You're the Lulav to My Etrog
Originally published on The Shabbat Drop by Miranda Lapides on September 29, 2023.
Shalom friends,
Tonight begins sukkot! Or as Jewish writer Peter Fox said on Instagram, the holiday where you have a bougie brunch in a treehouse. If you don’t know what it is or need a refresher, click here, but in short it’s our harvest festival where we have festive meals in huts called sukkahs, which represent the huts in which the Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of wandering in the desert after escaping from slavery in Egypt.
So dwell in merriment! Shake off your worries! Shack up with your partners! Whatever you do this week, may it be etrog-nomical.
Shabbat Shalom. Lulav you very much, Miranda xx
P.S. I’m SIX subscribers away from reaching a major milestone in The Shabbat Drop, just one week before my anniversary! No, not my wedding anniversary. Please pass this Jewsletter along to anyone you think would be interested in some fun weekly Jewish content, or just give me your friends’ emails. It’s a mitzvah.
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Sukkahs Around the World
India’s Bnei Menashe Jews (The Jerusalem Post)
Venice (Pay No Mind / Flickr)
Israel, Xinhua/Ayman Nobani (Israel21c)
Read Sukkot traditions from around the world
Sukkot Decorations
Who needs a gingerbread house when you can make your own cookie sukkah?!
Get real fancy with these wooden place cards! But you can only have people named Moshe, Chaim, Esther, and Jackie at your table. Just kidding.
Buy your child (or dog?) this plush lulav and etrog.
A Movie
🍋 I mentioned “Where Life Begins in a past Drop when I saw it at the Jewish Film Festival. It’s a romance that takes place in the Calabrian countryside, where a lot of etrogs are grown other than Israel. I highly recommend watching it if you get the chance to do so.
A Sukkah from History
A sukkah on an Israeli army vehicle in the Golan during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Photo by Nathan Fendrich, Courtesy of the Pritzker Family National Photography Collection at National Library of Israel. (JNS)
A Recipe
Blueberry Goat Cheese Kugel with Meyer Lemon Glaze - What Jew Wanna Eat
Why am I including this very berry summery kugel in a fall edition of The Drop? Well, on Sukkot, one of the four species we shake is the etrog, one of the founding fathers of all citrus fruits! The etrog is “the fruit of the goodly tree” (Leviticus 23:40), and not only symbolizes the Jew who excels in both Torah and good deeds, but also symbolizes the heart. This kugel may not be good for your heart, but it will make your heart feel happy.
Courtesy of What Jew Wanna Eat