Jewneric: A New Platform for the Jewish Voice

I like sukkahs that have carpeting. And retractable roof coverings to keep the sukkah dry when it rains.

That’s very cool, and sounds cold! I can tell you that Detroit on Sukkoth is also quite cold. Our Sukkah was built of wood, and was adjacent to our house, so that only 3 walls were needed in addition to the outer wall of the house. What was cool about our Sukkah was the fact that it was built around our in-ground gas grill. B/c it ran on gas from the house’s main gas line, rather than a propane tank or coal, all we had to do was turn the gas on low and light the flame before the start of Yom Tov, which allowed us to use the gas grill as a heater for our otherwise FREEZING (especially at night!!) Sukkah!

I also used to marvel as a kid at those who had built doors into their wooden Sukkoth. I thought that was really cool, because it made the Sukkah feel like a real home, as opposed to another room of the house, or some prefab plasticky thingy or some tarp tent. I really like the idea of the Sukkah feeling like a makeshift home, albeit without most luxuries of a permanent house. I feel like that’s the way it was always meant to be. One example of a Sukkah that I think was really well done, wasn’t so much in its construction, but in its utilization. A family in Detroit has a Sukkah that is very welcoming. The owner of the Sukkah is the retired, former owner of a large dairy company, and he and his family made sure the Sukkah was appropriately decorated with various dairy themes (milk, cheese, cows, etc.), as well as a large cardboard cutout of Laurel and Hardy, wishing all comers a “Very Hardy Welcome” to their Sukkah. The hosts would often invite friends to their Sukkah during the week and on the afternoons of the holidays to come have caramel/chocolate/candy apples in their Sukkah. Finally, to top it off, I always loved coming over to watch (I was too young then to participate) the host and his sons and sons-in-law play Scrabble, while drinking scotch and smoking fine cigars. That’s how you “live” in your Sukkah!

Ah, Montreal succcot! I have extremely fond memories of succot in Montreal and still miss it. My family is there but I now go to Israel every year and stay in homes that have 3 succot; 1 main one for eating and 2 on balconies off bedrooms for sleeping in. We have a 3/4″ plywood succah on our deck in Montreal which is help up via wooden beams which simply latch on to a support screwed into the brick of the house, and slip over the far wall of the succah. The thickness of the wood provides some insulation but it’s the heaters and welcoming attitude of our succah that really provides the warmth. Other than the door from the house, our succah has it’s own door leading down the stairs of the deck so guests can come straight into the succah, bypassing the house. On top of that, I was always renowned for hooking up an elaborate electrical system complete with flood lights, fluorescent and “succah lights” (otherwise known as Christmas lights, but which came first, Christmas or Succot? Aha!).
If only I didn’t love Israel over succot so much I’d be home looking out the windows of my succah at the tens of succot visible in the adjoining backyards all the way down the block. And sleeping outside in -40 degree weather (I’ve done it!).

I grew up in LA, so once we had to leave the succah because it was over 100 degrees farenheit. In my New Jersey experience, Succot is usually not too cold, but it’s right at that transition time between Fall and Winter. More than once I have woken up after my self-obligatory first noght sleeping in the succah to discover that it was suddenly under 32 degrees (0 degrees centigrade).