Spirituality

Photo by Chuck Freedman

Staff photos by Angie Baan

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Rabbi Boruch Cohen of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chai Center and Roman
Magidenko of Troy with a lulav and etrog in Birmingham's Shain Park.

Temple Kol Ami members gather in front of their just-completed sukkah.

Holiday For All

Synagogue families decorate their sukkot together.

Shelli Liebman Dorfman

Senior Writer

I

n addition to the at-home sukkot
constructed and decorated during
the past few weeks, several groups
joined in the mitzvah of getting local
synagogues and community sukkot ready
for the holiday.

Scenic Sukkah In The Park

One area synagogue decided to place their
sukkah smack in the middle of nature
— in the natural setting of Shain Park in
Birmingham.
The sukkah, sponsored by members of
the Birmingham Bloomfield Chai Center
in Birmingham, is unique because of its
placement, but also because it is one of 16
chosen nationwide to be part of Sukkot
Across America, a project of the National

Jewish Outreach Program in New York.
The sukkah, a gift donated to the
Chai Center by Jack and Claire Baum of
Birmingham, was inaugurated at a Sept.
30 open house with refreshments, live
music, arts and crafts and a caricaturist.
"We are honored to be part of Sukkot
Across America, proud to be part of the
Birmingham community and excited
about the open house event," said Rabbi
Boruch Cohen, spiritual leader of the Chai
Center.
He said the folks at NJOP "thought
that the Birmingham location was ideal
for Sukkot Across America because it's
sophisticated, cultured and hip, but may
not have a lot of sukkahs."
The sukkah, complete with table and
chairs, will be up during the entire holiday,
which ends Thursday, Oct. 4.
"Any Jew who's in the area and needs or

Sylvia Baum and her son Jack of Birmingham inside the Shain Park sukkah.

34

October 4 • 2007

wants a sukkah to eat in is free to [bring
their meal and] make themselves at
home,' Rabbi Cohen said.
The sukkah, with its bamboo and ever-
green roof, has windows to view the sur-
rounding park. "It really looks beautiful,
which is interesting because beauty is one
of the central themes of the holiday:' he
said. "The themes of the holiday are boun-
ty, beauty and joy. It is connected with the
autumn harvest — and it is the means by
which we 'harvest' the spirituality of the
High Holidays.
"Unfortunately, many people attend
synagogue for the Days of Awe, then miss
the fun by not also attending a sukkah,"
he said. "This is a perfect opportunity for
families to enjoy the fruits and bounty of
their spiritual heritage."

"If they are too little to hang the gourds or
the corn, they can put them by the mums
on the hay stack.
"The sukkah always turns out beautiful
and it always is done a little differently,"
she said. "I want the families to use their
own ideas about how they want it to look."
Sometimes it's a bit difficult to get a
group together to decorate, Stern admit-
ted."The people I can always count on are
my family; they always show up for me."
Stern is pleased when visitors come to
the sukkah during Sukkot "when it looks
finished and beautiful, she said.
"They always walk away with a memory
and sense of pride. We are also giving
their grandparents something wonderful
to share with their grandchildren."

Beautiful Every Year

The Sunday after Yom Kippur is always set
for building the sukkah at Temple Kol Ami
in West Bloomfield.
This year, on Sept. 23, synagogue
members gathered for the Kol Ami
Brotherhood-sponsored pizza lunch and
sukkah construction decorating party.
"The kids work on crafts and decora-
tions while the brotherhood erects the
structure's frame said Paul Gross, a mem-
ber of Kol Ami's board of trustees.
"It's important for synagogues to cre-
ate opportunities for families to celebrate
Judaism and Jewish life, and this is par-
ticular focus at Temple Kol Ami.
"Any activity that brings them to tem-
ple, whether it be religious or just plain
old fun, is a Jewish positive for our young
people and helps create a bond that hope-
fully will stay with them for the rest of
their lives." -1

The lure of free pizza kept some
Congregation Shaarey Zedek religious
school students after class — and out of
the building — on Sept. 23. While lunch
was a perk, the real reason was to decorate
the synagogue's sukkah with their fami-
lies
"Every year we get a different crowd,
so we spend time getting to know each
other," said Cheryl Stern, a member of the
Oakland County-based synagogue's sis-
terhood and chair of the event that drew
about 35 people. By the time the families
arrived at the sukkah decorating party,
Stern had the scach (material for the top
of the sukkah), mums, hay, gourds, Indian
corn and corn stalks ready to go.
The decorating is an organized free-
for-all. "The children are told they can
decorate however they choose Stern said.

Play Together