depraved evil, up close and personal. And he, who appreciated more deeply than anyone the beauty and eternity of a Jewish child, was childless. But bitterness and despair, or exhaustion and self-pity—they weren’t even a smidgen of the Rebbe’s being. | The Rebbe chose and embodied the deepest simchah. A radiant positivity. Not based on externals, on life unfolding in one’s favor. Based on immutable truths: the holiness of G‑d, the Jewish people and the Jewish land; the G‑dly spark in every human being; a globe headed toward fulfillment, albeit with a few bumps. | Simchah, I realized, is an avodah, a life’s work. Choosing it. Crafting it. Revealing it. Inspired by the Rebbe, I’m ready to work steadfastly. In rain or snow, or sleet or hail, like my mailman, to show up, smile and get the job done—serving G‑d, working His ways—with joy. | Note: This article is referring to everyday kvetching. Anyone suffering from serious or lasting depression should seek the help of a mental health professional. | FOOTNOTES | 1.Psalms 100:2. | 2.Sefer Hamaamarim 5657, p. 223. | 3.Psalms 126:5. | 4.Deuteronomy 16:14–15. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| • Surrender in the Supermarket (By Elana Mizrahi) |  After teaching a class, I stopped at the supermarket to quickly buy a carton of milk. It was already late, and I really should have just gone home, but I pushed myself, as usual. Once in the store, I saw the big bag of garbanzo beans on sale. Of course, I grabbed them. “Perfect for making hummus!” I thought to myself. Coffee was on sale in the next aisle, so I grabbed that for my husband’s morning coffee fix. With each aisle, I grabbed another item, until my arms were weighed down by way too many items. I reached for one more thing (the carton of milk that I originally wanted to buy), and A kilo of peanut butter oozed all overeverything toppled out of my hands. A peanut butter tub (which of course I had to buy, because a close friend who loves peanut butter was coming to visit) crashed to the floor, and a kilo of peanut butter oozed all over the floor and onto my shoes. The first thing that came to my mind as I frantically ran to look for the supermarket employee was a phrase from the Talmud: “If you grab a lot, you will find you have grabbed nothing; and if you grab a little, you will have truly grabbed something.”1 | When I first read this phrase, I assumed that the sages were speaking about a greedy person. Someone who tries to get everything for themselves. I thought it was saying, “You want everything—well, hah! Just because you want everything, you are not going to get it!” But in the midst of my peanut-butter-crashing tale, I drew another conclusion from their wise words, more along the lines of “You think that you can do everything. Well, you can’t! You think that you are in control, and you are not!” | I’ve fallen into this trap one too many times. The I-am-invincible-and-can-do-everything trap. Every time I fall into it, I am reminded that I can’t do it alone. No one can! In fact, I can’t do anything without help from Above. And really, this understanding, this realization that you need G‑d’s help in every act that you do, is liberating. There is a genuine simchah, happiness, in knowing that G‑d is taking care of you and that you are not in control. | For seven days in the fall, we leave our homes and sit in the sukkah, or booth, which is an impermanent structure. Seven days without a real roof over your head. Seven days of eating outside and talking outside and really just living under the clouds and the skies above. The Torah tells us that during the holiday of Sukkot, we have three obligations: to dwell in the sukkah; to wave the four species (myrtle, palm, willow and citron); and to be happy and rejoice. This last one is such a strange obligation. You haveto be happy and rejoice? And you have to do it during Sukkot? Why? How? | The sukkah is a temporary, and often flimsy, structure. You have no real roof over your head! You are outside, and you realize you have no real control over your life. Life in this world is flimsy and unstable. You pile so many things into your arms, and in one moment everything topples down. Stocks go up and they go down. A Nothing is stable. No one is in controlhurricane comes and blows down everything. The ground shakes, and your home is split in two. The economy is strong, and then there is a recession. You feel healthy and strong today and, G‑d forbid, you come down with a virus tomorrow. You grab and you grab and you grab, and in the end you find yourself with nothing. | Nothing is stable. No one is in control. You sit in the sukkah and you realize, “G‑d, whatever I have, You give me. Whatever I don’t have, You don’t want me to have now.” You rejoice. You are happy. Why? Because you know that while you cannot control these things, G‑d can. You have the choice and the obligation to turn to Him and let Him help you. You have the choice and the obligation to rejoice in His Presence, to feel His closeness and to know that while you cannot hold everything in your arms, He can. This is simchah, knowing that yes, you have limits, but He doesn’t. This is the message of Sukkot, the holiday of happiness and joy. | FOOTNOTES | 1.Kiddushin 17a. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Where do lulavim grow? Why does an etrog cost so much? Can I grow my own willows? Just about everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask . . .
