Dina wasn’t worried about the food – that would be taken care of by one chesed organization and the new clothing for the children had been supplied by another. But with Sukkos approaching in less than a day, Dina was alarmed. Her husband was staying in CHOP until hours before Yom Tov with their sick daughter and there was no-one to put up their sukkah. What should she do?

A chance phone-call to Chesed of Lakewood (COL) in 2012 speedily brought a team of volunteers to Dina’s home to erect the family sukkah in time for Yom Tov.

It also brought into existence a new project to Lakewood, the Sukkah Exchange, a remarkable home-grown program that has enabled hundreds of families to say the brocha “leishev b’sukkah” in Lakewood and elsewhere for the past three Sukkoses, now going-on to the fourth.

A Forgotten Chesed

Meir (a founder who prefers to remain anonymous) relates that Dina’s plight served as a wake-up call for COL, a multifaceted chesed umbrella that has been reaching-out to Lakewood families for the past five years (while acting in an unofficial capacity for several years prior). If Dina had no-one to put-up her sukkah, there must be others like her. And there must also be others who would be able to erect a sukkah – but don’t have the means to buy one.

Meir’s answer was to add the “Sukkah Exchange” to the already extensive list of programs provided by COL. It perfectly fit the bill! Explains Mrs. Rechy Svei, the project coordinator, Chesed of Lakewood provides not only the obvious needs that people require like food, clothing and even money. It also supplies the services that most “givers” rarely think of. When a family needs help, they often requires assistance across the board. In addition to the material necessities, they may need cleaning-help before Pesach or babysitting during the year or tutoring for a child or – it could be anything! If chesed is needed, COL is there to fill the void. And if a person needs a sukkah or help with a sukkah, they can turn to the Sukkah Exchange.

How it works

Shloimy, a “regular” BMG bochur is one of the huge crew of volunteers who works for the Sukkah Exchange during bein hasedorim in the later part of Elul, stepping-up his hours to virtually “full-time” after Yom Kippur. After several years of volunteering, he extols its concept as “brilliant in its simplicity.” “There are people who need sukkahs and people who have sukkahs to spare,” he elaborates. “What the Sukkah Exchange does is make a match between them – it’s a perfect shidduch”! He adds that to spare embarrassment to the donor, the sukkah is delivered to his door by volunteers. And if he needs help to erect it, he gets that too, although whenever possible most people want to work on their sukkahs themselves.

And who are the people who need sukkahs? Meir reveals, “Families in crisis situations such as the sickness of a family member may well possess their own sukkah but, like Dina’s family, they are unable to erect it themselves.”
He notes that a crisis can deplete a family’s ability to handle relatively straightforward projects such as sukkah building (and dismantling), even if the manpower is there. Elderly people may also need help with their sukkahs, especially if they do not have younger family members close at hand.

But the majority of callers to the Sukkah Exchange are people who cannot afford to buy a sukkah. Perhaps their old sukkah is broken or they need a larger sukkah or they’re making Sukkos for the first time. Sometimes they’re simply looking for additional boards or hardware that they don’t have the funds to buy. Meir relates the example of a family that wanted to invite two spiritually searching families to join them for Sukkos, but they could not afford to extend their current sukkah. They called the Sukkah exchange just minutes before another person called to offer extra boards he didn’t need. Yet another perfect shidduch!

A sukkah to spare

Despite the considerable expense of purchasing a sukkah, the Sukkah Exchange is gratified by the number of those who call with a sukkah to spare. Some families have outgrown their sukkah while others have downsized and have boards to spare. Some cannot offer a sukkah but can offer schach. A woman recently gave a way nine sukkah mats that are used as schach!

Among the callers are those who have been considering buying a new sukkah for years; the knowledge that their “old” sukkah will be put to use allows them to “justify” their purchase.

Meir received a call this year from a woman who says her sukkah will be available next year! Another said that their sukkah is available this year but will need to be given back for next year (an offer that the Sukkah Exchange must reject; their sukkahs are given as a permanent gifts). Some people call in Elul to offer their old sukkahs, while other call after Sukkos because they’re planning to buy a new one the following year and want to save the trouble of putting the old one away.

There are also sukkah companies who have donated brand-new sukkahs to the Exchange. Meir wishes to thank in particular the Sukkah Depot that has provided sukkahs and Just – 4 – Wheels that has loaned vehicles for sukkah exchanges. The Sukkah Center distributed a pamphlet to buyers of new sukkahs recommending them to donate their used sukkahs to the Sukkah Exchange.

Meir points out that because of its many variables, the Sukkah Exchange requires complicated and intensive coordination, most of which is voluntarily carried out. At the same time he comments that he constantly witnesses tremendous hashgocha protis when matching donors to recipients, even extending to out-of-town.

Near and Far

Given its unique status, to Meir’s knowledge unmatched elsewhere, the Sukkah Exchange also receives calls from New York, and on many occasions he has managed to make “out-of-town” matches with others nearby. This was especially marked after Hurricane Sandy when many New Yorkers had their sukkahs destroyed.

At the same time, however he would like communities outside Lakewood to establish their own Exchanges. “It’s a lot of work, time and effort,” he says, “but it’s a beautiful idea that makes everyone happy. In this case, there’s no trace of resentment from the “giver”; if anything, he gains from the satisfaction he gets from someone else using an item he would otherwise discard.”

On a serious note Meir ends with the inspiring thought that a sukkah that’s built with chesed is a reminder of the ananei hakovod and a pointer to the sukkah of Leviasan when Moshiach comes.

Do you have a spare sukkah? Well, what are you waiting for?

For more information about the Sukkah Exchange call 732 901 0482, extension 4 or [email protected]. Donations to this program are tax-deductible and can be sent to 72B Park Avenue South, Lakewood NJ 08701 or via www. chesedoflakewood.org.

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