How to Create a Recycled Sukkah

by Rabbi Leah Benamy, Kibbutz Lotan

We on Kibbutz Lotan have the great privilege of living and working full-time in a community where all of us are committed to a special way of life. One of our core values, as stated in our community’s vision statement, is living in a way that nurtures the Earth and our particular corner of it: “We strive to fulfill the biblical ideal ‘to till the earth and preserve it’, in our home, our region, the country and the world.  We are working to create ways to live in harmony with our desert environment.”

Two years ago Kibbutz Lotan’s school-age children entered a regional contest to create “The Most Recycled Sukkah”.  The kids had fun putting their imagination and creativity to work building our communal sukkah, and their parents took pride not only in their efforts, but also in the message we succeeded in getting across, i.e.
that not everything is junk after it fulfills its original purpose! Of course, it also meant a heightened sense of ownership of that year’s kibbutz sukkah for the kids, some of whom went on to encourage their families to build the same sort of sukkah at their houses. Since then, we adults have noticed that our children on Lotan have given greater attention to the second “R” of the trio ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’: When my daughter relabeled a second-grade binder “Third Grade”, rather than throwing it away and buying a new one, I knew she “got it”.

Here are photos of sukkot built by the children from the communities of Kibbutz Ketura and Kibbutz Grofit – and the First Prize Winner from Kibbutz Lotan!

Suggestions for creating your own “Recycled Sukkah”
Create “stars” to sparkle inside your sukkah.  Take all those old CD’s and DVD’s, paint the labeled side, and decorate the shiny side with colored paper cut into triangle “rays”. Hang from the roof.  String together chains of empty (and rinsed!) soda cans and bottles.  Cover toilet paper rolls and string them together, too.

Create a groovy beaded entrance with soda bottle tops.  Punch or drill two holes in the sides of plastic soda bottle tops. Insert a string and tie a knot for each cap. Create a dozen or more strings full of bottle tops and you have your beaded doorway.  Create an “I Spy” game for visitors.  Line the top border of your sukkah with plastic figures and other small odds and ends your children collect. Have your kids create a poster of their own “I Spy” challenge. All your guests will be occupied with a fun game between dinner courses!

Think creatively about materials for walls. Take a loo a the photo on the next page of large egg cartons tied together. What about breaking down the sides of
corrugated cardboard boxes? How about old sheets or towels destined for the rag pile? A challenge: Create mats by weaving together plastic bags from the
super market.

A resource for you, your Rabbi, Educational Director, Youth Group Leader,
and Committee Members, e.g. ARZA, WRJ/MRJ, Social Action, etc