Minyan Replay with Rabbi Lizzi — The Sukkah

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https://mishkan.shulcloud.com/form/reg-morning-minyan-evergreen

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Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Transcript

Transcript

0:00  
Plan, draping a talus over my shoulders, breathing in, inviting you to breathe into feel air going into your lungs, through your nose, expanding your chest, and then your chest deflating and sinking as you exhale, doing it a few more times, letting your shoulders relax, even though it's still morning, I feel like the The tightness that creeps into shoulders can start basically right away, so doesn't hurt, even though it's first thing in the morning, where many of us are to be reminded to let our shoulders relax

as we begin with a good prayer for just thanking God for being awake and alive this morning, I

1:30  
who

1:42  
I find Ha,

1:52  
Mo, da, Ni,

2:17  
Mishkan

2:29  
Ma T behemoth Mishkan,

2:45  
ishmati.

2:55  
IRIDE, high

3:35  
you know this focus on Sukkot all week, the impermanence of these dwellings outside I've had many conversations with people in and around the sukkah about the symbolism of the sukkah, and it occurs to me that basically, almost everything you could say about the sukkah, you can also say about the human body. Here is this temporary structure that houses life, that you're supposed to rejoice in that you, you know that you're you're better and stronger and healthier when you do it with other people, when you're around other people, gathering, and that we, we recognize with a sense of awareness and gratitude and, yes, joy, that It is not permanent, that there's nothing about it that's permanent, you know, not from day to day, or it might feel like it is from day to day, but then over years, you know, you look at a picture of yourself from five years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, you go, Okay, I you know, I feel like I'm the same person inside, but I guess a few things have changed, and so just recognizing that in our bodies this morning, I want to do a couple of these prayers for the body and for the Spirit. This one, for example, the things all come out okay and stay in when they're supposed to. We had somebody in the community who had a who. A baby this week, and it was taking a really long time. You know, it's like they went into the hospital to have the baby, and, like, three days later, it still was not out of her tummy. And you know, the prayer that you say to somebody when they're gestating a child is Bucha Tova. You don't say Mazel Tov, right. You say Mazel Tov when there's a baby, but until then, you really just pray that everything happens in its right time. Bucha in the time, Tova, that is good and and then I said to them, but my hope for you is that you can have necavim, necavim, and khalolim hallulim that you, you know, have openings that open and passages that go through so that this baby can, you know, make its way out of your tummy in the right time. Bucha Tova, but the truth is, every single morning and every single time we go to the bathroom and eat food and breathe, you want to pray that, nicavid Hallelujah, that things are opening and closing in the right places at the right time to take breath and oxygen, where it needs to go to exhale, to carbon monoxide or dioxide or whatever kind of oxide it is the trees need to breathe in. That is waste material for us, but essential to our world that you want to get it out there. So feel free to say this blessing along with me. This is called the quote, bathroom blessing, because, of course, you can say this after having gone pee or whatever, thanking God that everything came out. Okay. Baruch had a dona, Elohim asher yatzar et Adam the hochma Vera vocavim, hallu Lim, hallo Lim, gallui via dua Lizzi COVID mayhem, creator of the universe, who formed the human being with wisdom and created within us openings and tubes. It is known and obvious before your glorious throne that if one of them were ruptured or blocked, it would be impossible to exist and stand in your presence even for a short while. That's a little dramatic. Some of those things can be fixed now. But you know, you can understand where the rabbi's were coming from when they wrote this 2000 years ago. Blessed are you the healer of all flesh who performs wonders? So just take a moment to you know Place. Place a hand on your body to feel you know, your shoulders, your elbows, your wrists, all the parts that you know, that move, that twist, that turn and that do it without complaining. Maybe are a little creaky, but, you know, enable you to do things like hold a guitar, do the keyboard on your computer, hold a pencil. All these things we do without thinking, but that, you know, these physical, temporary things make possible for us. All right, do one more of these, and then we're gonna go into Shama quickly, and then Halo quickly, and Then a little bit of learning.

8:13  
All right,

8:22  
let's see. Means

8:36  
the

8:41  
soul that you have placed in me is pure.

8:45  
Lo, hi, hello, hi.

