To Life!

Geodesic
Sukkah

Spherical design meets
all religious requirements.

Shelli Liebman Dorfman

Staff Writer

F

or most, the word "sukkah" brings to
mind a traditional, square-shaped
wooden or canvas but with slats
across the ceiling. But to inventor Shalom
Michlin, it conjures thoughts of the trans-
parent, triangular-walled, metal-topped
geodesic dome he built in the back yard of
his West Bloomfield home.
He created the bulk of the structure by
bolting together 86 clear plastic triangles.
He shaped the ceiling by connecting 45
metal triangles made of electrical con-
duits.
"In 1973, I made the world's first geo-
desic dome sukkah," Michlin said.
Yet all of the subsequent constructions
he built through the years have been more
conventional — until now.
"I've been thinking about doing another
one for about three years," he said. "A cou-
ple of weeks ago, I woke up at 4 a.m. and
decided to do it — but to make it several
notches higher than the last one."
Because no such structure was commer-
cially available for purchase, he set out to
buy the parts and construct one from
scratch.
"I had a crew of three guys [from
Laserland, his laser printing manufactur-
ing company in Sylvan Lake] working on it
with me:' he said.
They started only six days before Sukkot
was to begin.
"I was afraid we were cutting it too close
so on Saturday night after Shabbos, my
daughter Esther, who's 16, came outside
with me and we worked on it until after
midnight."
Although the sukkah is highly unusual,
Michlin's rabbi says it is perfectly accept-

able for use.
"Usually it is thought that a sukkah
must have at least three temporary walls:'
said Rabbi Elimelech Silberberg of Sara
Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center in West
Bloomfield. "But it is also all right to eat in
a sukkah that has no walls, if it is com-
pletely enclosed like this one.
"Making it transparent is certainly
unusual:' the rabbi saidA sukkah is sup-
posed have more shade than sun — but
that only applies to what comes in through
the top:' he said. "The top of this sukkah is
covered with enough scach [material for
the top of the sukkah] to keep it kosher."
Rabbi Silberberg referred to Shalom
Michlin's remarkable sukkah as "a perfect
project for Shalom. He is a genius who
doesn't often do things the way most do.
He tends to do them with a different sort
of twist!'
Michlin and his wife, Sarah, hosted
many neighbors and friends during the
holiday. They didn't even have to go inside
to see the interior. "Not with the walls com-
pletely clear like a fishbowl," Michlin said.
Michlin, who spent about $3,000 just on
materials for the sukkah, said he'd like to
enclose his trampoline in a similar struc-
ture. And next year, he may be commer-
cially building and selling luxury geodesic
dome sukkot.
"I might even sell this one and build a
bigger, more bizarre-looking, perfectly
spherical one for my family:' he said.
The one he built this year is 16 feet in
diameter, but Michlin said not all of it is
usable space.
True to the distinctiveness of his inven-
tions, he said, "We have to take into
account the space used up by the spigot
and the little pond with the fountain that
are inside the suldcah."

Right top: Arnold Michlin of Waterford (in wheelchair) admires the handiwork of his son
Shalom Michlin, who built the geodesic sukkah outside his West Bloomfield home.

bottom: Arnold and Shalom prepare

to shake the lulav in the geodesic sukkah.

JN

October 27 2005

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