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The inspiration for this sukka—made of cedar, steel and net siding—comes from architect and SukkahSoul Company founder Susan Shender’s spiritual searching, and from her disappointment in traditional sukka kits.
While enrolled in a Florence Melton Adult Mini-School Jewish program some years ago, Shender and her study partners decided to erect a sukka. But the outdated kit they had to work with came lacking instructions and aesthetic appeal, and the finished product had to be stabilized with additional slats of wood. The challenge of designing a striking and sturdy sukka immediately appealed to Shender. Building on the commandment to beautify the mitzvot, she turned her professional expertise to creating a simple-to-assemble and attractive sukka that stores easily. The result is the SukkahSoul sukka (www.sukkahsoul.com).
“Love of the ritual and appreciation for sources came together for me in the beauty of a good design, and it was a profound experience,” Shender says. “I hope the beauty of the physical environment deepens delight and pleasure in the celebration of this holiday.”
by Libby Goldberg
Hadassah Magazine
August / September 2007
www.hadassah.org
A few years ago, Susan Shender of St. Louis and several of her friends studying in the Melton Adult Jewish Education program were given the assignment to research Kohelet, also known as the Book of Ecclesiastes. Among the things they discovered is that the book is traditionally read during Sukkot. One of the women had an old sukkah kit stashed in her garage, so they decided to assemble it for the holiday and to gather within its walls to learn Kohelet together.
While sitting in the sukkah, Shender, an architect who has designed community health centers, university projects and a bird garden at the St. Louis Zoo, began to examine the structure. She decided she could design a better one. "I thought it was a great problem to research. I wanted to come up with something that was meaningful, as well as easy to assemble and store," says Shender.
One of the things she learned from her studies is the obligation of hiddur mitzvah—to beautify the commandment. That knowledge inspired her: "I wanted the sukkah I designed to be beautiful from inside looking out and outside looking in."
SukkahSoul is the result of her efforts. Crafted of cedar and white polyethylene netting, this prefab sukkah is aesthetically pleasing and structurally sound. The design is also mystically evocative: Shender uses triangles in her design, bringing to mind the pattern of the Sefirot, the Kabbalistic plan for understanding the manifestations of God. These manifestations—among them kindness, strength and beauty—correspond to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and the other mystical guests welcomed to the sukkah each night during the holiday.
Each kit builds an 8-foot square sukkah, enough for seating six to eight people around a 4-foot round table. The kit arrives partially assembled and is easy to erect. Detailed instructions, ideas for decorating and sukkah prayers are included. At the holiday’s end, the kit breaks down for easy storage in four narrow boxes. Kits sell for $769 plus shipping and handling. To learn more, go to sukkahsoul.com or call 314-610-2560.
by Sue Tomchin
Jewish Woman
Published by Jewish Women International
Fall 2007
www.jwman.org
An excerpt from The Forward article
“Sukkot: From Humble to Inspired”
There's something magical about being inside of a sukkah; as Jewish commentators note, residing in the sukkah is one of the few commandments you fulfill with your entire body. Sure, it can seem a bit strange, especially in places like New York, where eating outside in October often means wearing a ski jacket. But there's also a sense of being protected, perhaps not by sturdy brick walls but by what the Jewish liturgy calls "the tabernacle (sukkah) of peace."
Still, there's no question that building a sukkah takes a lot of work — which is why those ready-made sukkah kits fetch anywhere from $300 to $2,000 for a single-family size.....
And some, like SukkahSoul, are basically selling works of art....SukkahSoul is the work of Susan Shender, an architect who was inspired to create a more aesthetically appealing sukkah kit after erecting a kit made up of “unmarked pieces of unattractive pine and hardware store connectors.” Shender said that “the design problem captured my imagination.” She worked under the belief that the rabbinic obligation of hiddur mitzvah (the fulfillment of a commandment) could extend not just to decorating the sukkah but also to designing it.
The result is a delicate looking but architecturally sound construction of thin poles with cedar and translucent fabric sides. Inspired by the way that the Ten Sefirot — prisms of divine energy, according to Kabbalah — are arranged in the popular Tree of Life, the SukkahSoul design has triangular elements as well as rectangular ones. The Sefirot are already connected to the Sukkot holiday — they are represented by the seven ushpizin (mystical guests) invited to the sukkah over the course of the week. The SukkahSoul design weaves them into the architecture; if you look at it, you can almost see the Tree of Life in front of you, cradling the guests of the sukkah within its branches. Shender said, “I hope people find as much meaning and beauty in the structure of the SukkahSoul sukkah as I have in designing it.”
By Jay Michaelson
The Forward
October 14, 2005
www.forward.com