8:59  
Shanata, I taught Mishkan

9:23  
a

9:32  
Tabata

9:43  
right level calls man Johnny, Shamar, Kibi, moda, Ani le, Fana, Aron i elohei, avoi, Asim, Adon colony, shamoat, Baruch at. Adonai ha mahazir, necha motif, Gary May team, Blessed are you who returns souls to lifeless

10:07  
bodies? I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, ah, this is also such a good one for Sukkot. I'm just, I'm loving the Sukkot energy right now, like, you know the Yeah, I mean, I mean, and we're all thing, um, the theme of Sukkot, of course, is joy. And you know this prayer from that, from Psalm 100 Yves, do it? Adonai, behave. Bernana, it's from Psalm 100 this is what I put on my ordination certificate. Or, you know, when we were, when, when, I don't know, I don't know if they do this at all rabbinical schools, but at the one I went to, they have a little pamphlet where they have your face and your Hebrew name and, like, a paragraph about you and and a line out of Jewish scripture that you've chosen that sort of like, says who you are, you Know, and this was mine. Serve God with joy, which I think is true all the time, but it's especially true during ZMan Simha, Deena, the time of our joy, which is Sukkot so

11:13  
IBD, Simcha, iduetta, sembe, Simcha, Bo le, Fana, virnana, funabir, Nana, I do, eta, sembe, simhae, dua, tambi simp, Hola, Fana, Vir, na, na, fun Na, Vir, na, Na, ya la la, ya la la, la, la la.

11:46  
Ya, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, he dua, Taro nai Basim hai do a Tasha Basim ha bola fauna, Vir, na, na, la, fa, na, virana, Vir, na, na, fun, Na, Vir, na, na, y, La, ya, la, la, la,

12:42  
squat, scrolling fast up through a bunch of good stuff, all the way all the way to Shima, and here we are. And here we are, connecting to the oneness of all things, creatures, beings, times, past, present, future, putting down my guitar so that I can hold the four corners of my seat, seat with one hand and bring it to my bring it to my temple, to my third eye, covering my eyes, to be able to say the schma with total focus. You can do the same in whatever way you're able. Tallis or no. Tallis,

13:37  
Shema,

13:41  
Yisrael, Adonai, Eloheinu, Adonai hotel, nail, Empath, I eight, I don't know the whole national, the high you had very high. Ayla, a share, I know he met sabaha machine on time, live on a Rabbi shivta, Rabbi TA to

14:39  
last week, when, when we were in in my Sukkah doing this, and I asked, you know, the sukkah is this, this place that's supposed to that it is obviously this temporary dwelling that's supposed to confer on us the sense of being protected, protected by God, protected by each. There. And so I asked, like, where is another place? Where's another place in the world? You know, that's not necessarily like a house of God, so to speak, you know, a synagogue or a church, but that has been a space of, like, being God's house, you know, like ASHRAE, you know, like ASHRAE. Yoshibe, oh yeah, hallelujah. Happy are those who dwell in God's house. Like, where has God's house been? And people had, like, these beautiful answers, of, like, the swimming pool in the town where they grew up, you know, a certain mountain range somewhere. And as I was going into the Shema just a moment ago, I, like, I really had to fight with myself not to, like, interrupt, you know, just like go right into the Shema. But what I was thinking about was, you know, this idea of our people all over the world right now, southern hemisphere, northern hemisphere, going out into the outdoors and being surrounded by these temporary walls and temporary roofs and being connected, you know, just and being connected in time right now, not in space, but in a moment in the Shema, when you you know Shema, Israel, Adonai elohinu, Adonai Echad. It's this positive affirmation of oneness, like, yes, in fact, we are actually connected in space. I know you can't see it. I know you can't feel it, but actually it's just, it's just a question of scale and perception, you know. And so for just a moment we take we just a moment we try to open our perception, to be able to encompass you know, far more than what is just you know, in the four feet around your body. And so as we go into Hallel right now, I want to use halal as a healing prayer for anybody who needs healing. And I also like the whole thing, yeah, thank you. Susanna. Susanna, it's a whole dimension unto itself. That's right. So we're just going to do selections from halal and to just expand our awareness, to let this sense of joyfulness really permeate and be sent to the places and the people that need a prayer and that need healing, and to the hearts of people who are bringing destruction and pain, and what they need is healing and so like just sending, sending, just sending healing, healing and prayer out so that everyone may feel it. All right, I'm seeing everybody on Irene is beautiful and comprehensive list, Haya, Zelda bot, Miriam Jackson, Laura Dale, all right. I'm not going to read all of these. You can keep you can continue to drop them into the chat. And if anybody, even as I'm playing, wants to read, read names out loud, because it's nice to hear them, please feel free. And of course, this great quote from Jack Gilbert here, we must risk delight. You can do without pleasure, but not delight, not enjoyment. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world. Baha

18:07  
Rucha, Aron I Elohim Asher, Keith Shin, anybody wants

18:21  
to can say, Ameen, can

18:26  
say Ameen, amen.

