Sunday, September 19, 2021

A traveller's sukkah which fits in the trunk of your car

You can buy a ready-made sukkah.

Learn something strange every day. You can buy a fold-up safari sukkah which fits in the trunk of your car. I suppose this would be really handy if you were a single son visiting your Auntie Rachel and wanted to put up a two-person sukkah in a hurry. This is from the UK, from a company with offices in three areas of London plus Manchester.

In the USA you can buy a pop-up Sukkah.



Schach - Roof

The website said it comes complete with a schach. I had to look up that word. As I suspected, it is Hebrew and means roof. Now here's the odd thing. It has to be made of something that grows, not a fabric tent. More like twigs. 

After I saw huts at harvest time in India, in the middle of fields, as a temporary shelter for the worker guarding the harvest, the bales of crops, I wondered if a shelter was the idea behind it, or the origin. However, far from protecting you, it has to be open so you can see the sky and it must let in the rain!

I knew it had to be open to the sky. I knew that, because last year I read that if you build one on a balcony, as is done on many apartment blocks in Tel Aviv, it is only authentic, no, that's no a strong enough work, only valid, if  it is open to the sky, not a balcony completely covered by another. 

One year I went to a Sukkah ceremony at the Northwood and Pinner Liberal synagogue in Northwood. I met people who were not Jewish. For example, from the Methodist church next door. The event was also advertised in the local library and assorted free local newspapers and magazines. Other visitors were from multi-Faith organizations such as the Three Faiths organization, uniting Jews, Christians and Muslims. We had honey and apples to eat. Like at Jewish New Year.

Etrog - Citrus

I later visited the Sukkah of a neighbour who was a lay rabbi. He showed me the etrug. (A lemon or symbolic citrus fruit, often in a lemon shaped box.

Lulav

And a frond with four parts. Wave the lulav around, and say a prayer. (In Hebrew.)

You must turn to face north, east, south and west. Not just Jerusalem. Incidentally, Jerusalem is not always east or west. It depends which part of the world you are in. If you are in the west (of Jerusalem), then Jerusalem will be to your East. But if you are East of Jerusalem, then Jerusalem will be to your west. I suppose the same applies to saying prayers, building a religious building, and orienting a gravestone.

What is the difference between a sukkah and Sukkot? A sukkah is the temporary building. Sukkot is the festival.

Useful Websites

https://sukkahmart.co.uk/pages/about-sukkot

https://sukkahmart.co.uk/products/safari-sukkah

https://amenvamen.com/sukkah-kit-reviews

Sukkah kit

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264476751808?chn=ps&norove

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