What A Strange Sukkot

By Jeremy Moses | October 8, 2009

I’m going to admit something pretty sad. I’ve been a terrible Jew this Sukkot. For someone who claims that he follows holidays and Jewish customs, this Sukkot has been a complete and utter failure.

I’m not a guy who goes to daily minyan. I’m not against davening. I’m just against being at a shul at 7:30 (if you’re lucky) to do it. Until I became an adult (albeit, an irresponsible one), the concept of waking up before 8:00 am was foreign to me. Let’s be honest, it’s still foreign to me. So going to shul to shake a lulav and etrog probably isn’t going to happen.

As I said, I’m irresponsible. So I don’t own a lulav and etrog. So I have to make an effort to actually find them. I went to shul on Saturday morning, but because it was Shabbat, there was no lulav and etrog to be found. Sunday…well, I slept. Sorry God. Yesterday, I stopped in Union Square and used the Chabad lulav. That was the first and only time I’ve shaken it.

Sitting in a sukkah is a whole other story. I live in Manhattan. So, owning my own sukkah is kind of out of the question. On Friday night, I was invited to my friend’s parent’s sukkah, but her sister-in-law went into labor (Mazel Tov by the way). The meal was postponed. And then the other day, I went to a Chabad sukkah, but it was closed and locked.

The truth is that I should make a better effort to go eat in a sukkah. I’m not making excuses. As I said, Jeremy Moses is irresponsible. But until I do make that effort, it will continue to be a very strange Sukkot.