Ushpizin is an Aramaic word used to describe the honorary guests whom we invite to spend time with us in our sukkah. Since they are honorary (and invisible) we can fit in as many as we might wish to invite! This is the premise upon which we conducted our first-ever Sukkah-A-Thon, to raise needed funds for the Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC) and its mission to keep Cape Codders in their homes and to address the plight of the homeless.

Our congregation, and others who heard about this project, were asked to sponsor ushpizin, guests they liked to imagine in our congregation’s sukkah, for $10 per guest. As of this writing (10-31-11), we have raised $3,301 for HAC! Below you will find the “guest list”, a wonderful amalgam of the living and the dead, Jews and non-Jews, and even a couple of non-humans!

We have reason to be proud of our efforts to actualize the message of the prophet Isaiah that we heard on Yom Kippur that bids us always be mindful of the needy among us.

LEONARD BERNSTEIN
QUEEN ESTHER
ROBERT LOUIS ROSS
GOLDA MEIR
MAXIE ROSENBLOOM
SIMON WIESENTHAL
JACK & ROSE KAABE
JACK & FAYE  GREENBERG
BEATRICE & MILTON  BERGER
IRENE GARBER
THERESA ZINNER
BLANCHE & BILL BERENBERG
LILLIAN & ZAL WALLACH
GUS & MURRAY LANGSAM
ROSE LANGSAM
RICHARD BERENBERG
SYLVIA & MARY ZINNER
JENNIE & MAX BERGER
ESTHER & SAM MAKSIK
RABBI ELIAS LIEBERMAN
PAMELA ROTHSTEIN
BETTY KLOTZ
KATHY LAVERDIERE
STEVE SWAIN
GEORGE CARY
ELAINE SEIDENBERG
ARTHUR EISINBERG
CAROL SLAYTON
JACQUI & LEON MICHELOVE
BLOSSOM NISSMAN
ED HANDELMAN
PATSY HANDELMAN
DAVID HANDELMAN
MICHAEL HANDELMAN
ALBERT HANDELMAN
PAULA HANDELMAN
BEN HANDELMAN II
COREINE HANDELMAN
JAY HANDELMAN
BRIAN SIDOTI
LAUREL & HARDY
BUD ABBOTT &
LOU COSTELLLO
DEBBIE FRIEDMAN
MARCIA GARDERE
SADIE, LINUS &
KELLY NELSON
BARUCH SPINOZA
HARVEY MILK
GROUCHO MARX
JOEY RAMONE
HENRIETTA SZOLD
ELIAS LIEBERMAN (poet/educator, d. 1969)
ALFRED DREYFUS
RABBI JACOB RADER  MARCUS
URIAH LEVY
SHOLOM ALEICHEM
LEONARD COHEN
MARC CHAGALL
PHOEBE SNOW
LENNY BRUCE
AARON COPLAND
GEORGE GERSHWIN
FANNIE SNYDER
BEN SNYDER
RABBI JACOB MANN
JOSEPHUS
FANNIE BRYCE
RABBI AKIBA
JACK BENNY
RASHI
PAUL MUNI
HARRY HOUDINI
ALBERT EINSTEIN
STAN GETZ
ISAAC STERN
BILL RUSSELL
JESSE COLIN YOUNG
STING
JORMA KAUKONEN
BONNIE RAITT
MARK KNOPFLER
VAN MORRISON
CORKY SEIGAL
PAUL SIMON
NEIL YOUNG
LEON RUSSELL
CHRIS YOULDEN
AMY WINEHOUSE
GEORGE SOROS
JONAS SALK
FRANZ BOAS
RICHARD FEYNMAN
JACOB HENRY SCHIFF
MOSES MONTEFIORE
STAN LEE
MEL BLANC
ELIEZER BEN YEHUDAH
THEODOR HERZL
LEO FRANK
JUDITH RESNIK
BETTY FRIEDAN
EMMA GOLDBERG
ANNE FRANK
HANNAH ARENDT
NOAM CHOMSKY
WENDY WASSERSTEIN
SANDY KOUFAX
MEQUEQUE
(pet house-pigeon, age 8, Colombia)
PECHI
(pet cat, age 8, Colombia)
STEVE JOBS
JACOBY ELLSBURY
JOSEPH COHEN
CHARLOTTE COHEN
HERBERT SLATE
LINDA MANT
LENA RIVLIN
ABRAHAM RIVLIN
SHIRLEY PORT
BILL PORT
MARIA FISHMAN
NAN FRANKLIN
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
MARCY STEINBERG
COUSINS MARISSA, ALEX,  NATE, AARON
GRANDMA ROSE
GRANDPA HERB
GRANDMA CLAIRE
GRANDPA ALAN
SHIMON PERES
CHAIM WEIZMAN
PIETER WISPELWY
ERIC CLAPTON
WILLIAM MEYERS
MILDRED MEYERS
YVONNE FISHBEIN
SEYMOUR FISHBEIN
EVELYN KAUFFMAN
HANNAH SENESH
HANK GREENBERG
CHARLIE CHAPLIN
LINA FRANK HECHT *
SENDA BERENSON (ABBOTT)*
ROSE FINKELSTEIN NORWOOD*
JENNIE LOITMAN BARRON*
MARY ANTIN*
ELLIOTT LOUIS DUNN
MICHAEL JORDAN
PAUL RABIL
EDITH (NAN) BONN
MADDIE BAUMBERG
RUTH BADER GINSBERG
ELENA KAGAN
ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF
CYNTHIA OZICK
PHILIP ROTH
PRIMO LEVI
STEPHEN JAY GOULD
JANE EYRE
TESS GERRITSON
ALFRED HITCHCOCK
LARRY, MOE & CURLY (3 STOOGES)
BOB DYLAN
NANA FRIEDA
GRANMA DAISY
PAPPA KEN & PAPPA JON
ISRAEL ZANGWILL
NELLY SACHS
HENRY ROTH
MARCEL MARCEAU
GILDA RADNER
GEORGE BURNS
LOUISE NEVELSON
FRIDA KAHLO
JANUSZ KORCZAK
ALEXANDER HARKAVY
RABBI SAMUEL KORFF
RABBI ABRAHAM HALBFINGER
HARRY KRAFT
PAUL NEWMAN
YVES KLEIN
MAN RAY
WEEGEE
BARNEY FRANK
BERNARD BARUCH
BEVERLY SILLS
RICHARD TUCKER
ROSE ROTHSTEIN
ABE ROTHSTEIN
CELIA KERZNER
FRANZ KAFKA
MOSHE PIJADE
(Jewish Yugoslav partisan)
GILAD SHALIT

* Remarkable Jewish Women of Boston’s West End

Just imagine, if you will, the conversation that was taking place inside that sukkah!

Reb Elias