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Friday, September 27, 1985 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

A Novice's Succot

A How-to,
Where-to list
for the uninitiated
for celebrating this
joyous festival.

BY ELLYCE FIELD

Special to The Jewish News

T

•

he fall holidays are only
half over. Dipping apples
in honey, we wished
friends and family "Happy
New Year." We thought
about the past year and made
amends with our fellows. We prayed
and fasted.
It's hard to believe, but the best
part is yet to come.
Sunday night ushers in Succot
— Zeman Simhatenu — the Season
of our Joy. Our solemn prayers and
thoughtful introspection can come to
a close. With Succot we are
encouraged to embrace the new year
with laughter and joy. Succot is a
re-affirmation of life, a holiday of
exhilerating sensory experiences, a
time for family fun and hospitality.
Hark! Parents concerned about
your children's Jewish identity —
don't allow Succot to be bypassed
and forgotten. It is called He-Hag
(THE holiday) for good reason.
If you celebrate Succot to the
fullest, your child's Jewish identity
will be strong and secure come De-
cember with its Christmas dilemma.
In fact, Succot will probably be-
come your family's favorite holiday.
A co ssion: Succot family ob-
servance is relatively new for us,
too. We beg n five years ago and
each year we pick up momentum.
We decorate our house, eat special
fall harvest foods, buy a lulav and
etrog, attend synagogue to march in
the processions, and on "Succot Sun-
day," we go from one Succah party
to the next. As yet, we don't build
our own succah. But that's on the
agenda for next year. (Don't tell my
husband.)

First, master the terms, so you
can converse with Jewish book store
proprietors and more observant
friends.
Succot or Succot is the same as
Succos. Remember when Shabbos
became Shabbat? (These little
changes keep you on your toes.)
A succah is the temporary booth
people build. Succot are many of
these booths. They remind us of the
booths our forefathers lived in while
wandering in the desert. They also
represent the watchman's booth,
hastily erected to guard the harvest.
Etrog or esrog (singular), et-
rogim or esrogim (plural) is a
lemon-like fruit.
lulavim
(singular),
Luluv
(plural) is a palm branch in a holder
in which you place willow and myr-
tle branches.
Succot always falls two weeks
after Rosh Hashanah and is cele-
brated for nine days (eight days in
Israel). Rabbi David Nelson of Cong.
Beth Shalom explains, "References
to Succot appear in Exodus. The
holiday commemorates the Jews'
wandering through the desert after
leaving Egypt. Succot is also the
Feast of In-Gathering, and celeb-
rates the final autumn harvest."
The nine days include several
other holidays. The seventh day is
Hoshanah Rabbah„ regarded as an
extension of Yom Kippur in mood
and atmosphere. The eighth day,
Shemini Atzeret, includes the Yiskor
service to remember the departed
and prayers for geshem (rain). Succot
culminates with Simchat Torah, "Re-
joicing with the Torah." On this
ninth day, children and adults join

The Citron family erects their in the box succah.

-

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in dancing, singing and forming
processions around the sanctuary,
carrying Torahs and flags with
apples.
There are definite symbols asso-
ciated with Succot. Each offers its
own rare sensory pleasures. The
portable symbols, the lulav and et-
rog, may be purchased at either
Borenstein's Book and Music Store,
967-3920, or Spitzer's Hebrew Book
Store, 356-6080.
Buying your first lulav and es-
trog is a treat not to be missed, esp-
cially if you have a good imagination
and can conjure up New York's
Lower East Side while standing
knee-deep in greens in Borenstein's
back room. The least expensive sets
will cost in th low $20s, with prices

increasing in relation to quality.
Most Orthodox customers take
the purchases very seriously, looking
for as beautiful and perfect speci-
mens as possible. Here are some tips
to help:
Your lulav should be fresh and
at least 14 inches long so it will
shake well. It should be bound at
three spots along the length.
You will also need to choose
three myrtle branches at least ten
inches long. Ideally, the leaves of the
myrtle should grow in clusters of
three along the stem. Also, choose
two willow branches at least ten in-
ches long whose leaves grow in clus-
ters of two along the stem.
Often the lulav comes in a long
plastic bag. This will preserve its

