While Trying to Avoid a Downpour Outside a Winn-Dixie

By Yoni Katz

It was just about to start pouring, which apparently is not uncommon for South Florida during Sukkos. You see, I’m still getting my feet wet, so to speak, in the “Sunshine State,” as I’m used to being just another face in the crowd on the usually congested Sukka-laden streets of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. But my family and I recently moved to Boca Raton, Florida, and naturally, like most Chabad Chassidim “out in the field,” I took to the streets with a Sukkah Mobile.

Back to the thunder and lightning storm which was about to soak me and my kids…

After two hours of having tremendous Mivtzoim success outside the hustle and bustle of the Winn-Dixie supermarket, I slammed the bed of the truck closed to avoid the downpour. Suddenly, a Honda zipped recklessly next to me and out jumped a 20-year-old, free-spirited, not-religious-looking guy with desperation in his eyes.

“Awesome!” he shrieked, barely able to contain his excitement. “Finally, I can do one mitzvah for Sukkos! I grew up religious in Queens, but have not done anything yet this year for Sukkos…” He recited the blessings beautifully, and passionately shook the lulav with visible sincerity. And then zipped off again in his Honda.

As we all know, the Rebbe was not a fan of the term “kiruv rechokim — bring close those who are far,” because we never know who is really closer or farther from Hashem — me, a Rabbi who’s been shaking Lulav every day of the holiday out of habit, or a twenty-year-old kid who shoots out of his car like a cannonball, to fulfill the mitzvah with utter excitement.

But here’s the kicker: this Sukkah-mobile did not have the usual “Chabad-Lubavitch Wishes You a Happy Sukkos” message plastered on the outside, but rather something quite unusual and different. It said “Boca Raton Synagogue Wishes You a Happy Sukkos,” which raised many an eyebrow from BRS’s own members who shopped at Winn-Dixie that humid rainy day.

One lady with a puzzled look on her face said, “I’ve seen Chabad do this, but BRS?!” And I cordially explained to her, “Yes, this is a first. But obviously Hashem, mitzvos, Jews, and Sukkos are not exclusively Chabad.”

As a matter of fact, after I moved here from Crown Heights, her own Marah D’asra, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg, approached me about working together to reach every Jew in Boca.

Naturally, BRS having its own first Sukkah Mobile was a perfect fit. She smiled from ear to ear with the same simplicity, joy, and love of Hashem I saw in the eyes of the 20-year-old boy from Queens.