18:27  
Thank you so much. I

18:28  
needed that. All right,

18:30  
I'm gonna stay seated, because this guitar doesn't have a strap on it. However, the tradition for Halal is to be standing, so standing and, you know, bopping around, dancing

18:44  
if you Want then say this right. Then You So

19:09  
Keith.

19:21  
I know Keith,

19:40  
mine, Oh, my.

20:00  
Oh my gosh.

20:16  
I want to

20:22  
do all of this with you, but we don't have time this morning because I really, really want to do this little, beautiful Sukkot teaching. So we're going to just go into the section where, if folks have got their lulav and Etro to shake. Now is when you do it during the hodu ladonai. Keith Tov ke Leo dam has dough in all the six directions. And just to give you a little preview, last week, if you if you stayed on minion, you know, like while we were having a conversation. So Jessica asked, Is there something? Is there something about Sukkot that's like praying for the nations of the world, some like, deeply universalistic kind of instinct. And the answer is yes, and it's very old, like very, very old, like, Temple, Temple, Judaism, old. And so as we shake the lulav and the etrog in all of the six directions of, you know, east, west, north, south, up, down, it's like a time space, Jews, non Jews, people. It's like there's a very there's a very comprehensive kind of energy to the shaking of the lulav and the energy of Sukkot, which is about putting yourself out in the world. So feel free, as as we sing, to think about all of the people who need that energy of prayer healing. There's a sense of delayed gratification. You know, it's like we're praying now, but we're praying partially for the rain for the winter, so that the spring crops, you know, come in their proper time, and you know, are abundant in the spring and summer of next year. And I know for many people there, there's something you are waiting for, whether this is a personal thing or like something that we want to happen for our people and for all people, that's not going to happen overnight. We wish it would happen overnight, but maybe that's just not how the world works. And so as you shake your love and as we sing these words to be praying for what it is that you that you hope will manifest. And if you want to type that in the chat, I invite you to to share either your personal long term goal or something you are hoping and praying for our world.

22:39  
Oh, do la do, naiki to Ki, Leo, lahas, do, o do, la donaito, ki, Leo, Lam has, do you? Myrna, Israel, hi, key, Le O Lam has do ho do la de nikito ki le, olam haz do yomruna Be Taron ki le, olam ha om, Ki le, Olam, ha zo ho du, la Adonai, Keith o ki le, Ola, hamru, Na ye re, Adonai, Ki le, Olam, ha zo go.

23:51  
Me, have you? An Ani, VA, me, havian,

24:07  
habia, Mir, ha mitar, karate, ya a NA, Ni, VA, mir, habiah, a na, Ni, VA, mir, habbien, na, Rabbi,

24:28  
I called out to you from the narrow place, and you answered me with expansive possibility, no place is too narrow to call out from. No place i Okay, one more, one more of these. One more of these kind of pleading back and forth calls. So I will stand because I'm going to put down my guitar. I'm.

All right, before we say Ana, Adonai ho Sheena. So I'll read these two things that are written right here, and then I'll open it up for any other prayers that people as we say these words, like, help us, save us. Like this is this? This is like the, you know, the essential prayer. This is like the, you know, no atheists in foxhole prayer, you know, basically like God, save me, save us. So I'll read these out loud. And if there's anyone else who wants to share anything as we then all collectively, yes, yes, yes. Let these things come to pass and roll. Wrote the hostages come home, there is peace among all the indigenous peoples. And I'm guessing you mean indigenous peoples of Israel and Palestine. But you know, let indigenous peoples everywhere have what they need to feel supported and to continue their life ways connected to the land that they are connected to everyone feeling safety. Pretty wrote, I am praying that in the upcoming election, people will vote for the Constitution and the rule of law, not narrow self interest. A main Amen, Leah Ari, help us all take a breath. Irene wrote, praying for a similar story of when Jacob and Esau meet to mourn Isaac's death, and then peacefully go their separate way. The Rabbi say that Jacob is Israel and Esau is Rome or the rest of the world, but yeah, that we can all kind of, like, do our own thing, mourn, mourn together, and then, like, also live our own lives, and nobody's menacing anybody else. Sherry said, Let us all feel joy. I mean, I mean, Chloe wrote that people one day don't have to do work that kills their souls to support capitalism or to feel like they have to feed themselves or to exist. Yeah. I mean, I mean, maybe phrased, phrased in a positive way that people can do work that nourishes them and uplifts them and also be able to feed themselves and their families and not feel that they're morally compromising themselves. Yes. All right, all right. This is all such good stuff. And for anybody who's maybe listening to this on the podcast. Later, think about what it is that you want to add to this list of very good prayers, both for us as individuals, for us as a community, and for our world, all right. And if you've got a Lula vietro, you know you're shaking it all around for this.

