Making
decorations
for the Jerusalem
family sukkah are
Orly, 2; Elad 5;
and Noa, 10.

■.■

YOUR SUKKOT "HOME AWAY FROM HOME" AT ITS VERY FINEST.

E

veryone loves his veggies at
Temple Emanu-El Nursery
School in Oak Park.

Not that these are vegetables chil-
dren actually have to eat, which
might explain why not a single com-
plaint arises when the subject of
squash and tomatoes and onions
comes up.
Instead, the children are making
vegetables — out of paint and paper
and crayons — to be used inside their
sukkot.
"We do lots of different projects
with fruits and vegetables at Sukkot,"
says Eileen Brand, the nursery
school's associate director.
Temple Emanu-El nursery school

teacher Theresa Beckerman has a
favorite project, as well: She has stu-
dents dip corn — still on the cob —
into paint and roll it on paper for a
sukkah decoration.
In English, sukkot literally
means "booths," com-
memorating the small
huts the Israelites made
while wandering in the desert. A
better translation, though, might be
“fun. ,,

friends and old (it's traditional to
invite guests into your sukkah) and
having a chance to sit in the cool air
of these first autumn days.
Once the sukkah is up (that's the
difficult part), the pleasure
comes: decorating.
Exactly why do we
decorate the sukkah?
The Tanach teaches that Jews
should "give beauty to God" —
namely, that they should perform
mitzvot (commandments), and do so
in a loving, beautiful way. Living in
the sukkah is a mitzvah, and we make
it even more pleasant by using our
best dishes and cups, eating great
meals and decorating our home for
the holidays.

CoveStory

Sukkot is a great family holiday. It's
like having a picnic three times a day
and camping in your own back yard.
(One is commanded to actually live
in the sukkah, so weather permitting,
some families sleep in theirs.) The
holiday means visiting with new

Whether you're enjoying your very
first sukkah, or sitting in one that
ou've had for years, you might be
looking for new ideas to decorate
your home away from home. Some
local families and teachers have ideas
for you.
Masha Shulkin of West Bloomfield
Township and Dorya and Noa
Jerusalem of Oak Park are all part of
the chain gang.
Masha, 10; Dorya, 12; and Noa,
10, say their favorite sukkah decora-
tion to make is a paper chain.
Masha likes to use construction
paper, with links of all different col-
ors, to make a chain that's not too
long and not too short. "We also
make stuff at school," including a

y

9/20
2002

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