Succah Up Early

Yesterday one of our sons came by to help my husband put up the succah. First I treated him to a nice meal, soup, chicken and all the trimmings. Then they got to work.

As you probably notice, the decorations sort of survived the year in the storage room. So we really don't have too much else to do.

I even cleaned the plastic chairs, since we had a pre-Yom Kippur Shiur, class, in the house afterwards. And then I gave the leftover cake and some watermelon to the lovely young yeshiva student who taught us.

Baruch Hashem, thank Gd...

Succot! Enjoy ושמחת בחגך

Tonight we celebrate the weekly Succot Holiday. Enjoy!

As you can see, I managed to decorate our succah. Some of the decorations are very old, but most are from Jewish Calendars sent by various charities. I just cut out the pictures and put them up with thumbtacks. I also use New Years- Rosh Hashana Cards people have sent us. That makes decorating the succah very easy and low cost, free is about as cheap as you can get other than decorated succah fabric/walls.

Our succah is wood, but actually, the walls of our merpeset,  balcony/terrace go halfway up, so the wood, pergola and wall pieces don't start from the floor. Our sons came over the other night to help my husband get it all up, including the s'chach, special reusable roof.

This year we bought a new supply of plastic chairs, and we're looking forward to having a few guests. What are your plans?

Succah Up, But Needs Decorators

B"H, my wonderful sons came by after work and within minutes had the succah up. Luckily my husband had found all the boards beforehand.

Now, I'm stuck with the job of decorating. We have a box of decorations. I just have to get inspired to put some up. B"H some stayed up from last year.

PS Did you notice that we bought new Keter plastic chairs? Most of our old ones either broke or disappeared.

Succah 5778 is UP!!

Our son came by last night on his way home from work to help my husband. He's the same son who built the new pergola a few years ago, when our old one was close to collapse.

PS The decorations are from last year. Somehow they survived well on the walls in our storage room under the house. That saves us from the chore of decorating...

Confession: I Did Not Decorate The Succah!

This year, I had even less to do with the succah, that traditional Jewish "hut" of sorts that is supposed to become our "home," or at least the dining room during the Jewish Holiday of Succot, which is exactly two weeks after Rosh Hashanah begins and half a week after Yom Kippur. It's a holiday that ends with a "whimper" in a way, because although there is close to a week of Chol Hamoed, which is a quasi-holiday time, there's no end of Holiday HolyDay, like for Passover. A week after Succot begins is Simchat Torah, which is a different holiday and does not require a succah. I hope I didn't confuse you too much.

When we had our house built we planned it with a nice merpeset, balcony/terrace for the succah, so it's not all that complicated to assemble. It was always my husband's job, and when the boys got older, they helped a lot. But now they aren't home. They have lives of their own, so my husband is back being completely responsible for it, but I am supposed to decorate it. But I did not have time. I was at work yesterday and barely had time to finish the cooking when I got home, and I also scrubbed the succah floor which was dirtier than ever before, since we had suffered from that dust storm that had lasted for a couple of weeks.

As you can see, we have lots of succah decorations we've collected over the years. It's just a matter of taking thumbtacks and tacking them up, but I couldn't. We were expecting guests who needed to eat.

The succah did get decorated. Guess who did it!

Yes, that's my husband!

Getting Ready for Succot!

The custom is to start getting the succah built after Yom Kippur, but many people start earlier, and some do it all at the last minute. There have been signs of Succot approaching for weeks in Jerusalem, Shiloh and Sha'ar Binyamin. Those are the only places I've been to of late.

I must admit that I'm very glad that building a succah is not my responsibility. I'm happy being responsible for all other aspects of the holiday preparations, cooking, even cleaning etc. At most I may decorate the succah, but even that isn't all that hard. It's just a matter of time. We have a big box of decorations that go up pretty quickly. Either I'll get it done, or I won't. And if you're curious, the best and cheapest (free!) decorations are old Jewish Calendars, which various organizations send out for free. Just use the pretty pictures. Here are a few photos of Succot preparations I've taken. Enjoy!

Like a "doll house," this is a child-sized succah!

reflected succah decorations

Chag Succot Sameach!

For the very first time ever....

My husband decorated the succah this year. He had help with the building, as son #1 came over for that part of the Succot chores.  I have been very, very busy of late and even did a shift at work Wednesday morning Erev Chag, on the Eve of the Holiday. That's when my husband and son put up the succah.

When I got home I was totally and utterly wiped out. I had enough left to do in the kitchen. We have the world's easiest to put up and cheapest decorations. They are mostly pictures from Jewish Calendars that are sent out or distributed for free every year. Once the year is over, I add them to the pile of decorations. We have enough to decorate either a large public succah or a dozen family ones. So I asked my husband to leave his computer for a bit and stick up some pictures with thumbtacks, which he did, thank G-d.

See, we have a nicely decorated succah, and I didn't have to do it.

Getting Ready for Succot, Thank You, G-d for Making Me a Woman!

OK, this can be considered sexist in the "other direction." I'm very happy that succah building isn't my project at home. And I'm glad that I don't have to deal with getting the "Arba Minim," "Four Species" etc.

Yesterday in shul on Yom Kippur, as I was happily ensconced in front-row center seat in the Ezrat Nashim, Women's Gallery in our neighborhood synagogue, I was very happy to watch the men having to deal with the nitty-gritty of conducting the prayers. I know that the wonderful dovening they led took a lot of preparation. The very talented second-generation Shiloh resident who led us in the final Ne'ila Prayer had it timed absolutely perfectly, which is amazing. This prayer must end exactly on time, not before and not after. On time means that Yom Kippur is over, and the shofar may be blown to herald the end of the holiest day of the year. And considering that everybody (except for those forbidden due to medical issues) has been fasting for 25 hours, nobody wants this prayer to go past that predetermined time. I wouldn't want that responsibility on me.