27:38  
Ana Adonai hoshiana,

27:57  
ah,

28:08  
Ana Adonai hat Lizzi

28:28  
me, ba, Rucha, ba, ba, ba, she, madame, beta de Nai, baru, ha, Ba, ba, she, Ma, Dona, Nai Ha, me, Beit Adonai,

29:00  
hello, me. Hola Keith o quie Le O Dam Ha, all right, we're going to

29:34  
say Kaddish, and then I have a little teaching about Sukkot, even as it is, the end of Sukkot today, I think, is Hoshana rabbi, meaning, like, we're basically like, today is when, when you actually, like, bang off all the leaves, off of the off of the off of the lulavim, like, like, Sukkot basically coming to. And then what are you supposed to do with this palm frond and the Myrtle and the willow, and so you beat them onto the ground, I guess, like, you know, sort of, I'm sure there's a lot of symbolism to it, but, you know, in the whole vein of, it's a harvest holiday, but also a holiday in which you're praying for the harvest, which is to come in the year to come. So maybe it's like knocking on the ground. Like, okay, ground, like, where it's like, preparing compost. Oh, that's good compost. I was thinking, um, like, agricultural foreplay. I know that sounds weird, but you know, basically, like, uh, tapping on the ground to wake it up and be like, Hey, we're ready. You know, like, we're here for you, be here for us. We keep the LU love itself until PESA and then burn it with the Hames. That's cool. I meant, all right, lovely. Is there anybody who wants to who has Yes, Okay, wonderful. So. Mark nirlov, oh, Ricky. Ricky says, doesn't the the knocking on the ground with the LU love, have to do a ceiling artuva, I love it. I'm sure that's a dress somebody wrote. You know, at some point I love that. That's beautiful. I'd be happy to hear any other ones people might have in addition to mark nur love I Nathan Pollock is often on this list.

31:21  
Nancy Jacobson.

31:22  
Nancy Jacobson, anybody else? Nancy Pryor,

okay. Natalie fisher Morris, is this? Is this her yard site?

You can unmute. You want. Yes, yes. It is, yeah.

Would you like to lead us in Kaddish?

Um, wait, but you have done

32:19  
it. Yeah, larger,

32:20  
okay, no problem. Does that Help? Yeah,

32:29  
obviously.

32:42  
Yeah, Like

32:55  
my call.

33:14  
Amen,

33:25  
um

33:31  
Morris, while you're unmuted, is there anything you want to share about Natalie? I

wait, hang on. Unmute, unmute. We want to hear

33:50  
you. Yeah, no, I miss her very much together for 60 years, and it's a very marvelous marriage and so many nice things. And of course, it's changed, and so it is sad. It's very nice having the minion and being able to remember her. So I'm very grateful for that.

34:15  
Thank you. Yeah,

34:20  
I did this is, is this three years? Morris, yeah, it's been, it's

34:24  
three years now

34:28  
I can, I can tell you all like I because, because I don't get to do funerals for people I knew well, very often, one day that one day I will, but most, mostly, I tend to do funerals for people's parents or grandparents, you know, people who I didn't know. And so to be able to honor Natalie, and also to hear from so many people who I know, who love her, who did things like study Yiddish with her and do therapy and you know. Study therapy and, like, just the all of the all of the intellectual and friendship and and like the going walking with people in the neighborhood, and just everything that she brought to so many people, was really beautiful to be able to bear witness to Morris and Natalie, like, were part of Mishkan, like, basically from the beginning. And I have pictures of I need to at some point, I'll find out. I'll go back into my little photos here and pull up a picture. There's a great picture I have of the two of you at Purim at Bodhi in 2014, 10 years ago. Right? I'll pull it up as a tribute to her.

