{"id":89425,"date":"2021-09-18T17:05:34","date_gmt":"2021-09-18T15:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=89425"},"modified":"2021-09-18T13:47:06","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T11:47:06","slug":"27-05-69","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=89425","title":{"rendered":"Blundering Into the Sukkah"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Blundering Into the Sukkah<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n


\nROKHL KAFRISSEN<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Rokhl\u2019s Golden City: The connection between a magnificent Temple and a humble hut<\/strong><\/span>.<\/h4>\n

TABLET MAGAZINE<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This is one of my favorite Yiddish idioms: Arayngefaln vi a yovn in a suke.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Meaning \u201cblundered like a Greek into a sukkah,\u201d it has the same general meaning as describing someone as a \u201cbull in a china shop.\u201d But the\u00a0yovn<\/em>\u00a0in the\u00a0suke<\/em>\u00a0also brings to my mind the\u00a0yevanim<\/em>, the Greeks, of Hanukkah\u2019s \u201cMaoz Tsur.\u201d The villains of the\u00a0khanike<\/em>\u00a0story are formidable:<\/span><\/p>\n

The Greeks gathered against me, in days of the\u00a0Hasmoneans<\/strong>
\nThey broke down the walls of my towers, and defiled all the oils.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The\u00a0yovn in suke<\/em>, on the other hand, is\u00a0arayngefaln<\/em>; he has, quite literally,\u00a0fallen<\/em>\u00a0into a temporary hut, a rustic \u201cbooth\u201d made of twigs and held together by construction paper rings. He is more fool than foe. And he reminds us that while our enemies oppress us now, all enemies, and all oppressions, are ultimately temporary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, this is my own personal interpretation, a folk etymology of one. There\u2019s a more prosaic, and depressing, explanation for the curious presence of the\u00a0yovn in suke<\/em>. As\u00a0Michael Wex<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>tells us, the\u00a0yovn<\/em>\u00a0in the expression is interchangeable with a\u00a0kozak<\/em>, a Cossack. Both had the general meaning of \u201csoldier.\u201d\u00a0Yovn<\/em>\u00a0sounded like Ivan to Yiddish speakers, lending it the connotation of what Wex calls \u201ca Czarist GI Joe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s a satisfyingly ironic expression. And it calls attention to some of the other intriguing ironies of the festival of\u00a0Sukes<\/em>\u00a0(Sukkot). Take, for instance, the\u00a0haftore<\/em>\u00a0we read on the second day of the festival, from I Kings.\u00a0Shloyme Hameylekh<\/em>, King Solomon, has finished building the\u00a0beys hamigdesh<\/em>, the Temple. He gathers the Children of Israel to celebrate the festival of\u00a0Sukes<\/em>, and to bring the Ark of the Covenant to the newly built Temple. (The dedication of the Temple and the festival of\u00a0Sukes<\/em>\u00a0are actually two overlapping, mutually reinforcing festivals in the story.)<\/span><\/p>\n

That moment of dedication is preceded by a lengthy recounting of the custom fixtures and exquisite detailing on both\u00a0Shloyme Hameylekh\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0palace, as well as the new Temple. Upon the installation of the ark in the inner sanctum, the glory of\u00a0Hashem<\/em>\u00a0appears as a \u201ccloud,\u201d filling the Temple. This is the\u00a0shkhine,<\/em>\u00a0the divine presence.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Yehoyash\u2019s Yiddish translation, Shloyme declares:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Got hot gezogt in volkn tsu ruen
\nHob ikh boyen geboyt dir a hoyz far a voynung
\nAn ort dir tsu zitsn af eybik<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\n

Hashem said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.<\/strong>
\nI have surely built a house of habitation for You,<\/strong>
\nthe foundation for Your dwelling forever.<\/strong>
\n(Artscroll, Stone edition translation)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The appearance of this thick cloud is the continuation (or fulfillment) of the Lord\u2019s instructions to Moses and Aaron, that He would appear at the ark, inside the Holy of Holies, as a cloud. It is now proof that\u00a0Shloyme Hameylekh<\/em>\u00a0has done as divinely commanded.<\/span><\/p>\n

