•

Sukkot. Success:
Mind Over Matter

ERICA MEYER RAUZIN
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

I feel a little like a teacher confid-
ing whichaf her students is her
favorite, but I do have a pet holi-
ay.
Each yontif has something spe-
cial, but nothing beats Sukkot for
me. ThiS i a holida.y that shores
up my strengths — optimism,
friendliness, love of the outdoors
— and conceals my weaknesses
— most notably a lack of organi-
zation and a house which is, to put
it kindly, less than neat as a pin.
More like a pincushion.
One of Sukkot's other names is
"the time of our joy." They must
have named it for me. Sukkot in-
volves a whole list of things that
make me feel positively cheery.
• My husband cooks. Now I
have a very helpful sort of hus-
band. I would never complain. But
the kitchen is not his zone (the
garage is his zone). Once, when
we were dating, he made a mag-
cent dinner for me: homemade
buckwheat crepes stuffed with ri-
cotta, with tomato sauce (made
from scratch) on the bottom and
bechamel sauce on the top. I was
flabbergasted. They were fabu-
lous. But I have not so much as
seen a pancake since, and we have
been married nearly 18 years now.
But Sukkot is different. During
much of Sukkot we use the grill,
and he's a great griller. Up until
now, we have made do with a sim-
ple kettle grill: fill it with charcoal,
singe the chefs eyebrows and pro-
ceed. But last winter, my hus-
band's family gave him the
awesome King of Grills: gas jets,
hot rocks, double-decker racks,
metal hood, even a separate burn-
er. I expect that our Sukkot menu
is about to rachet up from ham-
burgers and chicken wings to an
entire dressed turkey spitted over
a fancy fire and flattered to be
there. I can't wait.
•We are outdoors. Other than
during moments of blistering heat
or miserable cold, I'd always
rather be outdoors than indoors.
If we are having a pleasant au-
tumn, Sukkot in Florida is a joy.
If we are having a sweltering au-
tumn, we put three big fans in our
sukkah and we get by. The
amount of joy you can derive from-
Sukkot's outdoorsy nature de-
pends a lot on where you live and
what mischief the weather chan-
nel has in store for you
•The children are in charge of
the decor.
• Eveybody's happy. Once we
are seated in the sukkah, dinner
on the grill, weather placid and
decorations in place, everyone is
in a good mood. The very act of
eating outside, being in touch with
nature at different and odd mo-
ments of the day, make a meal feel

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