The beginnings of a sukkah
This is what a sukkah looks like when UPS delivers the basic construction elements.
10 – Bamboo poles, 3″ x 8′
4 – rolls of reed fencing, 8′ x 16′
And after the packages are opened, and laid out for inspection. It all looks good!!
The sukkah will be attached to this carport, and extend out into the driveway five feet. It is a large sukkah of around 10′ by 18′ … but one night during the festivities, I will host my congregation and expect around ten to twelve guests.
It will be substantially complete with the walls and roof supports up, then a day or two before the holy day, some of the men and women of the congregation will come by and put reeds on the roof. Another tradition is that one must be able to see the stars through the roof. Another tradition is that the roofing material needs to be ‘pulled’ from the ground, so using tree branches is out. Of course, I am not going to require that the river cane up be pulled up, but rather cut it close to the ground. We make our concessions ..
I will install a long table or two for the guest night, but the rest of the time I will have a much smaller table in it for meals. Meals will be prepared in the house and carried out to the sukkah
I will put my studio day bed in one corner and sleep there. It will also serve as a more comfortable seat than the folding chairs. A remnant of carpeting will cover the floor, and a grounded plug will provide power to a floor lamp for illumination. I may put white LED Christmas lights up in the river canes to provide additional illumination.
So begins the process of building up for the High Holy Days. Tonight is Rosh Hashannah, the New Year on the lunar calendar. I prefer to call the day Yom Truah, or day of the trumpets, because on this day throughout the world, the shofar, or rams horn, is blown in all the synagogues. Why? Because we are instructed to.
I will be posting progress reports when I begin constructing it …
Rusty's Armory 