The pre and post Yom Kippur meals were easy. I just made double and served us the same menu for both meals. And I'll manage the Succot cooking, too. I've been married forty-four 44 years and have dealt with the logistics of food-planning without too many disasters, thank G-d.

It's enough that the decorations are in my hands. I have a very easy way to get simple, free and attractive decorations for the succah. I use the pictures in Jewish Calendars which are sent to us for free from various institutions and charities.

All I need to buy are the thumbtacks to stick them on our wooden walls. If your walls are cloth then use a simple straight pin.

I thought that this would be a short post, but it isn't. Enjoy the Holidays. I have other things to do.

Chag Succot Sameach, 

Have a Wonderfully Joyous Succot!

ושמחת בחגך

Real Rosh Hashannah New Year's Cards!

Decades ago, tables like this one were all over the streets of Jerusalem:

RonAlmog, The Four Species Market

This holiday card business is a lot easier as a seasonal Holiday business than selling etrogim and the rest of the "four species." Just pack them up and sell again next year.

Decades ago, when I first came to Israel, before the science fiction idea of "email" and internet, there weren't even phones in every Israeli home. Cards just like these were mailed, and the mailmen brought them to every building. The boxes bulged with New Years greetings.

This woman is stationed on King George Street, not far from the "old Hamashbir." She's near where Carvel used to be and, yes, across from where Richie's Pizza was. Hmmm... now how can I describe it in today's terms? In the plaza under the steps to Lev Yerushalayim, sort of across from Hahistadrut Street.

The card designs are in the classic style, so why not buy some, give to friends and they can use them to decorate their succah or just enjoy. She also has calendars.

Sukkah Improvement

We had most of our Israeli progeny over for Shabbat.  The kiddies decided to jazz up our sukkah and add a few more decorations. 

Some of the pictures the kids brought got wet during the Succot drizzle we had last night, but as you can see, our sukkah has more life to it now with homemade decorations by the grandkids. 

Thank G-d the grandkids are much more talented in all this arts & crafts stuff than I am.  For a pretty sukkah I have to rely on the Jewish Calendar pictures, Rosh Hashannah cards and store-bought stuff.

Our Sukkah 5774, Something New

This year even though I really had no time, I decided not to use all of the old posters we keep stored away.  Almost all of the decorations are "new."  No, I didn't do arts & crafts or shop for new decorations.  I put away the pretty Jewish Calendars that come in the mail for free from various charities and Jewish organizations.  Most of the new pictures I tacked up are from Ir David and Hebron calendars.  This year my husband managed to erect the sukkah and even get the s'chach up all by himself.

 

 

Decorating a sukkah can be done easily and inexpensively even when you don't have a young, enthusiastic staff of kids to help.

Glad I'm A Woman! And Succah Decorating Tips

There are many Torah observant women who try to bend halacha to give them the responsibilities of men in Jewish Life.  I'm not among them at all.  I'm glad that I don't have to lead a rousing prayer while fasting.  It was enough to dance along to the Yom Kippur prayers on tired legs and an empty stomach.  G-d must have given lots of energy to the young men who acted as our voluntary chazanim, cantors.  I was very happy not to have to deal with all that public responsibility.

Many of us traditional Torah observant women joke that Succot is the female revenge for Passover.

Passover logistics, cleaning and organizing fall mainly on the females, while building a succah and purchasing the arba'a minim, four botanical species fall on the males.  For some men, succah construction is a total nightmare.

 

 

Not everyone enjoys the challenge of building a succah.

And for those who are looking for an easy and inexpensive way to decorate their succah, the best deal is to use the pictures in Jewish Calendars.

I hope that you haven't thrown out last year's calendar, because you can hang up the pictures.  Also, if you've received more than one calendar, this year, or more than you need, you can just hang up pictures from one of the calendars.  Many of the decorations we use, are free calendar pictures.

Enjoy!

Signs of Succot, The Next Holiday

It's traditional to start building succot after breaking the Yom Kippur fast, and last night, when I was walking around my neighborhood I did see and hear lots of neighbors busy building their succot.  Since we live in a rather rural/suburban-style community, it's no problem to build a private succah or two.  Yes, there are quite a few families that build two succot, one for eating in and the other as a bedroom.

The following pictures were actually taken last week, before Yom Kippur in both Jerusalem and Shiloh.  G-d willing, more to follow.

Can't Kvetch-It's A Mitzvah To Be Happy

ושמחת בחגך

V'Samachta B'Chaguecha

And you were joyful in your festivals

Yes, we were in Holiday mode in our neighborhood shul. With the sadness, also joy, as some neighbors added grandchildren, and one was even named. Other neighbors were away, because a grandson was Bar Mitzvah on the first day of Succot.

My house was full with four out of five kids and all the grandkids. The kids put up the succah and decorated it. I'll have to post pictures.

In recent years I've collected all sorts of things for easy-made decorations. The best are Jewish calendars and Rosh Hashannah Cards. It's all free, so if they get rained on, it's no big deal. Next year use this year's calendar.

The weather was strange, hot, dry and smelling of rain on the way. I hope it clears for tomorrow and the next day when all sorts of activities are planned for tourists and locals at Tel Shiloh. I've made no plans, just hanging out in Shiloh, going to the Tel and hoping to see friends etc.

The Avihu Chai March will be in the Shiloh area this year.