By Menachem Posner
t’s that time of year again. Jews all over the world will be flocking to Judaica stores, impromptu outlets, and even street vendors to procure the Four Kinds: a palm frond, a yellow citrus fruit called an etrog, willow branches and myrtle twigs. Then, for the duration of the holiday of Sukkot, they will shake the branches and fruit for a few moments every day in fulfillment of a commandment found in the book of Leviticus.
For weeks before Sukkot, people pore over the vegetation for sale, searching for the most beautiful specimens, for which they may pay many hundreds of dollars. How do these Four Kinds get here, and why are people willing to pay so much? In search of some answers, I decided to speak to my friend David Silberstein of Rodal’s Judaica in Montreal, who sells Four Kinds sets all over the U.S. and Canada.
MP: David, thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to me. Of all the Four Kinds, people seem to spend the most time and effort fussing over their etrog. So let’s start with that. I see that you have a wide selection for sale. What can you tell me about this fruit?
David: This is one fruit you are not likely to see for sale at the grocery. Known as the citron or Citrus medica, the etrog has a very thick peel and very little flesh, so people don’t eat them much. They’re grown mostly for perfume, since they smell very nice. Traditionally, etrogim have grown in Mediterranean lands like Israel, Morocco, Greece and Italy—even as far as Yemen.
I sell mostly Israeli and Italian etrogim.
MP: What would you say is the comparative advantage and disadvantage of each kind?
David: You have to understand that when we look for an etrog that is suitable for the mitzvah, we are looking for a fruit that is evenly shaped and has an unblemished complexion. When fruits grow out in the wild, almost all of them are scarred by foliage, animals and other minor trauma.
Israeli etrogim are cultivated for the sake of the mitzvah, so the farmers are very careful to make sure that each and every fruit is grown in a controlled, protected environment. This means that a very large percentage of the fruit grown there are fit for mitzvah use. In addition, there is something special about using a product of the Holy Land.
An etrog growing in Israel (file photo).
Italian etrogim—which all come from one valley in Calabria—mostly are grown to be used for perfume, with little regard for the aesthetic beauty of the fruit. When our people go down to Italy to select etrogim, they have to look through hundreds of fruits just to find etrogim that are fit for use.
Another issue is that of grafting. When we use an etrog, it must be a genetically pure fruit. Many of the growers in Italy will graft etrog branches onto other trees. In fact, as many as 85% of the fruits grown in the valley are grafted. So before harvesting there, we need to trace the branches back to the trunk to make sure that they are not grafted. These extra expenses then get passed on to the consumer.
Generally, we only use varieties of etrogim that have traditionally been used by local Jewish communities, which we therefore know are kosher. Many people favor the Italian etrogim, since we have been using them for many, many years and can rely on their pedigree. In fact, we are told that Moses himself brought etrogim to the desert from that region.
MP: How far in advance do you select your etrogim?
David: I generally travel to Israel around a month before Sukkot to choose etrogim. At that point, the first thing that strikes you is that the etrogim are still very green; they don’t turn yellow until much closer to Sukkot. It’s a challenge, but even then you can already evaluate them based on shape, clarity and so on. While I don’t personally travel to Italy, I send someone to select them for me every year, and he also goes in the late summer.
MP: What about the lulavim? Where do they grow, and what else can we know about them?
David: The lulav is a closed palm frond that grows on any date palm. They grow pretty much anywhere warm. For years we were getting them from Egypt, Morocco and Spain.
Today there are lulav farms in Israel, and the product is really superior. They are straight and tightly sealed. People prefer these ones, so there are fewer and fewer being imported from other places as time goes on.
MP: Last but not least, let’s not forget about the willow and the myrtle. People tend to spend much less time fussing over those, but I’m sure there are some important tips you can share.
David: When it comes to the myrtle—of which you need at least three—the ideal specimen has the leaves growing consistently in groups of three all the way down the branch. The growers sort them into different groupings according to how nicely the leaves grow, and the price is modestly adjusted to reflect that. You also need to make sure the branch is not cut off at the tip.
The willow is the only thing that grows well in colder climates, and people often grow their own in their backyards. If you do plan on doing that, make sure you have the right plant. It is not the weeping willow, but a large bush-like plant with the branches growing upward. Of course, we also sell them, since most people prefer not to have to cut their own.
Lulavim and etrogim for sale in Israel (file photo).
MP: Thanks. This has been very educational. Is there anything else you think people should know?
David: Sometimes people ask, “Why does it cost so much for a few fruits? Who’s making a killing off this?” I like to point out that a lot goes into growing and selecting each and every fruit. It’s not like oranges that are harvested by the ton. This extra attention costs. Also, people come to the store and expect a selection. Yet the moment Sukkot starts, the most beautiful etrog is not worth anything at all. This means that the dealer has to purchase Four Kinds with the expectation of selling only a portion of what he buys.
