Sukkah. Temporary Hut.

Community Sukkot Project & Picnic

On Sunday, the Machar teens and many adults pitched in to build a Community Sukkah.  What does that mean?  For one day, our teens had an experience of the difficulty, teamwork, and skill needed to put together a temporary home that people around the world experience every day.

Sukkah. סֻכָּה.  Temporary Hut.

Eating in a Sukkah is considered a mitzvah (good deed), as it forces us to think of people who must dwell in a Sukkah (temporary housing) year round.  Particularly in DC, it is easy to become desensitized to the issue of homelessness.  Sukkot is a powerful time to remind ourselves of this plight.

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” -- Anne Frank

While our teen leader did the brunt of the preparation by purchasing supplies, cutting the pipes, and planning the project, our teens worked the entire time, including handling difficult tasks, such as removing small nails for safety.

If you would like to visit our Community Sukkah during Sukkot, please contact us via our website at: http://www.machar.org/contact-us/.

The High Holiday Experience

What is the Rosh Hashanah experience?  Does it mean "boring" services or can you get the same out of just celebrating at home?  One of the number one advantages with the Machar community is that you don't have to make that choice -- you can come, celebrate with a community of like-minded people, and still enjoy a meaningful service. 

Does Yom Kippur mean only fasting and praying?  Or is there a larger part that could be had in both the renewal process and the remembrance ceremony?  Our Machar choir all had bottles of water underneath their chairs, but the post-service remembrance gathering and the "hands-on" wishes for the New Year left Machar members, many of whom did not fast and all of whom do not pray, with something special. 

Our family services included quotes from Anne Frank, Dr. Seuss, and Martin Luther King, Jr.  As a congregation full of intellectuals, critical thinkers, and challengers of the status quo, it was unsurprising that our High Holiday services are different, too.  But, my family and I still left feeling the same inspiration, spiritual, and awakening that Jews with more theistic leanings experience.  It is wonderful to be a Humanistic Jew and have a wonderful home like Machar. 

Arba. Four.

Newsletter No. Four. אַרבַּע.  Arba.

Be a Mensch, Not a Schmuck.

Be a Mensch ... Do Mitzvot!
 

In today's classes, our students discussed being a mensch and made a mitzvah tree to represent the mitzvot they have done and the mitzvot they plan to do this year.  

“Mensch” is a Yiddish word that means a kind, caring, and responsible person.  A “mensch” is a nice guy/gal.

There are many simple actions that even a young child can do to be a “mensch.” These actions have roots in traditional Jewish values:

1.    Giving tzedakah (charity)

2.    Being a friend

3.    Welcoming guests

4.    Taking care of the Earth

5.    Being kind to animals

6.    Honoring elders.

The classes already spoke about honoring elders in an earlier session of the Jewish Cultural School (JCS). Many of our classes honored adults in our community by making a High Holiday cards for the adult members in Machar.  There are other ways to honor elders, like baking treats to share, asking about someone’s life, and offering a smile or a hug.  Giving tzedakah can include donating books you no longer read, contributing to a food pantry, and giving away outgrown clothes.  Being a friend can mean sharing toys, saying “sorry” for mistakes, and making soup for someone sick.  Welcoming guests can mean straightening the house and walking your guest to the car to say “good bye.”  Taking care of the Earth can mean recycling.

The “mitzvah trees” will be on display at our next JCS session on Sunday, October 23rd.

How will you be a mensch today?

Pick up a “Kindness Card” in the lobby on the JCS table on Sunday, October 23rd.  Do the simple action listed on the card.  Talk to your family and friends about how you already express these values and actions as part of your life.  Think about how you can do more.  Make a resolution to make mitzvot part of your life.