frontlines

I

n anticipation of Sukkot, I've been
thinking about homes: What is home?
And what exactly makes it so sweet?
Home is where you can kick off your
shoes and the people you love most in
the world get the privilege of enjoying the
unique aroma of your sweaty socks, the
same aroma you would never
dare unleash on anyone you
actually like.
Home is where you put
your feet up and let your hair
down and enjoy the fact that
no one in your home is judg-
ing you or looking you up
and down.
Home is the place you
wear your most comfort-
able clothes. Why is it that
"comfortable clothes" so
often means falling apart and

filled with holes? I know someone who
prays whenever she puts on her favorite
pajamas that there shouldn't be a house
fire that night because she'd be so embar-
rassed if her neighbors saw her.
Home is where you can simply be you
— or, as my son says, home is where you
can scratch where it itches.
Home is where you get the
dubious pride of watching your
children develop the most cre-
ative ways to get out of helping
with the housework or convinc-
ing their younger siblings to
do their jobs for them. Like the
time I asked Yoni to sweep and,
instead, he took the broom,
waved it in a hypnotizing man-
ner in front of Avi while saying,
"You are getting sweeeepy ..."
Stepping out of our homes

JN CONTENTS

is stepping out of our comfort zone and
hammering home the reminder that
everything, including our homes that
keep us warm, dry and comfortable, is
from God. There's a thought that eating
in the Sukkah is like getting a hug from
God — if it's raining, we should feel
super loved; it's like we're getting a big
sloppy kiss, too!
As the saying goes, a man's home is
his castle — complete with his very own
throne — and our willingness to leave
the security and safety of our homes
and all their modern-day comforts and
spend eight days in a flimsy outdoor
but speaks volumes about us, even if it
really is one of the more fun mitzvot.
The weather is finally getting cooler; we
get to enjoy family and friends, ants on
our chairs, bees in our bonnets, flies on
the walls — nothing that will bug us too
much!
Questions to ponder: Does it bother
you when you're eaten out of house and
home? Do you fret about who exactly
is paying for it all, or rather who brings
home the chicken shnitzel (aka glatt
kosher version of bacon)? Do you get
annoyed with people who make you
think the lights are on but nobody's
home?
Like the sukkah, everything is tem-
porary. We are only here for so long —
might as well try to hit a home run.

❑

theJEWISHNEWS.com

Sept. 24-30, 2015 I 11-17 Tishrei 5776 I Vol. CXLVIII, No. 8

Shabbat & Holiday Lights

Around Town
36
Arts & Life
65
Calendar
38
Editor's Picks
70
Health & Wellness ... 58
Israel . . 5, 48-49, 52-53
Marketplace
76
Metro
8
NextGen
56
Obituaries
80

Points of View
Red Thread
Sports
Synagogue List
Torah Portion

Columnists
Danny Raskin
Robert Sklar

52
41
73
54
55

72
52

Shabbat: Friday, Sept. 25, 7:07 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Sept. 26, 8:06 p.m.

Erev Sukkot: Sunday, Sept. 27, 7:03 p.m.
Sulckot, Night 2: Monday, Sept. 28, 8:02 p.m.
Holiday Ends: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 8:00 p.m.

Shabbat: Friday, Oct. 2, 6:54 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Oct. 3, 7:53 p.m.

Shemini Atzeret: Sunday, Oct. 4, 6:51 p.m.
Simchat Torah: Monday, Oct. 5, 7:50 p.m.
Holiday Ends: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 7:48 p.m.

Times are from Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.

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September 24 • 2015

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