Also, people sometimes come in and ask, “What should I pick? Which one is nice?” The answer is that the sets we have for sale are all nice and all kosher, so you can’t go wrong. If you find a lulav and etrog that look nice to you, then they are the most fitting vehicle through which you can serve G‑d this Sukkot.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
More in Questions & Answers:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| • Is a Self-Hating Jew Still a Jew? (By Aron Moss) |  Question: | I recently saw a “Jewish” professor speaking at an anti-Israel rally. When I voiced my disgust to a friend who knew him as a child, I learned that his parents converted to Catholicism back in Europe, he never had a circumcision or a bar mitzvah, and he is married to a non-Jewish woman. He claims in his speeches that he is a Jewish son of a Holocaust survivor. He may be the son of a survivor, but can we say once and for all that he is not Jewish? | Response: | I share your disgust. But I also have to marvel at such a person. He is a vivid illustration of the indestructibility of the Jewish soul. | Here is a guy who could easily identify as a non-Jew, and has every reason to. His parents converted to another religion, he married out, he reviles everything Jewish, and he sides with the enemy of the Jewish people. | So why doesn’t he just drop the whole Jewish thing altogether? | Because he can’t. Being Jewish can’t be dropped. It is a Jew’s deepest identity. Whether you love it or hate it, it will always be there. No conversion can change that. | And so, in a twisted way, he expresses his Jewishness by being the anti-Jewish Jew. | Yes, he is using his Jewishness as a weapon against Jews. | No, he should not be invited to speak at any Jewish event. | But yes, he is a Jew. | People like that can do a huge amount of damage. But the biggest damage is to themselves. Here is a Jewish soul yearning to connect to Jewishness, who has blocked his own path. Here is someone whose primary preoccupation, whose main claim to fame, is his Jewishness, but a tormented Jewishness. Rather than embrace it, he fights it. He is an accomplice in his own persecution. | We need to counter such attacks on our people from one of our own, but we can’t take away the fact that he is a Jew. Somehow, that Jewish spark is still alive. And any time he wants to embrace it, we will embrace him. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
VIDEO
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Chabad philosophy teaches that the sukkah—which represents the clouds of glory that sheltered the Jewish people in the desert—is also the revelation of the incense cloud that blanketed the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. On Sukkos it is revealed for all to see, even non-Jewish passersby.
 Watch
http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/1981034/jewish/Let-the-World-Know.htm
http://www.chabad.org/1981034
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
More in Video:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| • Sukkot: Less Is More (By Lazer Gurkow) <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://embed.chabad.org/multimedia/mediaplayer/embedded/embed.js.asp?aid=1645630&width=auto&height=auto"></script><div style="clear:both;">Visit <a href="http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/default_cdo/aid/591213/jewish/Video.htm">Jewish.TV</a> for more <a href="http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/default_cdo/aid/591213/jewish/Video.htm">Jewish videos</a>.</div> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LIFESTYLES
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Make these adorable edible sukkahs using real food.
By Miriam Szokovski
Did you know that the mitzvah of sukkah is one of the only mitzvahs we do with our entire body? When you enter into the sukkah, you are entirely surrounded by the mitzvah. While the building requirements for a real sukkah are quite specific, when it comes to food art there’s lots of room for variation.
I’m sure you’ve all seen the candy sukkah—typically graham cracker walls held together with marshmallow fluff, and green sour sticks for the sechach(greenery) on top. I’m excited to share some healthier versions, using real, simple food you might serve for breakfast, lunch of dinner.
My ideas are just suggestions using foods you might normally eat together. Feel free to mix and match or come up with your own combinations. If you try out some different ones, leave a comment and share your idea with the rest of us.
Toast and Avocado
This is simply toasted bread, cut into sticks to resemble the boards of a sukkah. On top there is mashed avocado with salt and lemon juice, into which the toast can be dipped (or it can be spread).
Eggs and Cheesy Spinach
Another breakfasty one. Cook the eggs, then cut into a square using either a knife and a steady hand, or a square-shaped cookie cutter. Sauté some fresh spinach in olive oil or butter and salt, then melt a little cheese through it.
Tuna and Celery
Make some tuna, whichever way you like it. Plate it neatly in a square. You can do it carefully by hand, using a knife to straighten up the edges, or you can place a square cookie cutter on the plate, fill gently with tuna, press down with a fork and gently pick up the cutter. Top with crunchy celery rounds.
Carrots and Dill Dip
Carrot sticks and dip. I used (bought) dill dip, but spinach, avocado or olive dip would all work well too.
Mashed Potato and Green Beans
I prefer simple mashed potatoes—boiled potatoes, drained, mashed with salt and sometimes fried onion (fried onion not pictured)—but you can use your preferred method. Create a square using the same method. Top with blanched green beans. Instructions for perfectly cooked green beans here.
