SHAKY

Lulav and etrog, the symbols of Sukkot.

Shake, shake, shake de lulav, all around each time
Shake, shake, shake de lulav, shake it all the time
Wave, wave, wave de lulav, all around each time
Schlep, schlep, schlep de lulav, it’s hosanna time

I got dis t’ing called a lulav
It’s made with palm (not with agave)
And also myrtle and willow
It’s pretty but it makes a lousy pillow

(Jump in de line, ’cause it’s hosanna time) OK, I believe you!
(Jump in de line, ’cause it’s hosanna time) OK, I believe you!
(Jump in de line, ’cause it’s hosanna time) OK, I believe you!
(Jump in de line, ’cause it’s hosanna time) Oy!

Shake, shake, shake de lulav, all around each time
Shake, shake, shake de lulav, shake it all the time
Wave, wave, wave de lulav, all around each time
Schlep, schlep, schlep de lulav, it’s hosanna time

Oh, yes - we got de Kol Nidre
And other t’ings dat de Jews say
But dis week we sit in de Sukkah
Read de Good Book-a
Dat’s how we cook-a!

(Jump in de line, ’cause it’s hosanna time) OK, I believe you!
(Jump in de line, ’cause it’s hosanna time) OK, I believe you!
(Jump in de line, ’cause it’s hosanna time) OK, I believe you!
(Jump in de line, ’cause it’s hosanna time) Oy!

[Sung to the tune of “Jump in the line”]

Sukkot - the Feast of Tabernacles - began Friday evening at sundown.

I tend to think of Sukkot as “my” holiday, not least because I was born on the first day of Sukkot - the fifteenth of Tishrei - 57 years ago. The holiday also carries the sobriquet z’man simchateinu - the season of our happiness - and since my Hebrew name is Simcha, I feel as though it’s my season as well.

This year the first day of Sukkot fell on Saturday, just as it did 57 years ago. Which only makes sense, if you’re familiar with the Jewish calendar’s nineteen-year cycle. I’ve now lived through exactly three of those calendrical cycles, and so naturally this year the Ides of Tishrei fell on the same day of the week as in my birth year. And to top it off, the very next day was my birthday according to the civil calendar. Hoo-hah!

I enjoy the holiday not for any imagined proprietary relationship, but for the fact that it takes place as the heat of the summer is giving way to the cool, crisp mornings of fall... for the beautiful (if arcane) rituals, throwbacks to the festival’s ancient agricultural origins... for the melodies of Hallel, the selection of psalms that we recite and sing every morning... and for the chance to sit and look at the stars overhead, seen through the gaps in the sukkah’s intentionally rustic roofing material.

And if a wee bit of birthday cake should happen to show up, why, so much the better!