...On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival of Sukkot, seven days for the L-RD. -Leviticus 23:34

Sukkot, more than any other festival in the Jewish calendar, enjoys a series of diverse rituals and moods, and the music reflects this variety of festive and liturgical expression.  The rich plethora of moods includes thanksgiving, aesthetic beautification, rejoicing, dancing, singing, hope, and judgment.  The heart, the mind, and the body are all engaged in this pilgrim festival of Sukkot.

The building of a sukkah begins immediately after the awesome Yom Kippur day.  The mood changes dramatically with this initial act of building.  It is traditional to build and beautify the sukkah with a variety of pictures and decorations that reflect the themes of the festival.  This is, after all, a temporary dwelling place where we invite friends and family, as well as spiritual guests (ushpizin) such as our ancient patriarchs and matriarchs.  The other pronounced physical act is the grasping of the four species, the lulav, etrog, myrtles, and willows.  During the liturgy of the festival, the four species are pointed in six different directions and shaken at certain specified moments of the recitation of the liturgical texts in the Hallel section of the service.  A specially designated melody matches the rhythm of the shaking and pointing.

Hoshana Rabbah, the concluding day of Sukkot, contains musical touches of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.  The familiar majestic melody for the great Kaddish chanted before the Musaf on the High Holy Days, for example, is appropriated for the Kaddish prayer on Hoshana Rabbah.  The melody reflects the fact that, according to Jewish mystical tradition, even as late as the end of Sukkot, there is still time for repentance.  Also on Hoshana Rabbah an additional set of willows is beaten against the floor and walked for seven circuits around the perimeter of the synagogue to symbolize our determination to separate sin from our lives.

Strange as these customs may seem to the outsider, they derive from the fact that Sukkot was considered the festival in ancient Temple days.  Whenever the Talmud refers to Sukkot, it calls Sukkot "the festival".  In addition, at each morning service of the festival, we recite the Hallel with its psalms of thanksgiving.

The last day of the festival is called Shemini Atzeret, the "Eighth Day of Solemn Assembly".  The day marks the beginning of the rainy season in Israel and contains an element of God's judgment regarding water, famine, and plenty.  During Shemini Atzeret, we recite Tefillat Geshem, the prayer for rain, with a unique musical motif.  This most important prayer pleads for an ample supply of rain.  Reflecting the prayer's significance and importance, the hazzan is required to don the white gown of the High Holy Days while chanting it.  In the midst of this "season of our rejoicing", the Yizkor memorial service is also recited.  We are obliged to always remember our departed even, or perhaps especially when, we are at the height of our joyous celebrations.

The concluding climactic day of the festival is Simchat Torah.  This later, post-biblical addition to the festivities was created during the Geonic period at the end of the 6th century CE.  Simchat Torah marks the completion of the annual reading of the Torah and the immediate beginning, once again, of the reading of the first chapter of Genesis.  Two special honors are given to the people called up to the Torah for the completion and resumption of the Torah reading cycle--Hattan/Kalla Torah and Hattan/Kallat Bereshit, Groom/Bride of the Torah and of Genesis.  We are all familiar with the bursts of joyous music and dancing associated with this celebration and the accompanying sense of abandon and exhilaration.  This is a great opportunity to sing selections from the vast repertoire of Israeli, Yiddish, and liturgical songs.  Dancing and singing with the Torah scrolls reminds us of the joy in Judaism and of the faith in a future of peace and redemption.

The heart, mind, and body are all part of our expression as we celebrate this unique festival with its variety of musical themes.  Join us for services, and let us pray and hope for a year of good health and good fortune.  Chag Sameach

Beth El Sukkah

The new Beth El sukkah will be put up in the rear of the synagogue behind the Zahler Social Hall.

Danoff Sukkah Factory Filled Backyards

By Pat and Jerry Danoff

In the summer of 1988, we had three young children and decided that in October, for the first time, we would have a sukkah. We wanted our kids to experience Sukkot the same way Jerry had done when he was growing up. After searching unsuccessfully for a suitable and affordable store-bought sukkah, Jerry decided to design one himself. '

He visited many hardware stores and lumber yards, then sat down with a pad of paper and drew up plans for an eight-foot by eight-foot wood-frame structure that could be easily assembled and disassembled. The pieces of lumber were held together by bolts with wing nuts. An ingenious flat piece of metal known as a mending plate provided sturdy corners for stand-alone stability.

The sukkah turned out so well that we decided to make several more and use them as a fundraiser at Beth El. From those humble beginnings, the sukkah kit project grew, and the product line expanded. During the next 13 years, we sold more than 300 standard kits, as well as many extension kits that expanded the sukkah to 8 feet by 12 feet. Copies of do-it-your self instructions were mailed to families in England, South Africa, and around the United States, including California. Men from Nitzanim made up the construction crew in the early years, followed by our kids, David, Adam, and Emily, who helped us with production as soon as they were old enough to lift a plank and wield a drill. Every August and September, the cars were moved out of the garage and replaced with stacks of lumber and the sweet smell of sawdust.

Word about the sukkah kits spread, and there was usually more demand for them than we could supply, since 20 to 25 kits per year was all our mom-and-pop operation could handle. Eighty percent of the kits were bought by Beth El members, with the rest going to families, shuls, and Hillel Houses throughout the community, including Hillel at Virginia Tech and George Mason University. We encouraged others to use the design to start their own sukkah business, which some people did.

Our goal of helping Jews dwell in the sukkah had been achieved. Congregation Beth El put up more Sukkot per capita than any other synagogue we could find. We donated a healthy profit to the Youth Department every year, but something else special was happening too. Through the sukkah kits, our family got to know many other families. We talked at length on the phone or in person with people who were old sukkah hands or those who wanted to build one for the first time but claimed they were too klutzy to succeed. We assured them that anyone who could read could assemble the kit. Well, almost anyone. Jerry did have to make an emergency house call to help a lawyer who just couldn't figure out how to fit everything together!

Because we provided only the frame, the coverings for the sides were with selected by the owner, thereby ensuring that every sukkah would look completely different from every other.

Constructing and decorating the sukkah became an anticipated annual event in our household, and Sukkot was (and still is) the family's favorite Jewish holiday. No matter where our kids live, they return to Bethesda for at least a few days to be together in the sukkah. We loved being invited to sukkah parties to see how the pile of lumber we put into a minivan the week before had been transformed into a beautiful adn unique place to celebrate Sukkot, the Festival of the Tabernacles. Sitting in our little booth on a crisp fall night, we experienced great satisfaction and joy thinking about all the fellow congregants, friends, and neighbors who were doing the same thing.

We hope that reading our reminiscences has rekindled memories of a sukkah you have built. While we suspect that some of the Beth El kits have been retired, we are confident that many are still being put up every year. If you will soon be assembling one of the original models, we'd love to hear from you. In 2001, when the boys had moved away and our backs weren't as strong as they used to be, we reluctantly closed the Danoff sukkah factory. If someone would like to revive the project, we would be happy to turn over the plans and tell you some of the things we learned along the way.



The original sukkah kit



Sukkah kit with extension