I’m going to admit something pretty sad. I’ve been a terrible Jew this Sukkot. For someone who claims that he follows holidays and Jewish customs, this Sukkot has been a complete and utter failure.
I’m not a guy who goes to daily minyan. I’m not against davening. I’m just against being at a shul at 7:30 (if you’re lucky) to do it. Until I became an adult (albeit, an irresponsible one), the concept of waking up before 8:00 am was foreign to me. Let’s be honest, it’s still foreign to me. So going to shul to shake a lulav and etrog probably isn’t going to happen.
As I said, I’m irresponsible. So I don’t own a lulav and etrog. So I have to make an effort to actually find them. I went to shul on Saturday morning, but because it was Shabbat, there was no lulav and etrog to be found. Sunday…well, I slept. Sorry God. Yesterday, I stopped in Union Square and used the Chabad lulav. That was the first and only time I’ve shaken it.
Sitting in a sukkah is a whole other story. I live in Manhattan. So, owning my own sukkah is kind of out of the question. On Friday night, I was invited to my friend’s parent’s sukkah, but her sister-in-law went into labor (Mazel Tov by the way). The meal was postponed. And then the other day, I went to a Chabad sukkah, but it was closed and locked.
The truth is that I should make a better effort to go eat in a sukkah. I’m not making excuses. As I said, Jeremy Moses is irresponsible. But until I do make that effort, it will continue to be a very strange Sukkot.
etrog
Pronounced: ETT-rahg, Origin: Hebrew, a citron, or large yellow citrus fruit that is one of four species (the others are willow, myrtle and palm) shaken together as a ritual during the holiday of Sukkot.
lulav
Pronounced: LOO-lahv (oo as in boo), Origin: Hebrew, a bundle of branches representing three species — willow, myrtle and palm — which are shaken together with the etrog on Sukkot.
shul
Pronounced: shool (oo as in cool), Origin: Yiddish, synagogue.
sukkah
Pronounced: SOO-kah (oo as in book) or sue-KAH, Origin: Hebrew, the temporary hut built during the Harvest holiday of Sukkot.
Sukkot
Pronounced: sue-KOTE, or SOOH-kuss (oo as in book), Origin: Hebrew, a harvest festival in which Jews eat inside temporary huts, falls in the Jewish month of Tishrei, which usually coincides with September or October.
