THE ELEPHANT IN THE SUKKAH

When the Brenners invite a retired circus elephant to join them in their sukkah, adjustments are creatively made to accommodate his large size in their small ceremonial hut.

Lonely and bored in his new home, a farm for old elephants, Henry misses the singing and music from his old act. One day he wanders away, comes across the singing of a family gathered in their sukkah for the holiday of Sukkot, and eventually meets young Ori Brenner, who invites him to join the family. As Henry is much too large to fit, the family removes one of the walls of the hut to allow Henry to stand just within, acting as the third wall. Basing her story on an obscure argument in the Talmud that actually states that sukkah walls can be made from anything natural and sturdy, even an elephant, Mandell turns this preposterous example into a story of altruism—albeit a very silly one. Amiable illustrations of a bespectacled, anthropomorphic elephant next to the diminutive members of the Jewish family (all presenting white, with kippot perched on the heads of all the males, including a cat and a dog) add to this lighthearted commemoration of the fall harvest celebration.

Though it may seem anything but, the traditional message of welcoming guests in holiday observance still holds.