35:44  
Very nice that evening. Yes, that was very nice. Yeah, thanks, yeah.

35:50  
May her memory be a blessing.

35:52  
All right, thank you very much.

35:53  
Yeah,

35:56  
okay, for everyone who is still here, I wanted to show you, or I wanted to introduce you to this idea, because I when Jessica asked her question last week about the nations of the world, like I knew I knew a little something about that, like she wasn't told, like for sure, she was talking about something that I recognized, but I didn't feel like I knew that much about it, so I did a little bit of poking around. And so I wanted to just, I wanted to take you on a journey, anybody who wants to stay a little learning journey of just one, one way of understanding this idea of Sukkot being a universalistic holiday, you know, like, obviously, it's the Jewish people on the Jewish calendar, and it's, you know, I don't know anybody else who does this holiday the way that we do this holiday, but with the intention of it being to pray not just on our own behalf, but and to do these rituals not just on our own behalf, but on behalf of the nations of the world. And so anyway, as I poked around, I came across the trailer that I want to show you, because it's only two and a half minutes. And so this is one, one version of like the application, the pragmatic like, what happens when you decide to make a Jewish holiday, not just yours, but you know, the domain of the world. All right, hang on. Let me blow this Oh, okay, I'll blow it up.

Here we go.

37:43  
When we first heard about this competition, we've had no idea what the is. We didn't

37:47  
know what a sucker was.

37:48  
I didn't know what a suka was.

37:49  
I didn't know it's supposed to

37:52  
symbolize, oh, wait, stop. I have this on. I have this on, 1.5 speed. Sorry. Let's try again.

38:02  
When we first heard about this computer, we had no idea what is. We didn't know what a sucker was. I

38:09  
didn't know what a suka was.

38:10  
I didn't know Rabbi Lizzi. We're only hearing audio, not seeing any pictures. So there's this what I'm very glad you said that. Thank you. You're only hearing audio. You're not seeing

38:22  
anything. I'm just barely hearing audio, actually.

38:25  
Okay, good. Well, let's fix it. Let's fix it. Can you see, can you see this? Can you see, like,

38:33  
Yeah, you see, like, the black screen.

38:37  
What about now?

38:40  
No, just play the black screen like, you know,

38:46  
maybe we refresh it.

38:49  
Wacky, wacky, wacky. Now we see something possibly coming if, well, like, if I do this about this

38:56  
competition, yes, okay, I'll leave it here.

39:00  
We didn't know what a sukkah was.

39:03  
I didn't know what the

39:03  
sukkah was. I had no idea what the sukkah was. The Sukkah it's supposed to symbolize the temporary dwellings that the Israelites dwelled in when they were meeting Egypt. More than that, ashraka is supposed to make you confront the things that you have are not permanent, and the ways in which you yourself are not permanent. Sukkah

39:21  
is a strange kind of fabrication, and most of them are pretty boring, and the idea of rethinking what a sukkah could be seems something that'd be really fun to be part of.

39:32  
The Sukkah itself commemorates the 40 years of wandering during Exodus. And we say, well, perfect. This makes perfect match between contemporary wondering and temporary homelessness and historical biblical ideas,

39:43  
the roofing material was really taken as a given. We decided, instead of there being a lot of the sticks, there's just one giant log,

39:53  
as I'm sure you all know, in Leviticus, 2342 I believe we are commanded you will. Well, in booths for seven days. Not since the collective who came together to write the Bible have so many people talked about suckers, probably, as we are about to do today, the public

40:09  
would think we're looking at formally, we're looking at these objects, and we like one, we don't like one. I think it's much more about the ideals, the values, the issues that are being brought forth by the province. These

40:20  
structures realistically have to be built in a short amount of time. They're then going to be trucked in the Union Square and installed within seven hours. Represents

40:27  
the currency of the time. Like it or don't like it. It's more of an offense, in a way, than an interesting conversation. I mean,

40:33  
it's a really nice design for something else entirely, but not for a second.

40:39  
What made this a great competition was that it wasn't let's find the answer, but let's start a conversation to open up how rasoka can be developed. And I think the idea is, why should every Sukkah look the same? It should all be different.

