Jewish Synagogue Drive-Thru Offering Up McPrayers
Temple Bet Shira builds the first drive-through Sukkah in Miami
By JILL FOX
Updated 8:10 AM PST, Mon, Oct 5, 2009
If popular corners in Miami have drive-through Starbucks, then why can’t popular synagogues have drive-through sukkahs?
That’s what one temple in Pinecrest is promoting for the first time this fall during the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot.
So, if you can only spare a minute for your prayers, why not make a quick stop at Temple Bet Shira’s drive-through sukkah.
According to the Miami Herald, the sukkah opened at Sundown on Friday, the onset of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The "McSukkah" will be up for a week, synagogue officials said.
And just like Starbucks, everyone is welcome at this drive-through.
Meant to resemble places that the Jewish people visited in Biblical times, this sukkah is made of wooden beams, decorated with palm fronds and has an open view of the sky.
This modern-day sukkah even has its own version of a "dollar" menu that they call a "challah" menu.
Passers-by can drive into the sukkah, one car at a time, roll down their windows and basically pray. They say a blessing and a volunteer hands them two symbolic items of the holiday -- the lulav and the etrog.
”We hold and shake these symbols of nature in the sukkah and note that beauty surrounds us as we pursue peace in all directions,” explained Rabbi Micah Caplan.
Lucky visitors also get a festive snack of a cookie and a juice box.
“The drive-through sukkah was more than an automotive novelty. It brings Judaism and modern life,” said Martin Applebaum, president of Bet Shira Congregation.
First Published: Oct 2, 2009 1:41 PM PST
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