Comments on: Shacking Up in the Fairfax District

By: Arthur Holland

Arthur Holland — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:58:49 +0000

Ryan,

Would you please contact me via email. The synagogue I work for would like permission to use one of your two sukkah photos in an upcoming publication (not-for-profit publication).

Sincerely,
Arthur Holland
Communications Coordinator
Congregation Shaarey Zedek

By: Judith

Judith — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:32:31 +0000

A sukkah is disassembled when Sukkot is over. One of the ‘rules’ about a sukkah is that it must be a non-permanent structure. At most, two walls of it can belong to other buildings. That is, if you have an L-shaped house, you could use the inside corner of the L as two of the walls, but the other two walls have to be temporary, erected just before the holiday and disassembled just after the holiday is over.

I love the picture you took!

By: rivky

rivky — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 15:20:04 +0000

Just came across this really unique sukkah. They come in 3 different designs and it’s only a 30 minute setup, no tools. http://www.designersukkahs.com

By: Xstine

Xstine — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:51:18 +0000

I live in the 90036 Fairfax District – it’s mostly young (20-30′s) working professionals,or-aspiring-to-be-something, hipster-types & some Hasidic (sp?) Jewish families. I love it because it’s one of the few areas of LA that you can actually walk places – to dinner, movies, bars, cafes, shops – and there are a few parks and museums in the area. Hope that helps.

By: Farmgrl

Farmgrl — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 06:14:20 +0000

My boss asked me to find out what the ethnic/economic flavor of the Fairfax District is at present. Is it mainly European/ Jewish descent and hipsters? Any light you can shed will really help. I’m most interested in the zip code 90036. Thank you for humoring an assistant.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 05:00:05 +0000

A couple of readers wrote in with further shack knowledge:

Ryan: shacks, atonement, etc

I’m sure some overly eager fellow tribesman/woman of mine has already
dropped you a line on this, but for the vast majority of Jews the “final
chance for the year to atone their sins” is Yom Kippur (atonement starts
the week before Yom Kippur on Rosh Hashana). It’s only esoteric
interpretations that stretch out atonement to the last day of Sukkot,
and those have to do with weird interpretations like “being judged for
rain” and other harvest-related goodness.

Even in these interpretations though (where you can still ask for
forgiveness right up to the last day of Sukkor), the holiday is kind of
a loophole extension for one week past Yom Kippur – it’s… errr…
frowned upon (?) to sandbag your atonement till then (there’s an appeals
process, extra and unnecessary atonement paperwork, etc). And even then,
you might be in trouble because God’s judgement was already made on Yom
Kippur – he’s just waiting until Sukkot to “confirm” it. So it’s an
uphill climb if you wait till then.

Under any interpretation, anyway, it is definitely the case that the
process of atonement starts a week before Yom Kippur on Rosh Hashana,
and not on Yom Kippur.

Did Oren just say atonement paperwork?
Part two:

Ryan: PS – Sukkot is 7 days, not 8

There are 8 days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur – and that’s
actually the period between when atonement begins and ends, which might
be where the confusion came in. Sukkot is only 7 days.

And maybe my favorite, from Jeremy O:

Incidentally, the end of the holiday is capped off by another holiday where the major commandment is to get shit faced drunk, it’s called Simchat Torah and is one of the serious perks of this fair religion.

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 23:18:20 +0000

I managed to live for an entire year in a sukka ish shack under the 405 (land which once was a desert mind you) until it was inhabited by quail, yes quail, a very fine bird.

Long live religious freedom, and humiliation.

By: DF

DF — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 00:55:22 +0000

It’s also worth mentioning the great movie about this holiday, “I’m Gonna Git You Sukka.”

By: Hollie

Hollie — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 18:32:02 +0000

Robin is my hero. She knows it all. I’m building my very own sukka in my backyard today according to her specifications.

By: M. Turyn

M. Turyn — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 16:03:03 +0000

I don’t think you can use the Sukka for anything else; one of the rules is that it must be impermanent (which is why there’s no mezuza at its entrance). I’m sure there’s been some discussion of how frequently and how long a dwelling must be torn down in order for it to be considered “impermanent”, but obeying the spirit probably demands it just be used during Sukkos.

A rule that I didn’t see mentioned: you must be able to see stars through the roof, and I don’t think by virtue of its being a clear material.