The BiG Story
sukkot plain, feeling this is
"adorned" enough. Almost every-
one eke enjoys hanging posters or
decorations on their sukkah walls.
WHAT'S
SHAKIN'?
You will be.
* Leviticus 23:39-
i 43 discusses the Chil-
_Aren
of Israel wander-
,
ing about after the
I Exodus, and God
idirects Jews to live in
sukkot in commemora-
tion. But it's not just a
matter of building the
temporary home. God
also tells His people
to take "the fruit of
goodly trees, branch-
es of palm trees and
boughs of thick trees
and willows of the
brook" to use to "rejoice before the
Lord." These, then, are the arba'ah
minim, or four species, that form the
lulav and the etrog. The lulav
includes myrtle, willow and palm
branches (in fact, lulav is Hebrew
for "palm [branch]." The wonderful-
ly fragrant but ridiculously expensive
etrog (citron) is the
"fruit of goodly trees."
On Sukkot, Jews hold
the lulav and etrog
and stand in the
sukkah, where
(according to Ashke-
nazi practice) they first
gently shake (or wave)
the two to the east,
then the south, then the
west, then the north,
and then up and
down. The practice is
repeated during the
Hallel prayer.
* Most families prefer
to own their lulav and
etrog — which is
required, but only for the first day.
After that, the arba'ah minim may
be borrowed.
❑
•
1 You <now...
•
* The Israel Museum is home to
one of the most unusual and beauti-
ful sukkot ever. It's from 19th-century
1Germany, and it's collapsible! The
boards are carefully, numbered and
show scenes from Israel including
Jerusalem and the Kotel.
During the
( i Second-Temple
' period, the cele-
1 oration of Sukkot
lincluded the
iWater Drawing
1Festival, or Sim-
*
chat Beit ha-
! Shoevah. At the
i conclusion of the
%7first day of
Sukkot, families gathered outside
the Temple to watch as men
danced throughout the night, while
others played instruments and sang
songs of praise to God. Massive
candlesticks decorated the scene
and burned so bright, the Talmud
recalls, "there was no courtyard in
Jerusalem that was not lit up with
the light of the water drawing festi-
val."
* Pilgrims in America were reli-
gious Christians
who regularly
read their Bibles
— which is how
they got the idea
for a Thanksgiv-
ing feast; they
read about festive
meals on Sukkot.
* During the days
of the Temple,
Sukkot was a pilgrimage holiday,
when Jews everywhere would come
to Jerusalem. Bearing fruit and
wheat from the harvest, they would
sing and dance to thank God.
❑
hat
To Do,
Hat
To Do!
* . A popular custom, which
began in the 16th
century, is to ask
"guests," in the
form of the Jewish
forefathers, into
one's sukkah. The
guests are called ush-
pizin, and include:
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph,
Moses, Aaron, 6, and David.
You can design your own poster
showing the ushpizin for your
sukkah walls.
* You may have heard of mak-
ing jam or a pomander from the
etrog, but did you know part of
the lulav has another use, as
well? In. eastern Europe, Jews
kept their willow branch-
es, then burned them
in the oven while
making matzah for
Pesach. Why not give
it a try yourself?
* On Sukkot we celebrate the
harvest, the many fruits and
grains that God has given to us.
Try creating a meal
using as many of these
as you can.
* Find something
new to use to decorate
your sukkah this year. Some fami-
lies get quite sophisticated, bring-
ing in chandeliers and rugs. Look
around your house and see what
you might use to make your
sukkah more homey.
❑
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LOCATED IN THE ORCHARD MALL (WEST BLOOMFIELD)
Detroit Jewish News
10/2
1998
105