Today's WSJ (pdf) makes the argument, with a ton of wacky and wild examples from the oilam, that apparently Succos is the 'it holiday' this year. Due mainly to the do-it-yourself home-improvement craze that's going on people are going overboard showing off with more elaborate designs, insane decorations and more recreational use for our temporary huts. Check these examples:
This year, for the first time, Dan Cohen, 37, built a sukkah outside his Piedmont, Calif., home. It's
a place for festive family dinners with his wife and 3-year-old daughter. It's also an after-bedtime
lair where he and his buddies can smoke Hoyo de Monterrey cigars and drink 1974 Glen Spey
scotch. “I get to build a clubhouse for the first time in 30-plus years,” he says.For a bar mitzvah last year that took place during Sukkot, party planner Debbie Geller says she
oversaw the construction of a sukkah that took up the back garden of the Four Seasons Hotel in
Beverly Hills. The structure was 60 feet by 40 feet and the walls were made of green organza. In
the party's main room, floral arrangements were shaped like miniature sukkot.
Hopefully this trend is not temporary, like our succahs, and becomes main stream.
FYI – Purim may make a come back with two movies (here and here) coming out soon.
Download the full WSJ article here: “On a Jewish Holiday, Backyard Parties Get More Elaborate”
(hat off to a.korn for sending)