Chicken Fingers and Kale Chips
Have you tried kale chips? Some love ’em, some hate ’em. I’m still trying to get on board. But you can easily replace them with another type of green. To make basic kale chips, toss pieces of de-stemmed kale with a little olive oil and salt. Bake at 275° F for about 20 minutes. I love the leafy look they give this sukkah!
The “walls” here are made out of chicken fingers. You can choose whether to bake or fry them. I baked mine at 400° F for about 20 minutes, but if they’re thicker you’ll need to keep them in for longer.
That’s it, folks. I leave the rest to your imaginations, and don’t forget to leave a comment sharing the great ideas you come up with.
Happy Sukkot!
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
More in Lifestyles:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| • Sukkot Planter Chandelier
We found this amazing DIY planter chandelier (courtesy of DIY Showoff) that we think would look perfect hanging from your sukkah. You can prepare this in late summer so it’s in full bloom on Sukkot.
 You will need:
Directions:
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
JEWISH NEWS
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
New York couple finds new friends and a following, prompted by hospitality, warmth and proactive Jewish programming. by Karen Schwartz
When Rabbi Yosef Wilhelm and his wife, Devora, moved to Manhattan five years ago, they had a list of about a dozen names of young adults in the area.
They had come to Manhattan’s Upper East Side specifically to start a Chabad-Lubavitch branch for young professionals, as an independent entity under the umbrella of Chabad of the Upper East Side.
In fact, they wound up being at the forefront of a phenomenon that’s emerged over the past seven or eight years of targeted programming for young adults. At first, the Jewish world had been slow to embrace millennials, but then started reaching out to them with gusto.
From the get-go, the Wilhelms decided to connect through direct relationships—meeting people for coffee or for lunch, often one-on-one; having them over for Shabbatmeals; and, eventually, hosting larger holiday events.“The Jewish world has shifted,” says Wilhelm, “and Lubavitch has shifted with it.” In this case, Lubavitch can be said to have helped prompt that shifting.
“We just reached out from one friend to another friend,” recalls the rabbi. Their programs grew, and soon, they were leading small weekly classes, in addition to learning with people individually. They kept adding new faces to their Shabbat table and having people from their programs take on leadership roles. To the couple’s credit, they single-handedly drew participants from all over Manhattan to the Upper East Side, creating a powerhouse from scratch.
Mixers at chic venues are part of the allure, as are prayer services and holiday events.
The Upper East Side is home to about 13,000 Jews in the 20-to-40 age bracket. Today, the Wilhelms estimate that they have met more than 3,000—and look forward to getting to know the rest.
The couple welcomes young people to their monthly “Holy Hour Happy Hour,” which starts with Friday-night services and is followed bykiddush, cocktails and an open bar.
They rent chic venues and bring in the bar if there isn’t one, making multipurpose spaces comfortable enough for prayer, and then later, for a mixer. Their largest yet has drawn a crowd 400-strong. “It brings out a lot of people,” acknowledges Wilhelm.
Then there’s Friday-night dinner, which tends to be a more intimate scene of about 20 people invited to meaningful conversation around the Shabbat table. In addition to hosting meals at their house, the Wilhelms—ages 29 and 26, respectively, and the parents of four young children—have encouraged both men and women to host Shabbat dinners for their own friends and others in the community.
“We’ve gotten people to open up their homes, which in Manhattan can be rare,” he says. “They’re making a Shabbat dinner, which some of them have never done before. They invite their friends and people they don’t know, many of whom we’re setting them up with.”
And just like that, there’s a whole community of people participating in Shabbat, he says.
Rabbi Yosef and Devora Wilhelm, the parents of four small children, moved to Manhattan just five years ago. They started off with a handful of names and now know about 3,000 Jewish young adults in the area.
There are also all kinds of holiday programs where young people deliver words of inspiration and attend services geared just for them, as well as a “break fast” event for Yom Kippur. And Chabad of the Upper East Side runs a mega-event known as “Shabbat 18,000,” which takes place in January, and is deemed the largest young professionals’ sit-down Shabbat dinner in America.
“It’s a real gala event in a Shabbat setting,” says Wilhelm. The young professionals themselves run many of the programs and help get the word out that they’re taking place.
Something for Everyone
Chabad is also home to a Friendship Circle group, where young-adult volunteers spend time with young adults with special needs via a program called “Hang’n with Friends.”
And there come the weekly learning sessions: an advanced Monday-night program, a women’s class on Wednesdays, and classes for friends on a weekly or monthly basis, as well as a lecture series, with a couple’s class that meets in individual homes.
A Havdalah service on the Upper East Side at an event for newly married and engaged couples.
Eliyahu Zafran, 23, moved to New York in January. He settled in on a Friday, and by that night he was seated at the Wilhelms’ table at the recommendation of Zafran’s Chabad rabbi from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
“I was a new kid in a new city, and it was perfect to have an intimate Shabbos like no other,” says Zafran, a commodities analyst. “It was the best welcome I could have gotten.”
