Submission #22230 by Etz Chaim Men's Club - Thousand Oaks, CA (1036)
I have read the 2021 Torch Awards Program Guidelines.
Drive-Thru Sukkah - Full Service and Self Serve
Jewish Observance
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Drive-Thru Sukkah - Full Service and Self-Serve
Our drive-thru Sukkah made it possible to provide a meaningful and convenient Sukkot experience while limiting gatherings to extremely small groups and adhering to social distancing guidelines. The experience was modeled on a full-service Gas Station. Two cars at the time could drive into the Sukkah, step out of the car (or not), and shake the lulav... while their windshield was being cleaned!
Gloves and masks limited contact between people and contact with the lulav and etrog, to maximize safety in pandemic conditions. A large poster displayed the blessings in Hebrew, English, and transliteration. Off-hours, self-serve drivers & passengers literally fulfilled the "Leyshev Ba Sukkah" mitzvah while driving through.
Our drive-thru Sukkah made it possible to provide a meaningful and convenient Sukkot experience while limiting gatherings to extremely small groups and adhering to social distancing guidelines. The experience was modeled on a full-service Gas Station. Two cars at the time could drive into the Sukkah, step out of the car (or not), and shake the lulav... while their windshield was being cleaned!
Gloves and masks limited contact between people and contact with the lulav and etrog, to maximize safety in pandemic conditions. A large poster displayed the blessings in Hebrew, English, and transliteration. Off-hours, self-serve drivers & passengers literally fulfilled the "Leyshev Ba Sukkah" mitzvah while driving through.
Drive-Thru Sukkah - Key Objectives
1) Safe Outdoor Gathering in Smallest Possible groups
In COVID times the program is meant to enable our community to come together and shake the lulav driving their cars to one of the lulav stations inside the Sukkah. All passengers could step outside their car to say the blessings with help from Men’s Club volunteers during scheduled hours (or with Temple staff at some other times by calling ahead.)
2) Flexibility
Do-It-Yourself option to just sit in the car and say the Leyshev Ba Sukkah blessing outside scheduled hours or for maximum physical distancing without shaking the lulav.
3) Prayer Space
As with our conventional Sukkah of old, the drive-thru Sukkah also served on the Chag days (Sukkot 1-2 and Simchat Torah) as a space for services with outdoor ventilation and socially-distant seating.
4) Overcoming Pandemic Isolation
Bringing the community together in a special, novel, and sometimes amusing way helped our community to cope with the isolation of ongoing pandemic precautions – by driving thru the Sukkah to fulfill the Mitzvah of dwelling in it – by safely participating very briefly in the lulav mitzvah – and while doing so in the smallest possible groups.
Drive-Thru Sukkah – Guided Lulav & Etrog Mitzvah Procedure
For the interactive (“full service”) experience with lulav & etrog in the Sukkah during scheduled hours only, our volunteers would greet and welcome drive-thru participants with "Chag Sameach" as they arrive and guide them as follows:
(1) Observe incoming vehicles and direct any extremely tall vehicles to drive around and not through the Sukkah. (A palm-and-bamboo “vehicle height warning” bar hangs a few feet in front of the actual entrance.)
(2) When it is their turn, instruct drivers to pull forward to “pump 1” or “pump 2” positions inside the Sukkah, turn off engine, and set parking brake before (optionally) exiting their vehicle.
(3) Provide hand sanitizer. Provide gloves before touching Lulav & Etrog. For those who don't bring them, provide face masks.
(4) Following written guidelines* on a large suspended poster, guide them through the mitzvot to observe in the Sukkah, including:
- Bracha: "leyshev ba-sukkah" (sitting inside car or on a provided chair to sit/dwell in the Sukkah)
- Bracha: "shehecheyanu" (first time in a Sukkah this holiday)
- Bracha with ritual while holding and shaking lulav & etrog
* Volunteers also were given a detailed orientation walk-thru of rituals by Benny.
(5) Instruct them to buckle up, pull forward, and exit the Sukkah when it is safe, to allow other drive-thru participants to enter.
1) Safe Outdoor Gathering in Smallest Possible groups
In COVID times the program is meant to enable our community to come together and shake the lulav driving their cars to one of the lulav stations inside the Sukkah. All passengers could step outside their car to say the blessings with help from Men’s Club volunteers during scheduled hours (or with Temple staff at some other times by calling ahead.)
2) Flexibility
Do-It-Yourself option to just sit in the car and say the Leyshev Ba Sukkah blessing outside scheduled hours or for maximum physical distancing without shaking the lulav.
3) Prayer Space
As with our conventional Sukkah of old, the drive-thru Sukkah also served on the Chag days (Sukkot 1-2 and Simchat Torah) as a space for services with outdoor ventilation and socially-distant seating.
4) Overcoming Pandemic Isolation
Bringing the community together in a special, novel, and sometimes amusing way helped our community to cope with the isolation of ongoing pandemic precautions – by driving thru the Sukkah to fulfill the Mitzvah of dwelling in it – by safely participating very briefly in the lulav mitzvah – and while doing so in the smallest possible groups.
Drive-Thru Sukkah – Guided Lulav & Etrog Mitzvah Procedure
For the interactive (“full service”) experience with lulav & etrog in the Sukkah during scheduled hours only, our volunteers would greet and welcome drive-thru participants with "Chag Sameach" as they arrive and guide them as follows:
(1) Observe incoming vehicles and direct any extremely tall vehicles to drive around and not through the Sukkah. (A palm-and-bamboo “vehicle height warning” bar hangs a few feet in front of the actual entrance.)
(2) When it is their turn, instruct drivers to pull forward to “pump 1” or “pump 2” positions inside the Sukkah, turn off engine, and set parking brake before (optionally) exiting their vehicle.
(3) Provide hand sanitizer. Provide gloves before touching Lulav & Etrog. For those who don't bring them, provide face masks.
(4) Following written guidelines* on a large suspended poster, guide them through the mitzvot to observe in the Sukkah, including:
- Bracha: "leyshev ba-sukkah" (sitting inside car or on a provided chair to sit/dwell in the Sukkah)
- Bracha: "shehecheyanu" (first time in a Sukkah this holiday)
- Bracha with ritual while holding and shaking lulav & etrog
* Volunteers also were given a detailed orientation walk-thru of rituals by Benny.
(5) Instruct them to buckle up, pull forward, and exit the Sukkah when it is safe, to allow other drive-thru participants to enter.
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Original Program
Silver