Comments on: Access denied http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/ Danya Ruttenberg's website Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:44:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Danya Ruttenberg » Blog Archive » Sukkot, Incoming http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/#comment-3794 Danya Ruttenberg » Blog Archive » Sukkot, Incoming Thu, 05 Oct 2006 15:40:44 +0000 http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/#comment-3794 [...] I just got back from getting my arba minim, aka lulav and etrog. The whole trip went a lot more smoothly than the last time I tried to do this in Israel–I bought the stuff off some scruffy dati (religious) kid in jeans on the sidewalk not far from my neighborhood, and he didn't blink twice about selling to me, cut the aravah (willow) off the tree right next to where we were standing, which was really nice. I'm glad I have a better sense of how to get things done with minimal drama in this town now. As I walked home, I smelled my pretty, fragrant etrog (a nice corrective to all the dog poo on the sidewalk) and began to start to get that festival feeling. [...] […] I just got back from getting my arba minim, aka lulav and etrog. The whole trip went a lot more smoothly than the last time I tried to do this in Israel–I bought the stuff off some scruffy dati (religious) kid in jeans on the sidewalk not far from my neighborhood, and he didn’t blink twice about selling to me, cut the aravah (willow) off the tree right next to where we were standing, which was really nice. I’m glad I have a better sense of how to get things done with minimal drama in this town now. As I walked home, I smelled my pretty, fragrant etrog (a nice corrective to all the dog poo on the sidewalk) and began to start to get that festival feeling. […]

]]> By: Anonymous http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/#comment-81 Anonymous Sun, 03 Oct 2004 04:42:00 +0000 http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/#comment-81 This is just really darn good writing. I experience a flash of pleasure every time I read such a good entry. Pictures are great too. I live in intellectual envy of Danya. Leon This is just really darn good writing. I experience a flash of pleasure every time I read such a good entry. Pictures are great too. I live in intellectual envy of Danya.

Leon

]]> By: Danya http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/#comment-80 Danya Fri, 01 Oct 2004 03:23:00 +0000 http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/#comment-80 Yeah, I think there were a lot of ways I could have had a better experience. Ah, well. Yeah, I think there were a lot of ways I could have had a better experience. Ah, well.

]]> By: Simon http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/#comment-79 Simon Thu, 30 Sep 2004 05:36:00 +0000 http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/#comment-79 Too late now I know, but the Shuk Arbaa Minim in Mahane Yehuda was co-ed. Too late now I know, but the Shuk Arbaa Minim in Mahane Yehuda was co-ed.

]]> By: B http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/#comment-78 B Thu, 30 Sep 2004 05:13:00 +0000 http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/#comment-78 Your wrestling matches with the haredim make me wonder why my rabbi wants to immigrate to Jerusalem. Crazy olim, eh? Anyway, I just wanted to tack on that I built my first sukkah (shach to be finished tonight under the wire or slightly past it). It's fairly amazing, and the fact that Sukkot, a holiday where we are commanded to rejoice, comes right after Yom Kippur -- which grabs us by the hair, drags us down the stairs and forces us to look at all the shit we left in the basement over the past year -- is such a f***ing blessing every year. And the Shabbat after Yom Kippur? The best Shabbat ever for all time ... till the next year's Shabbat after Yom Kippur. What are people thinking who only come to synagogue for the High Holy Days? Who wants to end their religious year with Yom Kippur? I'd never come back to a synagogue as long as I lived. It's a back-breaker, a heart-twister ... a day of vague prayer-induced delirium, wherein standing on the bimah with the choir and pausing between songs, I was completely absorbed by the fact that the chairs I'd always taken for granted were purple were actually a mixture of red, blue, green and yellow to make what looks like purple from far away. Yeah, there's where my thoughts were during Yizkor. Your wrestling matches with the haredim make me wonder why my rabbi wants to immigrate to Jerusalem. Crazy olim, eh?

Anyway, I just wanted to tack on that I built my first sukkah (shach to be finished tonight under the wire or slightly past it). It’s fairly amazing, and the fact that Sukkot, a holiday where we are commanded to rejoice, comes right after Yom Kippur — which grabs us by the hair, drags us down the stairs and forces us to look at all the shit we left in the basement over the past year — is such a f***ing blessing every year. And the Shabbat after Yom Kippur? The best Shabbat ever for all time … till the next year’s Shabbat after Yom Kippur.

What are people thinking who only come to synagogue for the High Holy Days? Who wants to end their religious year with Yom Kippur? I’d never come back to a synagogue as long as I lived. It’s a back-breaker, a heart-twister … a day of vague prayer-induced delirium, wherein standing on the bimah with the choir and pausing between songs, I was completely absorbed by the fact that the chairs I’d always taken for granted were purple were actually a mixture of red, blue, green and yellow to make what looks like purple from far away. Yeah, there’s where my thoughts were during Yizkor.

]]> By: Rachel http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/#comment-77 Rachel Wed, 29 Sep 2004 22:53:00 +0000 http://danyaruttenberg.net/2004/09/27/access-denied/#comment-77 That photo of the sukkah atop a camel's back cracked me up. Ditto your line about "sukkah lights." (snerk.) Your story annoys me on your behalf, though. Jeez louise -- sometimes I despair of ever feeling like a unified community in the face of stuff like that... That photo of the sukkah atop a camel’s back cracked me up. Ditto your line about “sukkah lights.” (snerk.)

Your story annoys me on your behalf, though. Jeez louise — sometimes I despair of ever feeling like a unified community in the face of stuff like that…

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