It’s a group that brings people from various Jewish backgrounds who don’t know each other together in a very special way, he explains. “The essence of our Chabad is the fact that everyone’s growing and everyone’s pushing themselves to take on a new mitzvah or wrap tefillin a few more times a week, to keep Shabbat again and again,” he says. “I think that’s how you define success in a Chabad atmosphere.”
Thanks to the Chabad and its programming, he has developed a core group of friends, in addition to those he knows from work or school. He plays football with them, goes to dinner or a party with them, and more, he says, adding that “you can also spend Shabbat with them.”
In a place like New York, where ambitious young people flock to focus on their careers, taking part in Chabad activities is about pushing oneself in a different manner, he says: “It’s about improving yourself, and you need that wherever you are, and especially in New York City.”
Zafran adds that being involved with Chabad keeps him grounded. “And I’m sure it’s the same for everyone else.”
Formal affairs are par for the course for this group of young professionals. There's also a monthly "Holy Hour Happy Hour" on Friday nights.
Ali Nyman, 26, got involved with Chabad in December at the suggestion of a friend from high school.
After several years in New York, Nyman, a social worker for a nonprofit organization, says it was nice to find a place in the city where she felt a connection. Now, she and her brother are familiar faces, going for Shabbat dinner at the rabbi’s house, as well as on holidays.
“It was a low pressure-type of situation,” she says. “It was really inviting, and I enjoyed it from a spiritual perspective and socially, and on a lot of different levels.”
Nyman recently added the Chabad’s Friendship Circle project to her roster, taking part not only in the events themselves, but in the group’s organizational body.
In what can seem like a sea of Jewish entities competing for overbooked young adults’ time, she says this was the place she connected to. “For me, it really is a community and a place I feel is nonjudgmental and welcoming,” she states. “It’s a good foundation for me, to the point where I’ve been able to get involved in so many different things.”
The Wilhelms have been at the forefront of a phenomenon of gearing programs directly to the young adult crowd, often one on one, and always with an eye towards making real connections and spreading the joy of Judaism.
She’s also hoping to get some of her friends involved; on the flip side, has invited friends she has made at Chabad to be part of her “secular life” as well. Whether they went to the same college or just have common interests, they have become a big part of each other’s lives through meeting there, she says. Thanks to the warmth and openness of the rabbi and his wife—in addition to the environment and community they’ve created—“it feels like I’m part of a family,” affirms Nyman.
The power of the place encourages her to make it a priority, she explains, in a very natural way. “I just felt like that was my time to disconnect from the hassle and stress of New York and the day-to-day life of New York,” she says. “It’s the highlight of my week.”
Purim is always popular in the glitz and glamor of New York City.
Charles Muhlbauer heard about Chabad young professionals from a friend, and turned up for a Friday-night event full of singing, great food and good people.
The 32-year-old, who works in business development at a tech startup, came back based on that initial positive experience, and now often leads the prayers for “Holy Hour Happy Hour.” Also a professional chazzan (cantor), he says he’s glad to be able to help out.
“It’s cool, it’s fun, it’s enjoyable,” he notes.
The prayer part of the evening gets packed, as does the happy hour, says Muhlbauer, acknowledging that “I would have thought the [prayer] part wouldn’t be so crowded.” That stands as a testament to what people like about the evening, he adds.
Meanwhile, Chabad has gathered together Jews who otherwise would have never met.
“Because of them, Jews literally came out of the woodwork—out of nowhere,” affirms Muhlbauer. “They’ve really done a lot for bringing people together.”
Personalized kipahs for a group that's “cool, fun and enjoyable," says one Chabad regular.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
More in Jewish News:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• New ‘Kaddish’ App Instructs and Inspires Mourners (By Menachem Posner)
The Yizkor (remembrance) service on Yom Kippur, in which special prayers are said in memory of the departed, may be the most well-attended synagogue service on the Jewish calendar. And throughout the night and day of Yom Kippur, there will be resounding sounds of amen to mourners saying Kaddish for those who have passed.
Yet with unfamiliar words containing as many as five syllables, the Kaddish has long challenged mourners who wish to honor the memory of their loved ones, but are intimidated by the prospects of chanting the formula in public.
Perhaps the best known of all Jewish mourning practices, the Kaddish prayer is recited by surviving relatives as a merit to the soul of the departed, both at the funeral and then again during prayer services for the next 11 months, as well as on the anniversary of the passing.
As an aid to the mourner, Chabad.org’s development team has released a new app—the “Kaddish Assistant”—that gently guides the mourner through the process of saying Kaddish and more.Composed in ancient Aramaic—the Jewish vernacular two millennia ago—the Kaddish expresses the hope for the manifestation ofG‑d’s presence on earth.
