Sukkah hopping – it’s all the rage
Yom Kippur has barely ended but it’s not the echo of shofars you hear. It’s the din of hammer and nails. We understand that on the 11th of Tishrei, the day after Yom Kippur, Moshe instructed the people to start the construction of the Mishkan. Similarly we have the minhag to start construction of our sukkot the day after Yom Kippur (if not sooner - they start at night here). It’s an exciting time – people are still singing the songs of the day’s tefilah and discussing how meaningful and productive the fast was – as sukkot go up all over the neighborhood. Children are running in and out of each one and the talk of sukkah hopping begins. As my kids reported to me, sukkah hopping is officially defined as the going from sukkah to sukkah and getting candy and can we go, can we go, can we, can we? Hmmm… sounds easy and fun. My biggest challenge now will be getting them to sit through the meal.
The garden, the fishpond, the car – all works in progress
I’m working with my gardener and his (American) encyclopedia of ‘all that grows’ to pick out pretty things that will thrive in a southern California climate. Bob has brought in a helper for his ongoing fishpond project (the goal is a non-leaking, pristine fishpond with a home-made – by Bob – filter in a pretty ceramic pot). For the record my fishpond is about 3 feet across by 2 feet wide. Thankfully the gardener and the fishpond fixer-upper manage their own transportation. Our towing (pulling?) insurance covered a tow (pull?) from Alon Shvut to the mechanic. The definition of tow is a little different here. They put the car in neutral, tie some rope to it and pull. So far the progress is more in the garden and fishpond. I see many tremps in my near future. The biggest challenge this week will be transporting schach via tremp!
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To add to the Sukkah rage post, Lisa neglected to mention that there are container-loads of palm tree branches being dumped at various street corners in gush etzion and are being sold as secach (the roof-covering of a sukkah). It is not uncommon to see palm tree branches jammed in and sticking out of every other car on the road..... which Lisa would not know about because of our car-less status. (I saw this during my scenic "tow" from Alon Shvut to the mechanic.
ReplyDeleteokay, Lisa..what is schach???? It sounds so much nore festive then back in Brooklyn....your really going to be under the stars....love mom
ReplyDeleteschach is the stuff for the top of the sukkah. you can buy it neat and trim in "mat" form where you just unroll it onto your sukkah or you can go au natural and use the big palm leaves. they really are everywhere. i saw today. heaps of 'em.
ReplyDeletesukkah hopping - the israeli answer to trick or treat. be sure to stock up on loads of candy and be prepared to miss your afternoon nap in order to be serenaded by various off key groups of suger high kids! love - michal
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