40:55  
Somebody said that this is the best suka ever built. It's pretty good for 4000 years of building these

41:00  
things, after years with the campus and the fiberglass, it's nice to see some new ideas.

41:06  
Sukha is one of the very few times where the Jewish liturgy and tradition actually has an architectural expression. So it's amazing nobody thought of this before you

41:26  
um, yeah, um, we last year Mishkan also participated in it wasn't a competition, exactly, but it was a sukkah building partnership with Lawndale Christian Community Church. But it was like the sukkah design competition Chicago, and it was, and it was created to bring, to bring awareness of, like the history of the Jewish neighborhood that was North Lawndale, and to bring people down to it with this kind of like, the the attraction, the interest of building a sukkah. Did anybody come and see that?

42:12  
I did. Larry and I went and, yeah, it was very cool. It's right across the street from the old Romanian synagogue. Mm, hmm, now their church, I think, is that right? Yeah,

42:25  
this, it's like the stone temple, Baptist church, or something that used to be this big Romanian synagogue. Yeah, I

42:31  
wasn't able to go down, but I was in some of the conversations we had with the group. Was it last year or the year before? It was

42:38  
last it was last year at Sukkot, um, as far as I remember, yeah, hard to, hard to believe. Yeah. Anyway, so

42:49  
I posted a thing in the in our on our Facebook page at scale, that my friend, who's an architect, sent to me that was from some architectural magazine that was about this year's Sukh thing

43:08  
circa design fest. Uh huh, yeah.

43:09  
So that was kind of cool, but it's,

43:14  
there's a

43:16  
podcast that described it really well in Judaism Unbound,

43:20  
oh yeah.

43:21  
The last, it was a great description of the but why they started, it was with the founder, you know, Al schler. Oh

43:31  
yeah, Joseph. Joseph, also,

43:32  
yeah, and, and just the whole meaning of it related to Sukkot and that it also, they, it goes the sukkah, then goes into the community and does something else. Like, it's used for something else. So what I was wondering, what was the Mishkan one used last year for something like, what

43:52  
did it become? I will tell you, because it did not become anything. But it didn't become anything, not because we didn't intend for it to it was actually a beautiful idea. We were working with Lawndale Christian Community Church. And Lawndale Christian Community Church, as many of you know, has, they have, like, a rehabilitation and, you know, recidivism, like group home, they have a gym, they have, you know, it's this. It is not just a church. It's like an empire. It's like this whole, you know, takes up multiple city blocks of Chicago, of different, amazing, yeah, like a health center, a, you know, like jobs, you know, sort of like jobs, vocational services, and they have a Legal Center, yeah, affordable housing. They have, I mean, it's worth looking up. It's an incredible church, and they have a Legal Center. And so the Legal Center has a building, and I think last year, at this time, it was like, their 50th teenager got shot in 10 years, you know, something like that, or like, got shot and died, and they wanted to make a memorial garden. For their, you know, teens who died by gun violence, and so they had this whole plan to make a memorial garden next door to the Legal Center. And our Sukkah was going to be like, there were these rocks that everybody put in the nooks and crannies of the sukkah. I don't know for how many of you you remember this, there were like, these little windows, and you could stick rocks in the window, like write a message on the rock. And anyway, we were gonna the rocks were meant to symbolize, you know, the way that Jews put rocks, put stones on graves. And so it was like we had really thought about how it was going to be used after the after the fact, and repurposed as part of a memorial garden. And then the house basically got condemned or something like that. Like it was, it became unsuitable for for continuing to work and operate out of and they needed to not build the memorial garden or anything on that property. And so nothing became of it, because they had bigger fish to fry than figuring out what to do with our stones. That said, actually they they reached out to me recently to let me know that they had just completed. I don't know if Gail, if you received their stuff, because you once went to one of their one of their fundraisers, but they just let me know that they had finished something legal. I want to let you know that this since you are, since you are, since you're asking center, oh my gosh. Also, I'm still recording. I'm still recording. This. Should really turn the recording off here, but, but now, now that we're having this conversation, I want to put it on the podcast. I

46:50  
would say two of the fundraisers. And I know Rhonda said she went to something, she took a tour, but I do get some stuff, but I don't know what you're talking about. Okay,