According to Dov Dukes, lead developer of Chabad.org’s app team, the centerpiece of the new app is the audio-visual trainer that assists students by highlighting each word—in Hebrew characters, transliteration and translation—as it is chanted aloud in a clear, easy-to-follow voice. It has three speeds and offersAshkenazic, Sephardic and Chabad versions of both the basic Mourner’s Kaddish and the longer Rabbis’ Kaddish.
Kaddish is recited for 11 months after a person passes and then again on his or her yahrtzeit, the anniversary of the passing. Since the Hebrew calendar functions differently than its Gregorian counterpart, the app calculates and storesyahrtzeit dates, helping users track upcoming Kaddish dates, and reminds users of upcoming yahrtzeits via push notifications. It even allows them to share the information with others, inviting them to attend synagogue services with them via email and social media.
Help at Your Fingertips
Drawing on Chabad.org’s vast online library, the app offers user-friendly information, as well as inspirational articles and guides on Kaddish.
For those looking for a synagogue in which to say Kaddish, the app harnesses Chabad.org’s find-a-center service to locate nearby congregations with ease. And should a question arise, a click of a button puts the user in contact with Chabad.org’s “Ask the Rabbi” team.
The “Kaddish Assistant” joins Chabad.org’s Jewish Apps Suite, leveraging the website’s abundance of content by incorporating it into interactive apps. Through the vision and generosity of a group of funders, the “Kaddish Assistant” joins thePassover Assistant app, “Jewish.tv” video app, the “Shabbat Times” app, aJewishKids.org app for children and others—all designed to help bring Jewish wisdom, tools and support to the fingertips of users. Additional apps are in the planning and developmental stages by an international Chabad.org team.
The drive, vision for and underwriting of the apps, which are available free of charge, come from the generous partnership of Dovid and Malkie Smetana, Alan and Lori Zekelman, the Meromim Fund, and Moris and Lillian Tabacinic—all of whom are dedicated to spreading the wisdom and practice of Judaism worldwide.
The new app will be fully functional in seven languages—Spanish, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese and Russian—in addition to its current English-language version.
The app is available free of charge for Android devices on Google's Play Store; and will soon be available for iOS devices at Apple’s App Store.
The Kaddish Assistant app has three speeds and can accommodate Ashkenazic, Sephardic and Chabad versions of both the basic Mourner’s Kaddish and the longer Rabbis’ Kaddish.
The centerpiece of the new app is the audio-visual trainer that assists students by highlighting each word—in Hebrew characters, transliteration and translation—as it is chanted aloud in a clear, easy-to-follow voice.
The app calculates and stores yahrtzeit dates, helping the user to track upcoming Kaddish dates. It even allows them to share the information with others, inviting them to attend synagogue services with them via email and social media.
Drawing on Chabad.org’s vast library of articles and videos, the app offers user-friendly information, as well as inspirational articles and guides on Kaddish.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• College Students Book Their Stay at Chabad for the Holidays(By Ronelle Grier, Chabad.edu)
The High Holidays are typically marked by families coming together to enjoy special meals, prayer and time-honored traditions.
But for Jewish college students who cannot be at home with their families, the holiday season—from the deeply reflective days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur through the joyous celebrations of Sukkot and Simchat Torah—can be challenging and even potentially lonely. Chabad aims to provide the next best thing: a home-away-from-home holiday experience where Jewish students can celebrate together in a warm and welcoming environment.
Not only that, many of the services, programs and meals are free of charge for university students. The point is to include young Jewish adults into the fold and show them the meaning behind the holidays, as well as common practices and rituals, and to do so in the company of fellow students and friends. Chabad on Campus works to provide such experiences on more than 250 campuses around the world, especially in North America, Europe and Israel.
“We build a sukkah smack-dab in the middle of campus,” says Rabbi Hershey Novack, who, along with his wife, Chana, has been serving students at Washington University in St. Louis for the past 13 years. The “Wash U.” sukkah will sit in the courtyard of the Danforth University Center, a major center of campus life. Students can’t help stopping by.Since most college students stay at school during Sukkot and Simchat Torah, campus Chabad centers will be providing programs and sukkahs right on campus starting next week, making it easy to participate, even for students with the busiest of schedules.
More than 400 Jewish students at Wash U. gathered for Rosh Hashanah services and meals this year at the Rohr Center for Jewish Life. An equally large crowd is expected for Yom Kippur.
“We have built an inclusive and welcoming community here,” says Novack, adding that upwards of 100 guests regularly attend the center’s weekly Shabbatdinners.
And, quite nicely timed, the Wash U “Parent and Family Weekend” (Oct. 10-12) falls during Sukkot, and so the Chabad center will be hosting parents and siblings, in addition to students, in its sukkah.
