Spirituality

Staff photos by Angie Baan

I

t

Y V

k.

Larry and Rita Winer share the sukkah they were given by good friend Larry Horowitz.

A

Tale Of Two Larrys

Sukkah paintings bring extra meaning to the holiday.

Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor

M

eet the Larrys. Larry Winer, 48,
is originally from Boston. You
can tell from his accent. Larry
Horowitz, 82, is a native Detroiter. Both live
in Oak Park and met at Young Israel of Oak
Woods (now Young Israel of Oak Park).
The Larrys hit it off right away.
"We have similar personalities, for bet-
ter or for worse says Larry Winer.
For years, they've gone to shul together
on Shabbat. They've shared holidays. The
younger Larry would help the older Larry
take down his sukkah after Sukkot.
About 10 years ago, after all the ply-
wood panels were down, the older Larry
told the younger Larry to take them home
with him. Assembling a sukkah had gotten
too much for him, he said, and he wanted
Larry's young family to enjoy it.
Larry Winer was stunned. What about
his friend's children? Wouldn't they want
the special sukkah with inner walls bear-
ing murals painted by their father?
They live out of town, the practical
older Larry told him. So the younger Larry

carted them home, cut the paintings from
the old plywood and framed them so they
could be hung in a new plywood sukkah
behind his own home.
Painting was a hobby for Larry
Horowitz, who made a living as a sales-
man and a caterer. Some of the scenes
he painted were from Israel — the Jaffa
Gate in the Old City, for example. Another
showed a religious man blowing a shofar.
Another depicted his father and other
men at the "Polisha shul" dancing during
Simchat Torah.
"Oh, he recognizes them;' Larry Winer
said. "When he came over today for the
photos, he came back to life again. His
eyes lit up."
Before and after the photo session, the
Larrys talked about the paintings.
The older Larry remembered how it
took almost two years to finish them. He
remembered the order they were hung in
the sukkah at his home.
"My 13-year-old daughter Kayla select-
ed the order this year:' the younger Larry
said. He and his wife, Rita, also have a son,
Josh, 18.
"It's amazing to have his artwork in my

sukkah',' Larry Winer said. "For me, this is
a piece of history. We get to have a piece of
him, his late wife Phyllis, his family."
Younger Larry tries to have older Larry
over most holidays, he says, especially
Sukkot.
"What really gets me about the sukkah
— the biggest thing — is that it's not just
built, but crafted:' the younger Larry said.

"It's a unique work of love that blows me
away.
"And when it comes to Sukkah hopping,
this sukkah gets a lot of attention. All are
invited to come see it. I wish I didn't have
to take it down every year."
Somehow Larry Horowitz knew, in the
hands of his good friend Larry, his legacy
would be treasured.

More paintings from the sukkah

September 27 • 2007

35