An imitation Dr Seuss poem with a Sukkot "secret"

Dr Seuss is about words, rhyme--and joy. The words of a Dr Seuss poem, combined with the poem's rhyme and a song-like quality to those words all add up to joy. At least, that--that sense of joy--is how my own children--and grandchildren--have reacted to a typical Dr Seuss poem. 

I don't think I'm alone to use the words, 'joy' and 'Dr Seuss' in the same sentence. The Dr Seuss's books have sold more than 600 million copies worldwide. These books are read and loved by many.

Now, our Succot holiday is this week. Succot is the "season of our joy" (as our Succot prayers so often remind us). Therefore, I thought it appropriate to share with you a Dr Seuss imitation poem that contains--of all things--a "secret" (perhaps) about your own Sukkah. 

First, here is the poem. Later, I'll tell you about that "secret". 

By the way, as you read this poem, you'll see numbers that appear to look like footnotes. For the moment, please ignore those numbers. I'll explain later (you can find the source of this poem below the poem).

 Now, about those numbers that look like footnotes--and about that "secret" I mentioned at the beginning of this post.

First: keep in mind that those numbers lead you to that "secret"--which isn't such a secret after all.

Second: those numbers are indeed footnotes! But to what?

Each footnote leads you to information--with sources cited--about the Halachic rules for building a Sukkah! That is to say, the poem, while  fun to read and easy to enjoy, is also a shorthand representation of where, how and even when one can build a Sukkah according to Jewish law. This poem, in other words, is a teaching lesson for Halachic Sukkah building. Did you know Torah could be such fun to learn?

You might even discover something from these footnotes about your own Sukkah which, perhaps, you didn't already know.

This poem, then, isn't just about having some Holiday fun. Like all Dr Seuss poems, this one teaches something--a lesson in how to build a Sukkah  according to Jewish law.

Take a look at the footnotes below:

Please note. I have done some light editing of the original footnote text from the poem's author, Rabbi Arthur Gould. My editing shows up in [brackets]. I have also added a few commas,  to help with clarity--and one spelling correction (I changed "tepach"/tepachim" to "tefach/tefachim"): 

1. Maimonides (RMBM) [in the text] Mishne Torah, Hilchot Sukkah, Chapter 4, Section 1. The minimum height of a Sukkah is 10 tefachim. A tefach 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 tefachim by 7 tefachim. This would result in a [kosher] Sukkah [as small as] 22 3/4 inches by 22 3/4 inches.

2. The maximum height [for a kosher Sukkah] is 20 Amot. An Amah is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. My [own personal] Amah is 15 1/2 inches. [This would mean]...a maximum [Sukkah] height of 25 feet. Others say that 30 feet is the maximum [for a kosher Sukkah].

3. According to RMBM, [a kosher] Sukkah can be built to a width of several miles. Shulchan Aruch also says there is no limit on the size of [a Sukkah's] width.

4. RMBM, [in] Hilchot Sukkah, Chapter 4, Section 6.

5. RMBM, Hilchot Sukkah, Chapter 4, Section 11. RMBM states that one may construct a [kosher] Sukkah by wedging poles in the four corners of [a flat] roof [that has a wall around that roof (to keep people from falling off the roof)] and [then] suspending scakh [a Sukkah's roof material] from [those] poles. The walls of the building underneath [the Sukkah roof] are considered [halachically]to [actually reach],,,upward to the edge of the [roof] scakh [even though there might actually be only air between the top of that low roof-wall and the Sukkah roof; Please confirm with your local Orthodox Rabbi to confirm that my clarifications here (and throughout this essay) are indeed correct].

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 [discussion] in the Talmud [that refers to an Ashtarot Karnayim. According to [that] discussion, [an Ashtarot Karnayim is a phrase used to describe] two hills, with a valley in between where the Sun does not reach. [This discussion] is from] Talmud Bavli, Sukkot 2a. (Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, Rabbi Joshua Strulowitz (of Congregation Adath Israel in San Francisco) commented on this line, which now reads correctly). The halacha is that you can build your Sukkah in [an] Ashtarot Karnayim, or other places where the sun does not reach the Sukkah because of artificial impediments, provided that if the impediment (sic) were removed, shade from the sun would come to the scakh...

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 [the law is] you can't go into it on Yom Tov[:] [t]here is a general rule against riding a beast or ascending into the crown of a tree on Yom Tov.

10. Chapter 5 [RMBM?] deals with...rules for the scakh [roof material]. Basically, you can use that which has grown from the ground, and is [now] 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 [then] use them as scakh.

11. This wasn't clear, so I have skipped it. I believe the essence of this footnote is that per the halacha cited in footnote 10, you cannot create a roof for a Sukkah by using branches one has bent. To be kosher for a Sukkah roof, branches have to be cut--that is, completely detached--from a  tree.   

12. Shulchan Aruch, Hilchot Sukkah, Perek 636, Section 1 The Sukkah should not be built sooner than 30 days before the Hag [the Holiday--in this case , Succot]. 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 [exempt]from the Mitzvah of Sukkah. In our day, we hope we know better than to [exclude] half the Jewish people from the observance of Mitzvot. Of course, that's just a personal opinion of the author.

15. RMBM, ibid, Chapter 6, Section 6 explains that you should eat, drink and live in the Sukkah for the 7 days, as you [would] 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!


Credits: Rules of the Sukkah by Rabbi Arthur E. Gould

Infographic by www.sukkahworld.com


From Tuvia Brodie:   Happy Succot!!!!!!