The Fesitval of Booths

Comedian JOEL CHASNOFF explains the Jewish calendar by noting that the holidays make no sense in terms of the weather we experience during them.  For example, just as the weather gets colder and the leaves begin to change color, we decide to build make-shift huts with no roofs and no walls and sleep outside for a week.  Chasnoff is, of course, talking about the Jewish holiday of SUKKOT, or the Festival of Booths, when we build temporary huts to commemorate the huts we might have lived in while wandering in the desert after leaving Egypt.  It’s true that the weather in Israel is getting cooler too (if you can believe that), and sure enough, at the beginning of the week, two of the Yeshiva boys living in our apartment building built a sukkah in front of the building and moved two mattresses outside so they could sleep there for the week. 

There are very specific specifications for what makes a sukkah kosher, and unfortunately the space Andy and I have does not qualify us to be able to build a sukkah.  In honor of the holiday, we walked down the street to one of the many local restaurants who had put up a sukkah outside and left its doors open, allowing us sukkah-less folk to make Kiddush and perform the mitzvah of sitting in the sukkah.  If this seems a bit extreme, then let me introduce you to our neighbor, who decided to start building a “sukkah addition” to his mirpeset (balcony) at 7:00am two mornings before Sukkot started.  What exactly is a sukkah addition, you ask?  I’m not sure either, but here’s what I can tell you—the railing to his mirpeset was removed, and a wooden structure looking very much like a tree house was erected as an extension of off his balcony.  The structure is supported by beams reaching two stories down to the ground, and the floor of his structure overlaps with the concrete floor of his balcony.  Let’s just say, I’m glad he did not invite me over to his sukkah, and I’m not excited for the removal process!  Neither is Andy.

Sukkot in Israel reminds me of Christmas in the States for two main reasons.  The first is that, in the weeks leading up to Christmas in many areas in the US, people start hanging up Christmas decorations including lights and giant Santa Claus statues.  Even in my heavily Jewish area, it can seem like every house has Christmas lights.  In my heavily Jewish area in Israel, people started building sukkot in the weeks before the holiday, and it seems as if every house and restaurant has a sukkah.  It is a nice change that the decorations in public places reflect my religious holiday!  We were even able to eat in a sukkah at a sushi restaurant last night, while being entertained by singing coming from one of the neighboring houses (Christmas carols, anyone?). 

The second reason I am reminded of Christmas is because Sukkot requires the use of very specific agricultural species that farmers grow all year round just to sell for this specific holiday.  On Sukkot, we take 4 species from the land of Israel (a branch from the willow and myrtle trees,  a palm frond not unlike those used on Palm Sunday, and a citron-type fruit which we call the etrog) and shake them in all directions to signify the everywhere-ness of G-d.  The parallel here is, of course, the Christmas tree.  Jewish farmers spend all year cultivating these four species, so that Jews all over Israel can buy each branch individually, after hours of inspecting every little leaf.  Seriously, some guys had magnifying glasses with them!  Andy and I went to a giant tent that was set up at the end of the shuk, and Andy was able to put his excellent bargaining skills to work to buy us a beautiful lulav and etrog!  This morning, when Andy and I returned to the shuk, the tent was gone—much like Christmas tree farms that pop up around Christmas time and are gone by New Years. 

It is also fun to note that while my friends in the states are celebrating two days of “chag”, or days of traditional observance of Sukkot, with many of the same prohibitions of Shabbat, in Israel, we only celebrate one day, which allows us to bring this blog post to you before entering the holy hours of Shabbat!