Any encounter with the Lord is dangerously serious business. Aaron was told that should he enter the Holy of Holies at the wrong time, he would surely die, for that is where He appears in the cloud, above the ark.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, there is something slightly absurd about the juxtaposition of the two things: on the one hand, the tricked out, gilded glory of the Temple in all its precise measurements, and on the other, the ancient, spooky simplicity of a holy cloud rolling in to remind everyone whose house it really is. But why even does a cloud need a place to live? And such a fancy one, at that?<\/span><\/p>\n

As I write these very words, I notice a footnote in the Artscroll translation already rebuking me for such a silly thought. \u201cThe purpose of this Temple was not to serve as a \u2018residence\u2019 for God; that would be absurd. Rather, the Temple would be a conduit to God for the prayers of Israel\u2014and all of mankind.\u201d Yet, such an \u201cabsurd\u201d idea would not need rebuttal if it hadn\u2019t been so heavily implied by the text, right?<\/span><\/p>\n

Shloyme Hameylekh\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0Temple is dedicated at the same time the Israelites are celebrating the Festival of Booths. There is some disagreement about what exactly the booths are supposed to symbolize. We are commanded by God to commemorate the dwellings of the Israelites when He took them out of Egypt. But, the booths are\u00a0probably<\/em>\u00a0also connected to the temporary dwellings used by those laboring at the final harvest of the year. Both meanings of the\u00a0suke<\/em>\u00a0lead inevitably to a meditation on fragility, and the temporary nature of human life, sustained as it is by God\u2019s miracles. The two types of structure at play in the text, magnificent Temple and humble hut, could not be more different. Both are, indeed, dwellings of tangible holiness.<\/span><\/p>\n

The magnificent fragility of the\u00a0suke<\/em>\u00a0can be found in the Yiddish song \u201cA sikele a kleyne<\/em>\u201d (A Little Sukkah, a Humble One). It\u2019s based on a poem by Avrom Reisen, subsequently folklorized by\u00a0various singers<\/a><\/strong><\/span>. You can hear it\u00a0performed by the also magnificent Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, z\u2019\u2019l<\/a>.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A sikele a kleyne
\nmit breytelekh gemeyne<\/em><\/strong>
\nhob ikh mir mit tsures tsunoyfgeklopt.<\/em><\/strong>
\nTsigedekt deym dakh,<\/em><\/strong>
\nmit a bisele skhakh.<\/em><\/strong>
\nun ikh zits mir in sikele un trakht.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

A little sukkah<\/strong>
\nwith simple boards,<\/strong>
\nI barely put together.<\/strong>
\nI covered the roof<\/strong>
\nwith a little\u00a0skhakh<\/em>,<\/strong>
\nand I sit in the little sukkah and think.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the Temple, nothing less than the cloud of the\u00a0shkhine<\/em>\u00a0can be found a-dwelling. In\u00a0golus<\/em>, we are at 2,000 years\u2019 distance from the Second Temple, and the\u00a0shkhine<\/em>\u00a0itself is in exile. Our humble\u00a0suke<\/em>\u00a0is visited only by a gust of cold wind.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Der vint der kalter,<\/em><\/strong>
\nbluzt derekh di shpalter<\/em><\/strong>
\nin lesht mir di lekhtelekh shir oys.<\/em><\/strong>
\nHerts nor a khidesh,<\/em><\/strong>
\nkom makh ikh nor kidish.<\/em><\/strong>
\nDer vint lesht di lekhtelekh oys.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The cold wind<\/strong>
\nblows through the cracks<\/strong>
\nand almost blows the candles out.<\/strong>
\nListen to this wonder\u2014<\/strong>
\nonly when I finish saying the kiddush,<\/strong>
\nthen the candles blow out.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The longing for a rebuilt Temple, and with it a new home for the\u00a0shkhine<\/em>, is part of the fabric of day-to-day Jewish life. Blessings for the reestablishment of the Temple are central to the\u00a0Amidah<\/em>, for example. We are constantly turning our hearts to a future when we will be redeemed, as well as the architecture through which that redemption will come.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it is not simply messianic hopes that sustain the Jewish people through exile.\u00a0A sikele a kleyne<\/em>\u00a0reassures a weary people that the humble\u00a0suke<\/em>, the dwelling of\u00a0right now<\/em>, is far sturdier than it first appears. We merely have to have the faith to build it ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Gey zay nisht keyn nar,<\/em><\/strong>
\nun hob nisht keyn tsar,<\/em><\/strong>
\nun loz dir der vint nisht ongeyn.<\/em><\/strong>
\nvifl vintn s\u2018veln brimen,<\/em><\/strong>
\nvifl doyres s\u2018veln kimen,<\/em><\/strong>
\ndos sikele vet eybik shteyn.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Don\u2019t be a fool,<\/strong>
\nand don\u2019t have any grief,<\/strong>
\nand don\u2019t worry about the wind.<\/strong>
\nNo matter how many winds will roar<\/strong>
\nNo matter how many generations will come,<\/strong>
\nthe sukkah will always remain standing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

