The holiday is named after the temporary huts that the Israelites lived in while they wandered through the desert for 40 years. Many people celebrate Sukkot by building their own huts, called sukkahs, and hanging out and eating their meals in them. Some families even sleep in their sukkah, which can be like a big family sleepover. Two traditions of Sukkot are waving the lulov and etrog, which has to do with joy, fertility and rain, and decorating the sukkah with fruit and paper chains. From: https://www.jewbelong.com/holidays

At the JCC Preschools, children are learning about the holiday by engaging with nature in unique ways. Your child may craft their own representations of a sukkah, paint with pomegranate seeds, or make decorations for our school’s larger Sukkot (plural of sukkah).

A holiday such as Sukkot resonates with a child’s innate interest in nature and engages all of the senses!

Check out the great website called www.jewbelong.com. It's perfect for when you feel you don’t. It offers light-hearted and unique perspectives on the holidays and all-things-Jewish and is geared toward anyone who’s interested.

Chag Sameach to you and yours!

Journalist Casey Cep, comedian Colin Quinn, designer Steve Madden, chef Yotam Ottolenghi, Jonathan Safran Foer, comedienne Judy Gold, novelist Harlan Coben, TV journalist Nancy Grace, and hotel executive Mike Leven are some of the author in conversation in October’s Book Fest events.

Advance registration required. Zoom classes require a minimum of five registrants by 10:00am on the morning of the program.

The Cyclical-Linear Time Paradox of the Torah—and

Challah Cardamom-Cinnamon Rolls

Thursday, October 8 — 7:30pm

These are times we often need a quick fix, a few moments that lift our spirits. Easily going into YouTube not only gives me sparkling showbiz moments, but brief sequences of favorite films or subjects.

For example:

Fred Astaire Dancing on the Ceiling from Royal Wedding soars in a musical sequence that has never been replicated. He finds himself in love and expresses it as only Fred can, but this time he dances up walls and literally on the ceiling. It is just a momentary ride in this world, but one well worth taking.

Who is a favorite painter? I have many, from Rembrandt to Van Gogh. But for soothing visuals, it is always Monet. Sear ch YouTube for Monet and up comes Art Collection Claude Monet Paintings. Set to sweet music, this is a guide through many of Monet’s paintings, with additional options about his life and challenges. It would be nice to go to Giverny right now, but this is the next best thing.

To Have and Have Not: The whistle scene brings us a classic movie moment that proves sultry is better than graphic. Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart have the sizzling screen chemistry when she asks him if he knows how to whistle. This is a chance to study the great Howard Hawks' direction. Hawks wrote the scene (no help from Hemingway, Faulkner, or Furthman) as an audition for Bacall. She got the part.  

When I need an out loud laugh, YouTube is the place I go. Maybe because I’ve been in showbiz most of my life, but Jiminy Glick is my guy. Martin Short spoofs every bad interviewer of stars ever, and Jiminy is truly terrible. The Best of Jiminy Glick and Primetime Glick will guide you through the demented mind and body of the notorious Glick as he attempts to interview everyone from Larry David to Mel Brooks to Edie Falco.

Short is one of the funniest people I’ve interviewed, but nobody tops Jiminy Glick for getting the worst out of people. Shocking but fun.

Maybe it's because I married a man from small town Iowa or I’m just in love with sublime performance, but it just cannot get better than Robert Preston as The Music Man singing Ya Got Trouble. It’s a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for pool. Preston is perfectly cast as a so-called music professor trying to start a boy’s band in River City. We are shocked to find a pool table in our community, and Preston’s Harold Hill has a possible way out for us. An upbeat, fun number with a remarkable leading man just when we need it.

Marisa Tomei won the Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for My Cousin Vinny. The scene that so many of us remember is when she explains to a jury how a car works. The place is rural Alabama and two New York young men have been accused of murder. Tomei gets every word right as she carefully explains tires and skid marks. All you need to do is search YouTube for My Cousin Vinny: Automotive Expert.

Many of us are animal lovers and find that their antics put a smile on our faces. Happy Dogs and Cat in Australia is a compilation that includes every kind of dog and one wonderful cat dancing, swimming, laughing, and basically reminding us of how much we can learn from these wonderful creatures. It is all done to the music of Pharrell Williams, so we’re talking happy!

So many other paths to take for a distraction or escape. Thank you, YouTube!