Sukkot festival is a family affair

Worshipers joined Rabbi Avrohom Brashevitzky and his family at the Chabad Jewish Center of Doral last week to celebrate the first day of the weeklong festival of Sukkot.

Brashevitzky hopes that celebrating Sukkot, the festival of booths, will help build solidarity among Doral's growing Jewish community.

Brashevitzky, 35, his wife, Zeldie, and their five children aged 6 months to 9 years, started the festivities with 35 guests on the Friday evening that started the festival.

Since their arrival in Doral a year ago, the Brashevitzky family has welcomed anywhere from seven to 15 worshipers for weekly Chabad services held at their home, 5353 NW 109th Ct. in Doral.

''Some people come regularly, some people don't,'' Brashevitzky said. ``However, we have a policy here. Once you come through the door once, you're part of the family.''

The festival brought Doral residents and Chabad members Matthew Schulman and Joseph Murray together to lend Brashevitzky a helping hand in building the Sukkah. Built in Brashevitzky's backyard before sundown on Friday, the Sukkah was constructed of four trellis walls and a palm frond roof.

''In the Sukkah, you are exposed to the elements. You can see the stars through the branches,'' Brashevitzky said.

Sukkot celebrates the miracle of the clouds of glory that protected the Jewish people during their exodus through the desert. The temporary nature of the booth represents both the comforts and the perils of this journey.

Jewish tradition says that during the seven days and nights of the festival, all meals must be eaten in the Sukkah.

For observant Jews on the go, Brashevitzky's wife Zeldie said there are practical alternatives to building your own sukkah. She suggested a portable ''pop-up sukkah.'' Similar to a popup tent, this portable sukkah allows Jews to adhere to custom and still travel.

''This is a family thing, but if you're going to keep the tradition all the way you really cannot eat without having a Sukkah,'' said Brashevitzky.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., where the Chabad movement is headquartered, Brashevitzky said he remembers younger years when he celebrated Sukkot in the snow.

As an adult, Brashevitzky served as a pulpit Rabbi for three years in the synagogue at the Casablanca Hotel in Miami Beach. Brashevitzky left Miami Beach after he realized there was a need to strengthen the Jewish faith in Doral. One year ago, he established the Chabad Jewish Center in Doral and has been reaching out to Jews in the area ever since.

The Chabad movement focuses on community. According to Brashevitzky, ``teaching the Jewish people that it's not about counting the amount of observance a person does or [does] not do; it's about cherishing, valuing and celebrating every mitzvah, every good deed that a person does.''

According to Joseph Murray, who assisted Brashevitzky in building his Sukkah, ''Chabad is a worldwide outreach organization which seeks to bring together any Jew at any level.'' Before becoming Orthodox, Murray practiced Reform and Conservative Judaism. Murray said that finding Rabbi Brashevitzky and the Chabad movement was the answer to his prayers.

Murray recalls celebrating Sukkot in booths decorated with fruit and vegetables.

In the Chabad custom, no harvest fruits or vegetables adorn the Sukkah. ''We do not put up any decorations; it's not forbidden but our tradition is not to put up any decorations,'' said Brashevitzky.

''If we decorate our Sukkah, it suggests that it is not beautiful. The real decorations, the true beauty of the Sukkah, are the people in it,'' said Malkie Brashevitzky, age 9.

However, there was one small exception to custom. A crayon-and-popsicle-stick creation by the Brashevitzky children greeted guests at the entrance of the Sukkah. It read, ``Welcome to our Sukkah.''