East Bay Jews take sukkah-building to the ‘extreme’

Instructions for the 8-by-12-foot sukkah promised a "klutz proof" assembly, although Jamie Hyams and her team of ace sukkah builders need not have worried. Every piece of steel tubing, every bamboo roof slat, fit just fine.

And so, on Sunday, Sept. 23, the Contra Costa Jewish Community Center's "extreme sukkah" was born in an old-fashioned barn-raising, Jewish style. The event was co-sponsored by the CCJCC, the Judah L. Magnes Museum and the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay.

What made this "extreme?" Hyams and her Sukkoterie aimed to make this the most adorned sukkah on earth, with more than 1,000 homemade decorations and personal photos set to go up on the walls of fabric sheeting.

Organizers of the afternoon event even contacted the Guinness Book of World Records, pitching the project as a potential record-holder worthy of inclusion. Though the Guinness people politely declined, the several dozen who turned out to build and decorate the sukkah had fun in the Walnut Creek sun anyway.

"It's like IKEA," said federation staffer and extreme sukkah organizer Tanya Shore, referring to the massive boxes awaiting the crew. "We wanted to do something different, so why not think big? Why is this sukkah different from all other sukkahs?"

While Shore and others assembled the frame ("It's like Lincoln Logs for Jews!" cried one), several kids and their parents manned the arts and crafts table, creating decorations. Heidi Miller of the Magnes Museum supervised.

"We wanted adults and kids to ask themselves: 'How did we come to Contra Costa County?'" said Miller, who brought along reams of archival photos from the Magnes treasure troves, all due to go up on the walls. She also requested families bring in meaningful photos of their associations with the JCC and their East Bay neighborhoods. Miller dutifully numbered each artwork to make sure of hitting the magic 1,000-decoration milestone.

Ilene Keys came with her three kids, who worked diligently with scissors, pipe cleaners, stickers and glue. "I brought them to show them what it's like to get excited about Sukkot," said Keys, who serves as cantor at Oakland's Temple Sinai.

Gail Strack, a resident of the nearby Rossmoor senior adult community, came to place an arrangement of autumn leaves on the sukkah wall. "We just got through with our most solemn holiday," she said. "Now it's time for a happier holiday."

Appropriately enough for the first day of fall, she started humming "Autumn Leaves."

Most builders and decorators stayed for a dinner of pasta and salad, held inside the new sukkah. It wasn't exactly extreme spaghetti, but it was a hot, nourishing meal just right for a slightly nippy autumn evening.

As everyone gathered together in the quickly-built sukkah, one wag said, "So who says there aren't enough Jews in the construction business?"