47:03  
Mishkan tour of the deer center here. Okay. Um, wow. Listen to this. Um, so there is a soon to be brand new, $22 million residential community justice center that we're finally naming the Dennis deer Community Justice Center, after our late friend, community leader, local Commissioner, Dennis deer. Yes, that's what Rhonda recently toured, put in your calendar. Sunday, April 27 from 10 to three, we're holding our 15 year anniversary celebration and doing the grand opening of the Dennis deer Community Justice Center that's in April, and doing a dedication and naming. But basically, I mean, what's amazing about this place is it's, you know, it's, it's, obviously, it's based in Lawndale, you know, Christian community and Legal Center. But they get a lot of help and support from government programs you know, that are helping. Do you know, all this work? So anyway, it's very, very cool and a far bigger operation than I could ever imagine, presiding over as the Rabbi of a community. I don't know how Pastor Jonathan Brooks does it. Let's see, is it kosher to have a log for Ricky wants to know. Changing the like, changing the subject back to that. Give me the big log over the that's really interesting. Um, you explain the question, yeah, Ricky, go ahead. Explain the question. Yeah.

48:29  
They, they had, well, one are all the we're all. They studied the laws, right? When they made that competition, yes, were they supposed to all be kosher? Or because it looked like maybe it was. I'm not sure whether or not having a log on top of your Suk is crucial, because

48:49  
I don't think so. I think the idea was to be inspired by tradition, rather than constrained by it.

48:58  
I saw the finished product. You watched the the documentary, and it was open space between the logs,

49:03  
right? But there was only one log. Wasn't there only one log?

49:08  
No, there was, you didn't they just showed the beginning of it. There was a there was a few, as I recall, I could be wrong, because I saw it like 10 years ago, but there were a few of logs that were there. I mean, it wasn't just one, just seeing them, I

49:26  
guess, yeah, you'll have to, you'll have to look it up and find out. I mean, it would be very interesting to know if they actually had to adhere to this, you know, like actual strict standards, or if they, you know, were allowed to kind of play fast and loose, although, if you're allowed to play fast and loose, then the whole question is like, where do you draw the line and when? And when is it not a suck anymore?

49:44  
So that's very clear. If you look at the laws, like that one that was circular, circular is not, doesn't, doesn't count. It's going to be two and a half walls. So if it's a circle, the one that was kind of round with all the that's not, that's not kosher, yeah. Yeah,

50:01  
I and I had thought that as long as two thirds of the, you know, of the circumference are covered, then it was okay, like a yurt, for example. But no, in your in, from what you know, a circle is not the yes,

50:16  
yeah, my so my friend Raf, no tomorrow, they have a poster with tons of different kinds of creative looking circas, and some of them are some of them aren't. So it's like

50:31  
we now I want to read the poem that I referred to last time, because as long as like, this could be the last thing we put on the podcast here, here, wait, ready? I'm going to show you this as I read it out loud. Dr Seuss is sukkah. You can build it very small. You can build it very tall. You can build it very large. You can build it on a barge. You can build it on a ship, on a roof, but please don't slip you can build it in an alley. You can build it in a valley. You can build it on a wagon. You can build it on a dragon. You can make the schrack of wood. Hey, you can make the wood. Would you? Could you? Yes, you should make the schak from leaves of tree. You shouldn't bend it at its knee. Um, builder, Suk, taller, short, but no sukkah is built in the temple court, which, you know, we don't have that anymore. You can build it somewhat soon. You cannot build it in the month of June. And you could see, by the way, here, I'll post this in the thing. There are all of the different um, halachic citations in here for a few curious to go down the rabbit hole. If your sukkah is well made, you'll have the right amount of shade. You can build it very wide. You cannot build it on its side. Build it if your name is Jim or Bob or Sam or even Tim. Build it if your name is Sue. Do you build it? Yes, you do. From the sukk you can roam. But should you treat it as your but you should treat it as your home. You can invite some special guests. Do not stay if there are pests, you can sleep upon some rugs. Don't you build it where there is bugs. In the sukkah, you should sit, eat and drink, but never spit. If the sukkah, if in the sukkah, it should rain to stay there would be such a pain. And if it should be very cold, stay there only if you're bold. So build a sukkah, one and all. Make it very large or make it small. Sukkah rules are short and snappy. Enjoy. Sukkot, rejoice. Be happy.

52:35  
All right.

52:42  
All right, friends, what a time. Hopefully see you all tomorrow night for Simcha. Torah, Carla, I see I see you. Here. You wait and hang on one second. I'm gonna pause, stop recording. Um.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai