The Laws of Sukkah According to Dr. Seuss

The Laws of Sukkah According to Dr. Seuss (see footnotes below)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 schach of wood ¹⁰ Would you, could you, YES you should Make the schach from leaves of treebut shouldn't bend it at the knee ¹¹ Build your Sukkah tall or short No Sukkah’s built in the Temple Court You can build it somewhat soonBut never in the month of June ¹²If your Sukkah is well made You'll have the right amount of shade ¹³ You can build it very wide You cannot 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 Sukkah you can roam But you should treat it as your home ¹⁵ You can invite some special guests Don't stay in if there are pests You can sleep upon some rugs Don't you build it where there's bugs In the Sukkah you should sit And eat and drink but never spit If in the Sukkah 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 Sukkah one and all Make it large or make it small Sukkah rules are short and snappy Enjoy Sukkot, rejoice be happy.  

Notes1.Maimonides (RMBM) Mishne Torah, Hilchot Sukkah, Chapter 4, Section 1. The minimum height of a Sukkah is 10 tepachim. A tepach 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 Sukkah height of 32 1/2 inches. The minimum allowable width is 7 tepachim by 7 tepachim. This would result in a Sukkah 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 Sukkah 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 Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 6.5.RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 11. RMBM states that one may construct a Sukkah by wedging poles in the four corners of the roof and suspending scakh from the poles. The walls of the building underneath are considered to reach upward to the edge of the scakh.6.RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 8-10 discusses the ins and outs of building your Sukkah 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 Sukkah. I can't find the reference…hopefully next year.8.RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 6. You can go into a Sukkah built on a wagon or a ship even on Yom Tov.9.RMBM Hilchot Sukkah 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 Sukkah 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 scakh. 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 Sukkah to form the scakh. But you can cut the branches from a tree and use them as scakh.11.This would be a violation of the rule cited in the prior footnote.12.Shulchan Aruch, Hilchot Sukkah, Perek 636, Section 1 The Sukkah should not be built sooner than 30 days before the Hag. However, if the structure is built prior to 30 days, as long as something new is added within the 30 days, the Sukkah is kosher.13.Of course it's a well known rule that you must sit in the shade from the roof of the Sukkah 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 Sukkah.14.Traditionally, women, servants and minors are patur from the Mitzvah of Sukkah. 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.MBM ibid Chapter 6, Section 6 explains that you should eat, drink and live in the Sukkah for the 7 days as you live in your own home. One should not even take a nap outside of the Sukkah.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 scakh and into the food so that the food is spoiled go inside!

I would really love to credit this to someone but no one I have spoken to really knows the source of the gem! If you have any clues, please post it here in the comments. Thanks! But a special thanks to my uncle, Rabbi Michael Davis for sharing it this year with our family!Update: Thanks to my fabulous commenters, here is the credit! © Rabbi Arthur E. Gould, Sukkot 1999 – 2001.

We have to walk?! Where?

Here's something you need to know about Jerusalem. Other than people park/drive on the sidewalks so be careful.It's actually a smallish town. And public transportation and the shops close down for the sabbath. For those of you who have no clue what I am talking about, here is a crash course. On the sabbath, otherwise known as Shabbat or Shabbis or Shabbos, G-d gave us some prohibitions. Since G-d rested on the 7th day, so are we supposed to. This irons out to 39 types of work that a prohibited.Forbidden on Shabbis:

• Planting
• Plowing
• Reaping
• Binding sheaves
• Threshing
• Winnowing
• Selecting
• Grinding
• Sifting
• Kneading
• Baking
• Shearing wool
• Washing wool (Scouring/Laundering)
• Beating/Combing wool
• Dyeing
• Spinning
• Weaving
• Making two loops
• Weaving at least two threads
• Separating two threads
• Tying
• Untying
• Sewing at least two stitches
• Tearing for the purpose of sewing
• Trapping
• Slaughtering
• Flaying
• Curing hide
• Scraping hide
• Scoring hide
• Cutting hide into pieces
• Writing (two or more letters)
• Erasing
• Building
• Tearing something down
• Extinguishing a fire
• Igniting a fire
• Applying the finishing touch
• Transferring between domains

If you want more details on this, check out the trusty Wikipedia, but suffice to say, some seem super relevant and some not so much but our sages and rabbis have made them relevant. Okay fine. I don't want to get to involved in the laws but this means that all the public transport are shut down and we can't take a cab to our destination. If you want to go anywhere, your only choice is to walk.The point here is that on my very first shabbis in Jerusalem, which has been building a great anticipation, we are walking to the Kotel. Yes, my friends, we are headed to the Western Wall. Very exciting... except it is a 35 minute walk from school.In America, either you go to a shul nearby or you don't go. At least, that is how it is near me. Or frankly, some of us will just drive to shul anyway because the mitzvah of going to daven is more important to me than the prohibition to drive that has been derived from these 39 prohibitions on work. I don't think either perspective is wrong, just different ways to look at the same coin.So we head out for the Kotel. You don't really notice the somewhat strenuous walk because the scenery is amazing. You pass new apartments and old domiciles, petrol stations and ancient roadways. Jerusalem is an amazing amalgam of modernity and old style. New ideas and strongly held ideals.We took the snake path up the side of hill on which the Old City sits. The anticipation builds.We walk along the walls and enter through the Zion Gate. I am ACTUALLY in the Old City!Down the hills and streets, past the playground inside the Old City where Muslim and Christian boys play Football (Soccer to the Americans), and into the crush to go through the security to get to the Kotel.The image laid out before me was breathtaking.

We pushed our way up to as close as we could get to the wall, on the women's side, and did our evening prayers, the Maariv service. Despite being pushed and knocked over by over zealous Christian Russian bloc tourists, it was quite an amazing experience.

The walk back didn't seem to be quite as strenuous... perhaps my self was lighter for the experience.

Traveling Talia for Tishrei, Pt 2

Once I actually found the sherut (taxi van), I had to tell them where I was going… I (I know, I know silly me) didn’t actually write down the address, I just knew it in my head. But when they asked me… I was pronouncing it like an American… and not correctly. And I had forgotten it was a two word name Hizkiyahu HaMelech. Only the document I had had the first word spelled Yehesikayhu… at least I knew my neighborhood, Ketamon.As we drive towards Jerusalem, we are stopped several times to be checked by soldiers. I don’t know the location or purpose of the check other than to keep bombs from exploding in Israeli cities. We passed walls and barbed wire, check points, cities and deserts. All stunning to watch fly by as you hold on for dear life (Israeli drivers are up there for worst in the WORLD… folks, in Israel, the sidewalk is not just for walking, it is for parking too, evidently). After letting a few people off, the driver hounded me for more information. I became a serious casualty of American convenience. When my iPhone would not pick up a signal and I when could not check my email for the details, panic began to spread through my stomach. How in the world would I find my Yeshiva? Would he dump me on some unknown corner with my three suitcases (seriously though I am here for 5 months…) and I would have to end up making camp on the sidewalk? Finally I remembered that my iPhone stored old emails and found one with the address on it. Thank G-d! The other passengers were getting nasty with me. Not as if I was holding them up, he kept dropping them off as I was trying to figure myself out.He dumps me on a corner and I see the school a block up… hill… I start to panic a bit. Here I am in a country where suitcases are blown up if they are left alone for even one minute (because that could be a bomb) with too much luggage (yes mom, you were right … though I was thankful for every bit when I got inside), a very poor command of spoken Hebrew and no way to get to the school. And then, a bright shiny face greeted me.“Are you with Mayanot?” she asked IN ENGLISH!“YES!” I replied tamping down the urge to hug her. She took me to the gate and helped me carry my luggage down the stairs and up the stairs and finally I found my home for the next five months.Yes, I am nearly 30 and living in a dorm and sharing a bathroom and eating communal meals but the classes, the knowledge, the atmosphere of incredible women is worth every second.Yes, we are locked away in our safe castle for now (locked gates all around the building to keep us safe) but soon it will be Tishrei and time to venture out and celebrate the Jewish holidays with the entire country.Did you know our weeks are Sunday through Thursday here? Friday is the Muslim sabbath and Saturday is ours so Fri and Sat are the Israeli Sat and Sun.Did you know you are not allowed to open for business on the holidays here? Pretty cool. To hear the shofar blown in the city of the Bais HaMigdash (the Holy Temple), I think will be a defining moment for me and I hear the singing and dancing parties on Simchat Torah are pretty amazing here.

Teaching Tidbit of the Day

Guilt and remorse come from a place of ego.You have to have rachmanus (empathy) for your neshama (soul). Listen to the soul, hear the mud that is has been dragged through in the past year, feel empathy for the soul, and let it go.Forgive yourself and don't let your ego get in the way. Don't weep for your missteps, move on.

Traveling Talia for Tishrei

Okay, I couldn’t resist the alliteration but I have already traveled and it is not yet Tishrei. We are still in the holy, soul checking month of Elul. However, I have traveled.I left my safe and lovely home in Denver Colorado (as well as my delightful and fun colleagues at Patheos) to travel all by my lonesome to Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel. The travel part was long. It involved a rented minivan and drive from Denver to NYC as my younger brother was starting grad school in the city. Then seven days of hanging with him before embarking on the 12 hour plane right to Israel.Sitting at the gate at JFK, I felt minuscule. There were so many people and so much flying by me. Russian, Hebrew, Yiddish, English, German, and many other languages I couldn’t name. Families and elderly, babies and students. So many people all off on an adventure of their own.Whenever alone in an airport (which is fairly often for me), I always look for single women to chat with. It is nice to have a person to watch your bags for a quick bathroom or water run. This time I met a woman named Neta. She was almost seven months pregnant. We started chatting and I learned her story as she learned mine. She was traveling the USA with her husband (who was on an earlier flight back to Tel Aviv, unfortunately). They were hiking in the Grand Canyon, New Mexico, all over California, they rented a car and traveled for two months around the United States. When they left Israel, she was barely showing and about at the end of her fourth month of pregnancy. Returning, she had a nice belly and was nearly seven months along. We talked about the surprise her family will have when they see her next. We were line buddies for boarding, which is exponentially harder when you are flying to Israel.There is a second security check before you get on the plane. Another take your shoes off and laptops out situation and in fact, you cannot take drinks on the plane unless you have the receipt for buying them in the airport! Once through and settled on the plane, Neta and I were parted.I settled in for the long flight. It was an evening flight where we got dinner right away and then the best plan is to sleep for as long as you can. Still you hear strains of a multitude of languages floating along the cabin. By ‘morning’ or wake-up time, we have crossed 7 time zones… it is 1:30pm in Israel. We have ‘breakfast/lunch’ and touchdown in Eretz Yisrael.That is an amazing feeling! Wow! Everyone applauds and you look out the window to see the desert stretching far and wide before you. Palm trees dot the distance and new construction is everywhere. Ben Gurion airport is technically Tel Aviv but you aren’t near the sea. I didn’t feel holy but I was glad to be out of my seat prison.Once arrived you have the whole new country/passport/customs deal. Get stamped, get luggage and find your way. This trip was so different from my last. Previously, I was a kid, 12/16/17 years old… buses came for us. This time, I had to find my own way on a supershuttle like taxi to Jerusalem… Now that… that was scary!Stay tuned for part two…

Taking personal responsiblity

Breslov Men Don 'Veils' En Route to Reb Nachman's GraveThis is what I was talking about way back when (here) about men taking responsibility for themselves.So you have a standard of modesty. Good. That is a good thing. But you can't force everyone else to live up to it. G-d gave us free choice and that free choice extends to our levels of modesty.I understand that people are up in arms because they think it is a Muslim idea to wear a veil but they are wrong. Don't Jewish women wear tichels (scarves) to cover their hair? The biggest difference in the two is how we tie them. Muslim women are required to cover more areas than Jewish women. I don't understand the uproar on this. Rather they want these men to run around shouting and pushing and hitting women who aren't dressed to their level of tznius (modesty) or breaking televisions? How does that promote klal Yisroel (the unity of the people of Israel)?I commend these men. Kol hakavod, good job for taking your priorities and morals into your own hands without hurting other people or marginalizing them.I mean, I wouldn't want to wear a scarf around my face but I am not a Breslover man...

What did I learn tonight? Some Tanya for you

Tonight I learned in my chevrusa (study group) a section of Tanya.So it says that if you break a positive mitzvah (commandment) then you must ask for forgiveness and you will be instantly forgiven.If you break a negative mitzvah (commandment) then you must ask for forgiveness and it is tentative. You must go through Yom Kippur and then it will all be forgiven.But then it says that the positive is HIGHER than the negative? Why? The forgiveness process is harder for the negative, wouldn't that be higher?I won't go into the whole thing but suffice to say. When you do a positive mitzvah, you get a little bit of divine light within you. If you don't do that mitzvah you can ask for forgiveness and be forgiven but you can never get that divine moment back. When you break the negative mitzvot, you cause a blemish on your soul. You can ask for forgiveness and be forgiven but you have to wait until Yom Kippur for your soul to be wiped clean again. Therefore, you can never get back the benefit of the positive but you can wash away the stain of the negative.___To all my friends and family -I ask for your forgiveness if I have sinned against you in this past year. Please forgive my missteps as I forgive you for yours.

How do you Jew? What is your #ish?

In my family, we like to play with words. My dad is the undefeated MASTER of this. Alliteration, puns, obscure words, rhetorical fun, but of late, his favorite is to turn nouns into verbs.How do you Jew?How are you Jewing?Just Jew it!The Jewish Federation, nationwide, has started a campaign to ask: "What is your #ish?" Essentially, how are you Jewing in your life? What make you Jew#ish?So? What makes you Jew#ish? Tell me and tweet it with the hastag #ish or go to the Federation website and log it there. For every #ish response, JFNA will credit 25 cents to a $50,000 #ish fund for charity. Funds will go to programs and organizations that focus on poverty, elder care, Jewish identity, Israel solidarity and more.