A Presence at Colleges Large and Small
While Missouri University has a much smaller Jewish population—800 Jewish students out of a total student population of 30,000—Chabad of MU and Mid-Missouri in Columbia, Mo., plays an important role for those who spend the holidays on campus.
Students help put up sukkahs on campus at Wash U.
“Several students have said how comforting it is to have a Jewish place to go,” notes RabbiAvraham Lapine, “and one girl who was skeptical at first about coming said that my wife, Channy, was ‘like a mother’ ” to her.
Lapine expects about 50 students to show up during Yom Kippur, including for Kol Nidreservices on Friday night and the break-the-fast meal on Saturday night. Because the Day of Atonement falls on Shabbat this year, there may be students who decide to go home for the weekend, but for those staying put, Chabad is there.
“Every year, Chabad on Campus continues to expand to meet the growing needs of Jewish students on campuses worldwide,” explains Rabbi Yossy Gordon, executive vice president of Chabad on Campus International. “It is vital that Jewish students—at this transformative time in their lives—have the opportunity to be an integral part of a vibrant Jewish community.
“While we are proud of our accomplishments, there is always more work to be done to provide a ‘home-away-from-home’ atmosphere for students,” he continues, “so they can be inspired, educated and connected in a warm and welcoming environment.”
Rabbi Mendel Scheiman, center, with participants in the SIU Shofar Factory workshop, where they drilled, sanded, and eventually, tested out their new ram's horns.
‘Always a Seat Waiting’
About 30 students celebrated Rosh Hashanah at Chabad of Southern Illinois University (SIU), with a comparable number expected for Yom Kippur. Weekly Shabbat dinners draw from 10 to 20 students, and while the crowd may not be so large, those who attend say they appreciate the welcoming Jewish environment. Their parents do, too.
“One student from Israel said her father wanted to make sure she had a place to go for the holidays,” relates Rabbi Mendel Scheiman, co-director of Chabad of SIU in Carbondale, Ill., with his wife, Yochi.
While Stuart Sherman of Birmingham, Mich., will miss his daughter, Alex, a student at Yeshiva University Stern College in New York, he takes comfort knowing that she will be spending the High Holidays running a children’s program at the Jewish Russian Learning Center (JRLC) of South Beach, a Chabad center in Staten Island.
“I know my daughter is observing the holiday, which is what we’ve raised her to do,” says Sherman.
“Our motto throughout the year is that every student has a place at the Chabad House; there’s always a seat waiting,” stresses Rabbi Alter Goldstein of the Chabad House of Ann Arbor on the University of Michigan campus.
In addition to offering religious services and meals each Shabbat and during the High Holidays, the Chabad center provided multiple shofar-blowing services throughout the campus so students who attended classes on Rosh Hashanah could still observe the mitzvah.
Chabad "Welcomes You to the Sukkah" is the message Jewish students, faculty and visitors receive at Chabad on Campus centers in North America, in Israel and around the world.
“It is challenging for students to observe the holidays,” acknowledges Goldstein, referring to the fact that most colleges and universities do not suspend classes on Jewish holidays, and while absences for religious reasons are usually excused, the course work continues to pile up.
‘Door Always Open’
On the West Coast, holiday programs abound at Chabad centers on the campuses of Stanford University, the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), among others.
Rabbi Alter Goldstein of the Chabad House of Ann Arbor on the University of Michigan campus posts a message for a "Happy New Year."
At Chabad Jewish Student Center at USC, the largest gathering occurs during Sukkot since many students are local, and therefore able to go home for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Those who cannot be with their families, though, have a place to spend the holidays with other Jews.
“I got a Facebook message from an alumnus who came for Rosh Hashanah,” says Rabbi Dov Wagner, who serves as co-director of the USC Chabad with his wife, Runya. “He thanked us for hosting him and said he felt lucky knowing our door is always open.”
And at MU, a lunch-and-learn session in asukkah is offered right on campus. With the weather still nice, it’s hard to give up the chance to eat outdoors.
This year, Simchat Torah coincides with the college’s official family visiting weekend; Lapine says he is looking forward to meeting the parents of students he has come to know.
“In the past,” he adds, “we’ve even had a small crowd dancing through the streets with the Torah.”
Now that’s a sight guaranteed to make any parent smile.
Students Jeremy Stern, left, and Jordan Emmer help prepare Rosh Hashanah dinner at Chabad of MU and Mid-Missouri, co-directed by Rabbi Avraham and Channy Lapine.
From left: David Feygelman, Jeremy Hershey-Nexon and Daniel Swindell partake in last year's Yom Kippur "break fast" meal, held at the campus student union and sponsored by Chabad of MU and Mid-Missouri.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• High Holiday Services Run as Usual in Hong Kong, Despite Major Protests (By Menachem Posner)
Although demonstrators were still blocking major roads in Hong Kong—slowing down ambulances and emergency vehicles—and threatening to occupy government buildings, Yom Kippur services at the local Chabad-Lubavitch center are expected to take place as usual when the holiday begins at sunset on Friday.
