Designing a Kosher Sukkah
Most contemporary sukkahs, with their snap-together frames, their plastic tarp walls and their bamboo mat schach, or roofing material, bear little resemblance to the high-concept huts that went up over the weekend in New York’s Union Square. The booths erected in the downtown park — winning entries in the Sukkah City design competition — might look more at home in a sculpture garden than in a suburban backyard or on synagogue grounds, but they were held to the strict Jewish legal standards that dictate all sukkah-building. As Sukkah City’s rabbinic consultant, Dani Passow was charged with communicating the religious guidelines to contest finalists. Passow, a rabbinical student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, spoke recently with the Forward about which of the designs took the most work to be made kosher and what contemporary architects have in common with Talmudic-era rabbis.
The designs selected as finalists will be on view in Union Square on September 19 and 20. One winning entry will remain on display through October 2; vote for the winner here.
Watch the Forward’s video of the final designs on location in Union Square here.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
