Shalom to my Bnai Shalom family!
Our Torah commands us leisheiv basukkah – to dwell in the sukkah – for seven days in remembrance of the forty years the Israelites wandered in the desert on their journey from Egypt to the land of Canaan.
Some Jews treat the sukkah as their primary home during the festival: eating, drinking, playing games and even sleeping in it. Sleeping under a sukkah can be a wonderful spiritual experience (especially if you like camping), but since we must be able to see the sky through the roof, it can also be cold and wet!
The way many Jews in the diaspora celebrate the holiday is to take their meals in it. We are hosting two main meals in our large courtyard sukkah: our annual Pizza in the Sukkah prior to Friday night services and the very popular "Steaks and Brews" night. But there are far more meals during the week. What if you don't have a sukkah, couldn't come to those events, but want to fulfill this mitzvah by having a meal in a sukkah? Well, now you can!
You may have noticed on your way into the synagogue on Yom Kippur that we have not one, but two sukkot erected – one in the courtyard and one outside the building on the lawn. The small sukkah on our lawn is for YOU. To fulfill the mitzvah, just bring a snack or meal (especially one with bread) and have it outside in our community sukkah. You can come anytime – breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack time. (Please bring any trash home with you and note that when the building is closed there are no restroom facilities available.) There are still a couple of days left in Sukkot, so it's not too late! And if you do come, please take a photo!
Kol Tuv v' Chag Sukkot Sameach!
Rabbi Adrienne :)
Rabbi@bnaishalomeaston.org
Cell Phone: 609-577-6842
SERVING THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF EASTON SINCE 1839