“The Hong Kong police force is one of the most efficient,” says Rabbi MordechaiAvtzon, who co-founded Chabad of Hong Kong with his wife, Goldie, in 1987. “The protests have been very disruptive since many other neighborhoods feed into the Central District, and but they have not been violent, per se, and we’ve not seen shooting or looting.”
Noting that foreigners often have a skewed perception of internal issues in the region—which has been part of the People’s Republic of China since 1997, when terms of its British colonization expired—he expressed his expectation that life would soon return to normal, with no great changes made to the political system.
Tens of thousands of protesters have remained on the streets of Hong Kong, calling for a choice of candidates in the 2017 elections for the next chief executive. China, for now, has a specific slate of political candidates selected.“I cannot categorically promise that we will not have additional problems to pray for this Yom Kippur,” says the rabbi, who oversees Chabad activities in the Far East and conducts holiday services a 10-minute walk from the site of the protests. “But there are no indicators of a major crisis looming.”
More than 60 people were arrested last Friday and 30 injured when crowds near Hong Kong’s government headquarters clashed with police. Nevertheless, Rosh Hashanah services at Chabad went on as usual, and the same is projected for Yom Kippur.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Rabbinical Students Save Holidays in Resistencia, Argentina(By Chaya Schley)
Twenty-four hours is not a lot of time to plan an entire Rosh Hashanah program from scratch, especially if the organizers are in New York and the services are to take place in a remote part of Argentina.
Yet that’s exactly what happened recently.
It all began when Rabbi Chai Kohan, director of the Spanish-language division of JNet, was contacted by a young man living in Resistencia, Argentina, who had recently been paired with a JNet chavruta, or study partner. The capital of Chaco province in northeastern Argentina, Resistencia is about 620 miles from the country’s capital and largest city, Buenos Aires.
The man was a participant in the “Peguisha” weekend program held this summer in Argentina for young adults, ages 18 to 30, throughout Latin America, and so knew to call JNet for advice. He emailed Kohan the day before Rosh Hashanah, explaining that he was dismayed because there would be no traditional services held in his city. He wouldn’t be able to pray with a minyan—the quorum of 10 Jewish men needed to hold full communal prayer—or hear the blowing of theshofar, which is a holiday mitzvah.The Jewish Learning Network, or JNet—a division of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitchmovement—was created to connect Jews around the world with online learning partners to study Torah and other Jewish topics.
“I told him I’d see what I could do,” says the rabbi, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. He immediately got in touch with Rabbi Israel Kapeluschnik, director of Merkos Shlichus in Argentina.
Some 270 young adults from throughout Latin America gathered for four days of Jewish educational activities and socializing as part of a program called “Peguisha.” The man who contacted JNet for holiday services in a distant part of Argentina was among them.
Kapeluschnik called the young man right away, and determined that rabbinical students Sholom Ber Levy and Shloimi Setton in Buenos Aires would travel to Resistencia to lead the Rosh Hashanah services.
The man had a home where they could hold prayer services and meals, and he was already inviting worshippers to make sure they would have a minyan.
“They arranged everything within a few hours,” Kapeluschnik says of Levy and Setton, including bringing enough food for the Yom Tov (holiday) and Shabbatmeals.
This year, Merkos Shluchim and Chabad of Argentina also sent emissaries to help organize Rosh Hashanah services in Entre Ríos, Santa Fe and Santiago del Estero provinces.
Setton helps affix a mezuzah on a Jewish resident's home before the start of Yom Kippur.
The next morning—the eve of Rosh Hashanah—Levy and Setton boarded a plane for the hour-and-a-half flight to Resistencia. Traveling with them was a Sefer Torah (Torah scroll) and a shofar.
‘Thirsty for Judaism’
Some 25 people attended each of the Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat prayer services in Resistencia, hearing the Torah readings and the blowing of the shofar. Following each of the services, they gathered for kiddush and a holiday meal. On both nights of Rosh Hashanah, Kapeluschnik says, the crowd stayed until well past midnight—eating, celebrating and discussing Jewish topics.
For Levy and Setton, too, it was “an awesome, wonderful experience,” notes Kapeluschnik.
“You could see that people were thirsty for Judaism,” he says. “One man said he’d only been to shul once before in his life.”
The good thing was that he had another opportunity to do so: Levy and Setton made a second trip to Resistencia for Yom Kippur, leading services and holding a “break fast” meal.
While there for Yom Kippur, the rabbinical students also sold eight mezuzahs and two pairs of tefillin.
Worshippers at the "break fast" meal following the conclusion of Yom Kippur (Levy is standing, third from left; Setton is standing in the center).
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Share
E-mail
No comments:
Post a Comment