Construction & Jews

Sukkot is coming.

At this time of year, most Rabbis and Cantors are focused on the High Holidays and sermons.  Jews around the world are planning menus for the the guests that will descend for those same holidays.  For me, I look towards Sukkot.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know I love sukkot.  I have written of my parents' sukkah, with walls of clear plastic to let in light and view my father's gardens, of our sukkot in Hawaii, North Carolina, and New York, and of our current sukkah.  You may even know we are about to go outside and put up this year's sukkah, if I ever stop typing.

I am dressed for sukkah construction.  I am an old pro, having built a sukkah most years since I was ten.  I have also been involved in other construction projects. When I was in grade six, community parents built a playground at my school from donated tires and railroad ties.  As an adult I have done a number of Habitat for Humanity builds.  There is much that is similar among all these construction projects, from tools, to reasons, but there are also differences.

Beyond the most obvious differences is the absence of the required steel-toed shoes and hard hats.  My clothes are similar, but I will be wearing a ball cap to shield me from the sun, and most likely my crocs.  They are bright blue and, most definitely, do not have steel toes.

However, even as I plan to put on my crocs, I wonder if I should go find some steel-toed shoes.  We build a serious sukkah.

I am not a sukkah snob.  I feel that everyone should find the sukkah that is right for her/him.  I love that Sukkah Depot advertises "klutz-proof sukkot" and pop-up sukkot.  The mitzvah is to dwell in a sukkah, not to design and build one from supplies at the local big box store.  But I, I love to build.  I love taking out the power tools.  I love the creative act of planning architectural changes.  I love the engineering (I guess Gavi gets that from me).

If you say to yourself, yes, but it's only a sukkah, I should tell you that one year  before we could secure a wall, the wind blew it over.  As the wall fell, it broke our deck table, causing the aluminum legs to buckle.  I'm glad that wasn't one of our heads.  We'd forgotten our hard hats that year too.