Baltimore, MD - Nine-Year-Old Builds Sukkah

Baltimore, MD - "I did it all by myself, but with a little help," said 9-year-old Talmudical Academy student Yerachmiel Markowitz. Arguably the youngest person in Baltimore to build his own sukkah this year, Yerachmiel said he is "really proud of it."

The idea was formulated last year when Yerachmiel decided he would build a rocket ship out of cardboard. "I'm very good at building," he said. But when he mentioned his idea to a family friend just a few weeks before the holiday, Yerachmiel was convinced he should build a sukkah instead.
His first attempt was made of cardboard, and he said that it fell down. So his neighbor offered him some spare wood and he built a miniature hut all of his own.

This year, Yerachmiel said he knew from the start he would make his sukkah. "My father took me to Home Depot," he said, "and we picked out the wood and then they cut it. I took L-brackets and put the pieces together." But Yerachmiel said there was only enough wood for two walls of his 4-foot-by-3-foot sukkah, so he looked around the neighborhood. One family donated a sliver of screen and another offered plastic garden netting. The boy used yarn to put the two together and then attached that side to one of the wood panels from Home Depot. He then was given an extra piece of wood, which he tied with rope to either side of the wood panels to erect a "hanging" fourth wall. And then he painted it. Lastly, Yerachmiel hung specially laminated decorations of the things he holds most deeply in his heart - Eretz Yisrael and the Gedolim, or most respected rabbis of our generation.

Mr. Markowitz said that even though Yerachmiel has his own sukkah, the youngster will still enjoy holiday meals with the family in their larger hut. "He'll probably just have friends over," said the father, "offer them a snack."
Yerachmiel said this will indeed be the case. He is eager to have his buddies over to "check out" his self-made home.
He added "I think I'm old enough, and I will go to shul," Yerachmiel said. "If I can build a sukkah, I could also have a lulav."