ALSO: Golden City fave\u00a0Ira Temple<\/strong>\u00a0is teaching a 15-week\u00a0Community Klezmer Band class<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music for intermediate-level instrumentalists, no background in klezmer required \u2026 Join Zo\u00eb Aqua and Adah Hetko for a conversation and performance program, \u201cContemporary Klezmer Music and Yiddish Song<\/strong>.\u201d Professor Yonatan Malin\u00a0of Colorado University will interview Aqua and Hetko about their own work as creators in the klezmer scene, as well as exploring the historical context of today\u2019s klezmer music. Sept. 20, register\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0\u2026 SOAS University of London commissioned my friend Polina Shepherd to write new settings for the\u00a0Yiddish poems of A.N. Stencl<\/strong>. \u201cSinging Stencl<\/a>\u201d will premiere those new songs\u00a0in concert<\/a>, Sept. 24 \u2026\u00a0Marek Web<\/strong>\u00a0was a prominent Yiddishist in postwar Poland, writing and teaching in Yiddish.\u00a0He left in 1969<\/a>, and came to New York, where he joined the staff at YIVO, ultimately becoming its chief archivist. Web passed away in May of this year. YIVO will honor his memory with a program on Sept. 24 at 1 p.m. Register\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0\u2026 Interested in genealogy? Check out the upcoming class \u201cAll in the Mishpocheh:\u00a0Intro to Jewish Genealogy<\/strong>” at the Center for Jewish History. The\u00a010-session class begins Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 4:30 p.m., via Zoom. Register\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0\u2026 Live theater has returned to London!\u00a0Indecent<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0tells the story of the theater troupe that brought Sholem Asch\u2019s\u00a0God of Vengeance<\/em>\u00a0around the world, and ended up on trial in New York. Through September, tickets are available for the\u00a0scandalously low price of 15 pounds<\/a>\u00a0\u2026 Still looking for an\u00a0online beginner\u2019s Yiddish class<\/strong>\u00a0this fall? The Yiddish Book Center is\u00a0offering a number of sections of their six-week beginners course<\/a>, using the wonderful new\u00a0In eynem<\/em>\u00a0textbook. Classes run November-December 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rokhl Kafrissen<\/a>\u00a0is a New York-based cultural critic and playwright.<\/p>\n

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Blundering Into the Sukkah ROKHL KAFRISSEN Rokhl\u2019s Golden City: The connection between a magnificent Temple and a humble hut. TABLET MAGAZINE This is one of my favorite Yiddish idioms: Arayngefaln vi a yovn in a suke. Meaning \u201cblundered like a Greek into a sukkah,\u201d it has the same general meaning as describing someone as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89425"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89425"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89443,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89425\/revisions\/89443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}