The Sukkot Shake

Warning-- Watching the attached video is not a substitute for actually going to synagogue during the holiday and shaking your own lulav.  But, it's a start...

"I'm Gonna Get You, Sukkah"

I'm not sure where this originated, but a friend of mine posted it on her Facebook page and I thought it would be fun to share.  Happy Sukkot!

The Laws of the Sukkah according to Dr. Seuss

Rules of the Sukkah (with numbered footnotes)

You can build it very small (1)
You can build it very tall (2)
You can build it very large (3)
You can build it on a barge

You can build it on a ship (4)
Or on a roof but please don't slip (5)
You can build it in an alley (6)
You shouldn't build it in a valley (7)

You can build it on a wagon (8)
You can build it on a dragon (9)
You can make the s'chach of wood (10)
Would you, could you, yes you should

Make the s'chach from leaves of tree
You shouldn't bend it at the knee (11)
Build your Succah tall or short
No Succah is built in the Temple Court

You can build it somewhat soon
You cannot build it in the month of June (12)
If your Succah is well made
You'll have the right amount of shade (13)

You can build it very wide
You can not build it on its side
Build if your name is Jim
Or Bob or Sam or even Tim

Build it if your name is Sue (14)
Do you build it, yes you do!
From the Succah you can roam
But you should treat it as your home (15)

You can invite some special guests
Don't stay in it if there are pests
You can sleep upon some rugs
Don't you build it where there's bugs

In the Succah you should sit
And eat and drink but never spit
If in the Succah it should rain
To stay there would be such a pain (16)

And if it should be very cold
Stay there only if you're bold
So build a Succah one and all
Make it large or make it small

Succah rules are short and snappy
Enjoy Succos, rejoice be happy.

Footnotes:
1. Maimonides (RMBM) Mishne Torah, Hilchot Succah, Chapter 4, Section 1.
The minimum height of a Succah is 10 tefachim. A tefach is a measure of the width of the four fingers of one's hand. My hand is 3 1/4 inches wide for a minimum Succah height of 32 1/2 inches. The minimum allowable width is 7 tefachim by 7 tefachim. This would result in a Succah of 22 3/4 inches by 22 3/4 inches.

2. The maximum height is 20 Amot. An Amah is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. My Amah is 15 1/2 inches for a maximum height of 25 feet. Others say that 30 feet is the maximum.

3. According to RMBM the Succah can be built to a width of several miles. Shulchan Aruch also says there is no limit on the size of the width.

4. RMBM Hilchot Succah Chapter 4, Section 6.

5. RMBM Hilchot Succah Chapter 4, Section 11. RMBM states that one may construct a Succah by wedging poles in the four corners of the roof and suspending s'chach from the poles. The walls of the building underneath are considered to reach upward to the edge of the s'chach.

6. RMBM Hilchot Succah Chapter 4, Section 8-10 discusses the ins and outs of building your Succah in an alley or passageway.

7. There is a location referred to in the Talmud called Ashtarot Karnayim.
According to the discussion there are two hills, with a valley in between where the Sun does not reach. Therefore it is impossible to sit in the shade of the roof of the Succah. I can't find the reference...hopefully next year.

8. RMBM Hilchot Succah Chapter 4, Section 6. You can go into a Succah built on a wagon or a ship even on Yom Tov.

9. RMBM Hilchot Succah Chapter 4, Section 6. OK, RMBM says a camel but dragon rhymes with wagon a lot better, don't you agree. Anyway, RMBM says you can build your Succah on a wagon or in the crown of a tree, but you can't go into it on Yom Tov. There is a general rule against riding a beast or ascending into the crown of a tree on Yom Tov.

10. Chapter 5 deals with the rules for the s'chach. Basically, you can use that which has grown from the ground, and is completely detached from the ground. So, for example, you cannot bend the branches of a tree over the Succah to form the s'chach. But you can cut the branches from a tree and use them as s'chach.

11. This would be a violation of the rule cited in the prior footnote.

12. Shulchan Aruch, Hilchot Succah, Perek 636, Section 1. The Succah should not be built sooner than 30 days before the Chag. However, if the structure is built prior to 30 days, as long as something new is added within the 30 days, the Succah is kosher.

13. Of course it's a well known rule that you must sit in the shade from the roof of the Succah and not in the shade that may be cast by the walls. It seems that this might affect the height of the walls, depending on the longitude of the location where you are building your Succah.

14. Technically, women, servants and minors are exempt from the Mitzvah of Succah. In our day we hope we know better than to read out half the Jewish people from the observance of Mitzvot. Of course, that's just a personal opinion of the author.

15. RMBM ibid Chapter 6, Section 6 explains that you should eat, drink and live in the Succah for the 7 days as you live in your own home. One should not even take a nap outside of the Succah.

16. RMBM ibid, Section 10. If it rains one should go into the house. How does one know if it is raining hard enough? If sufficient raindrops fall through the s'chach (roof covering) and into the food so that the food is spoiled - go inside!

Shabbatainment This Week 10/11/08

If you weren't at Shir Chadash on 10/11/08, here's what you missed in Shabbatainment This Week!

If you were here for services on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, then you missed a special New Year’s offering on the cable network VH1 Classic. Over the New Year, the station aired a special entitled “Rush Hashanah,” a 24 hour tribute to the Canadian Rock band Rush. The band's Jewish lead singer and bassist, Geddy Lee, was born Gary Lee Weinrib and is the son of Holocaust survivors from Poland. Here I was stuck in services, and I didn’t even get it on the Tivo.

In sports, the Brewers lost out to the Phillies in the National League Divisional playoffs, but they got into the playoffs in a dramatic fashion—at the end of the last game of the season, Jewish player Ryan Braun hit a two-run home run against the Chicago Cubs earning Milwaukee their first playoff spot in 21 years. But don’t worry about the Cubs—they have a Jew to be proud of too. Pitcher Jason Marquis, who hit a grand slam in one of Chicago’s final regular season games. Marquis is the first Jewish pitcher to hit a grand slam since Saul Rogovin of the Detroit Tigers in 1950.  We gotta keep up with baseball so we’re ready for Jeremy’s debut.

Getting a Shabbatainment birthday card today- Michelle Trachtenberg of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and currently on Gossip Girl turns 23. Tomorrow, Joan Rivers turns 73 and Adam Rich, little Nicholas from “Eight is Enough”, turns 40. As an online bonus, here's an
Eight is Enough cheesy video montage. 
They don’t really get a birthday card, but they do get a lovely care package from Sisterhood.

And finally, this story from the Washington Post: A bank robber in northwest Washington DC was looking for a getaway car and had the choice to steal one of two minivans sitting next to each other. One was a nondescript Toyota Sienna. The other was a 15-year-old Dodge Caravan decorated with a huge Star of David with a rooftop cruising light advertising Ohev Shalom synagogue. That was the minivan the robber stole. The “Jewmobile,” as it was known by members of the synagogue, was a traveling ad for the temple featuring a large photo of a shofar and a message on the back of the van inviting folks to “Join us on the High Way.” The robber has not been caught, but the minivan was recovered later in a ditch a few miles from the bank. An APB is out for a man in sunglasses, a baseball cap, and a giant lighted shofar.

Thanks to MyJewishLearning.com for the pic.