Friends & Family

I helped my friend Karen build a sukkah.

sukkah: a booth or shelter with a roof of branches and leaves that is used esp. for meals during the Sukkoth.
Sukkoth or Sukkot: a Jewish harvest festival beginning on the 15th of Tishri and commemorating the temporary shelter used by the Jews during their wandering in the wilderness.

It all started in September of 1996 when my friend Karen asked me to help her put up a sukkah. She described the holiday and the structure in somewhat greater detail than the Webster's definitions above. Some friends of hers, who had moved away, had offered her the use of their sukkah, the pieces of which they had left behind when they moved. Karen had been in this sukkah before, and said that it was the nicest sukkah she had ever been in, so she was really looking forward to doing this. It was very large and heavy, though, and she needed my help to move it and put it together.

Well, when we got to the place where we were supposed to pick up the sukkah, we were unsure of whether we had gotten a large enough truck. Karen had thought that the sukkah was dismantled more than it actually was, and two of the pieces were 12 foot by 8 foot walls. Suddenly, the task of moving it and putting it together was looking very daunting.

Karen asked me whether I thought I could design and help her build one of these, and whether I thought it would be more work than hauling the one we were looking at. I took a good look at the pieces we were considering moving and said that I could design and build it with her. I also said it would be more work in the short run, but in the long run, over several years, it might be the best way to go. So we decided to build our own.

First, I got to work drawing up some plans. The first thing I learned about building stuff from my dad and from shop class was that you have to start with a plan. With input from Karen to make sure that it met all the proper criteria, I drew up the plans. My design would allow for more complete disassembly, and thus easier storage and transportation.

I gave Karen the list of materials we would need, and she bought them and transported them in a truck. I had been wanting to get a power drill anyway, so this became the perfect time to do it. Karen's very kind neighbor gave us some space in his back yard to build it, and even the use of his garage for the construction.

We spent two evenings drilling and hammering and lifting, and came to dub ourselves the "Midnight Wacking Crew". One of the major challenges was finding ways to muffle the sound of wacking when the hour became late. I also learned a few things about what size to drill holes which are to be used with bolts; the rule is sort of the opposite of what you do for screws.

The picture at the top of the page shows you what it looked like from the outside, and the pictures at the bottom show the inside after Karen decorated it. Now Karen says that this is the nicest, most beautiful sukkah she has ever seen. I'm not Jewish myself, but I did spend a couple of nights sleeping in the sukkah (with a sleeping bag and many blankets -- September in Michigan after all), and it was great fun.

I have some incomplete diagrams and plans for anyone who wants to build their own sukkah. I wanted to finish them before making them available, but I don't have time to finish them right now, and since Sukkoth is coming up soon, I figured I should post something that might prove useful to someone.

Rethinking AIDS

You can send me mail at Neil Clennan <nclennan@umich.edu>

This document was last updated 10/18/2008