The Saddest Day in Jewish History

Today marks the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is Tisha B'Av.Tisha B'Av means literally, the 9th (tisha) day of the month of Av. There were many tragedies that happened on this day in Jewish history and commemorate them and remember the sadness, today is a fasting day. We began fasting last night around 8:20 (well, that is Denver time) and the fast will end 25 hours later at 9pm (again, Denver time).The fast of Tisha B'Av commemorates 5 tragedies that befell the Jewish people on that date:

• Moses sent 12 spies into Israel to look at the land. Ten came back with horrible reports but two, Joshua & Caleb, brought a positive report. The people Israel believed the bad & not the good, getting themselves 40 years in the desert.
• The first Bet Hamikdash (Holy Temple), built by King Solomon, was destroyed by the Babylonians led by Nebuchadnezzar on the ninth of Av almost 2,500 years ago.
• The second Bet Hamikdash (Holy Temple), built by Ezra and Nehemiah, was destroyed by the Romans on the ninth of Av about 1950 years ago. This scattered the Judean empire and began our exile from Israel.
• The failure of Bar Kochba's revolt against the Roman Empire and the destruction of the city of Betar left 100,000 Jews dead in 132 C.E.
• Jerusalem was destroyed in 133 C.E. after the Roman siege of Jerusalem and the site of the Holy Temple was plowed under by Roman commander Turnus Rufus who renamed it Aelia Capitolina.

Since these tragedies occurred on the ninth of Av, it was decreed as a day of fasting and mourningSource: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 121:5Other tragedies that happened on 9 of Av:

• The First Crusade was declared by Pope Urban II in 1095 C.E. which killed 10,000 Jews in the first month and permanently destroyed renowned Jewish communities in France and the Rhineland.
• 4,000 Jews were expelled from England by King Edward I in the year 1290.
• 300,000 Jews were expelled from Spain by Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon in the year 1492 (which interestingly, led to the first Jew in the Americas... a Ladino Jew who was Columbus' translator... who didn't speak any of the Americas' languages but needed to escape the expulsion).
• Word War 1 started on 1 August 1914 - with Germany declaring war on Russia causing devastation in Europe, German financial depression, increased anti-semitism and setting the stage for WWII and the Holocaust.
• The mass deportation from the Warsaw Ghetto of Jews to the concentration camp Treblinka happened on the eve of Tisha B'Av, 1942.
• The Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 86 and wounding 300 others on the ninth of Av in 1994.(thanks to Halocha a Day on Facebook and Wikipedia for some of these details)

Certainly, this is not the happiest day in Jewish history and there are a lot of ritual surrounding the observance. Not only is there no eating or drinking, people don't wash or bathe, no applying creams or oils, no wearing leather shoes or having "marital relations." In addition to all that, since this is a day of mourning mourning customs apply. This means that people don't sit on comfortable chairs but rather low stools or the floor, some refrain from work or greeting other people or sending gifts. Some people also will alter their sleeping routine and sleep on the floor or without a pillow to be uncomfortable. Of course there are some exceptions. Unlike Yom Kippur, if someone is ill they can eat bread or drink water (whereas on Yom Kippur only life-threatening situations will get you off the hook). Also, you can ritually wash your hands but only to the knuckles and you can clean dirt or mud off your body. But it doesn't stop there. Studying Torah is forbidden on Tisha B'Av... I know, it sounds weird, wouldn't you want to study Torah at a time like this? Well it is considered an enjoyable activity so... no go on that one. Except the Book of Lamentations, Job, and portions of Jeremiah that are considered distressing. Lastly, old prayerbooks or Torahs are buried on this day in a geniza. A geniza is a cemetary for holy books. Since they contain G-d's name, we cannot just toss them out. Therefore, we bury them in a special place.Even after the fast is over and we move into the 10th day of Av, the sadness isn't finished. Tradition tells us that our Holy Temple burned all night and most of the day on the 10 of Av and so many people will refrain from eating meat or drinking wine until midday on the 10th.It is a very intense time for us. Even as I sit at work and write this, I have found myself shaky with hunger and overwhelmed with sadness. But there is hope. Some people believe that the Moshiach (messiah) will be born on Tisha B'Av.Some interesting reading -What Happened on the Ninth of Av?Dozens Commemorate Tisha B'Av with the Family of Gilad ShalitDestruction of the Second Holy TempleEicha- Tisha B'AvStones with a SoulWe want Moshiach NOW!(This blog was first posted at the Modern Midrash Blog of the Jewish Portal at Patheos)

I would like to thank the Academy…

Not really...

But I do want to thank my friend Matthue Roth for his kind words! He blogged here and here about his article on The Future of Judaism at Patheos.

And in the process... said this about me:

A few weeks ago, Talia Davis wrote to a bunch of Jewish techy and thinky folks and asked us what we thought about the future of Judaism. Talia is the force of nature behind the religion blog Patheos.com’s Jewish site, and when she chops down a tree, we hear it.

Aww! :) I feel special now. Thanks Matthue!

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