20 | OCTOBER 10 • 2019 

T

he Torah tells us what 
to do with a sukkah: “In 
Sukkot you shall dwell 
for seven days; every citizen 
of Israel shall dwell in sukkot” 
(Leviticus 23:42). Dwelling, as 
the ancient rabbis understand 
the term, means treating the 
sukkah as one treats home the 
other weeks of the year: “One 
eats and drinks and walks 
around and sleeps in the suk-
kah” (Talmud Sukkot 28b). 
 The Talmudic rabbi Rava 
also derives one related lenien-
cy from the word “dwell”: One 
does not stay in the sukkah if it 
feels uncomfortable, just as one 
would leave an uncomfortable 
house (Talmud Sukkah 26a). 
Feeling comfortable in 
the sukkah seems just right 
for this time of year in the 
land of Israel, with generally 
dry and temperate weather. 
Feeling comfortable in a suk-
kah seems less likely in cold, 
wet lands. Jews who want 
to use the sukkah do put up 
with a little discomfort.
About 30 years ago, a young 
man from New York City 
came to visit his wife’
s family 
in suburban Detroit. That first 
night on Sukkot, the family 
put on their overcoats and 
prepared to eat dinner in the 
sukkah. The visitor objected: 

“It is nearly freezing!” The host 
replied, “You can decide you 
feel uncomfortable in New York 
City when it is nearly freezing. 
If we used that standard here, 
we would hardly ever use our 
sukkah at all.
”
Few Detroiters tried to 
sleep in the sukkah back then. 
Sharon Krasner of Oak Park 
recalls that her late husband 
took all three children to sleep 
in the sukkah decades ago. The 
younger two came in at 3 a.m., 
complaining of the cold. Dad 
and the oldest child stuck it out 
until 6 a.m. Mom never tried. 
Over the decades, the climate 
in suburban Detroit has become 
more hospitable to sleeping in 
sukkah. People who do it now 
give some helpful hints. 
Larry Winer of Oak Park rec-
ommends having “a thin mat-
tress or padding and sleeping 
bag. Pray it doesn’
t rain or snow 
(actually fun when it does). 
Expect to wake up very early.
”
You can keep off the ground 
by using an air mattress. Caryn 
Finkelman (my daughter-in-
law) recommends putting a 
blanket between you and the air 
mattress, “otherwise you are just 
heating up the mattress.
” 
I use a cot to keep me off the 
cold hard ground and a sleeping 
bag on top of the cot. 

As we enjoy the brisk fall 
weather in Michigan, we should 
remember that some places 
experience more intensive cold. 
Former Detroiter Claude 
Schochet, now in Israel, recalls 
that when he was growing up 
in Minnesota, they would leave 
the sukkah if ice formed on the 
surface of the soup. 
Rabbi Ari Ellis of Oak 
Park had lived in Winnipeg, 
where “the average nightly 
temperature for mid-October 
hovers just above freezing at 36 
degrees. We’
d bundle up. 
“
A handful of members of 
our congregation had the right 
equipment (space heaters and 
outdoor gear) and did sleep 
in the sukkah. And while our 
night-time temperatures are 
a little more than 10 degrees 
warmer, it’
s still quite cold. 
“If it was 45 or 50 degrees 
in our house (i.e. if the fur-
nace was broken or there was 
a power outage), we would 
endeavor to find somewhere 

else to stay,
” Ellis said.
Brooke Weingarden, who 
belongs to Southfield-based 
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, 
said she and her family set up 
camp last year and slept in their 
sukkah. “It’
s a chilly but won-
derful and fun family tradition. 
I am grateful that we have a 
strong sukkah to keep the wind 
out. It feels like we are camping 
in our driveway.
”
Over the centuries, some 
rabbis have issued — pardon 
me — blanket permission not 
to sleep in the sukkah. Most of 
these rabbis lived in cold parts 
of Europe. 
Sleeping in the sukkah feels 
like an adventure, camping out 
at home, getting to know your 
natural neighborhood intimate-
ly. It also amounts to a whole-
body religious experience: feel-
ing exposed to the elements and 
protected by the One who has 
protected our ancestors. When 
else can you do a mitzvah in 
your sleep? 

Jews in the D

LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Sukkah 
Sleeping

The tradition of dwelling in a 
sukkah for seven days can 
include overnight stays.

COURTSY OF BROOKE WEINGARDEN

TOP: The Weingarden 
family sukkah. LEFT: 
Maya Weingarden 
slept in the sukkah 
last year.

