Planning for Sukkot

So you've been moved to want to observe God's festivals, specifically the fall festival of Sukkot. What do you do now? Well, you've already taken one of the first steps - visiting this web site. We are blessed to be among the growing number of Hebraic ministries that provide a place where you can meet with others and learn about God's special days. As you look thru our site, you'll find information about this festival site as well as housing, activities, the Windermere area, and of course, the festival itself. What are the next steps? Here's our suggestions for a truly successful Feast of Sukkot:

Come up with a budget -

The amount of money you have available for the festival will be a huge determining factor when it comes to choosing housing and transportation. If funds are going to be tight, you may want to camp. Camping saves on both housing costs and food, but maybe not enough to justify the cost of camping equipment. If you have your own camping equipment and you live within driving distance of Windermere, it is probably the best (and in my view) and most enjoyable way to observe the festival.

A spreadsheet is always a good tool for putting together a budget. If you'd like, you can download a sample from our website - www.season-of-our-joy.com/Budget.xls. After you've put together your budget, divide the total budget amount by the number of paychecks till the festival and that's how much you'll want to save each pay period. It's been my family's tradition to begin saving for the festival at the conclusion of the previous festival. We just make it a part of our family budget.

 Secure housing -

There are a number of places to stay in the Windermere area. Windermere, (where the festival is held) has guest rooms in the lodge as well as a number of cabins. Since so many activities take place at the lodge, we suggest you consider staying there to avoid all the travel back and forth. A block of rooms and cabins are held for our group until 45 days before the festival and are then released to the public. As always, to get the best rooms or cabins, we advise you to make your reservations with the lodge as soon as possible. Be sure to tell the reservations clerk that you are with the Season of Our Joy in order to secure special rates.

Should you choose to stay in a city around Windermere there are a number of hotels and motels available including Hampton Inn, Econo Lodge, and many more. A list of motels and hotels as well as contact information and maps showing their proximity to Windermere can be seen by clicking here. Numerous campsites are available at the near the Windermere State Park. Click here for camping information.

Secure transportation -

Because of the rising cost of jet fuel, it's advisable to purchase airline tickets early. From Windermere, the St Louis Missouri Airport is 200 miles east. Driving time is about 3 hours. Be sure to make rental car reservations. We do not have personnel who can drive to the airport and pick you up. If you are driving your own vehicle, be sure to check it out (tires, battery, oil change, etc.) before leaving for the festival. You don't want to be late for any of the numerous activities and teachings. In either case, plan to arrive in time for the opening evenings celebration. If you can arrive a day or so earlier, that would be good as you could help us with the set up chores.

Get time off from work - 

In some cases this is the hardest part of your festival preparations, but never-the-less, it's achievable. Because God's festivals are the highlight of many peoples walk, they schedule their vacation for the festival season. But if you're new to the festival and have not made arrangements to get off work there are some things you can do to convince your employer to let you off and not penalize you. 

I employ about 30 - 40 people and am faced with numerous requests for time off including time off for religious purposes. Here are some of the things I look for when a person asks time off for religious purposes: 

• Is this really a religious purpose? Can the employee convince me that he really believes that he or she should be taking off work for this purpose?
• Has the employee reviewed our company policy concerning taking time off?
• Has the employee tried to make arrangements to make sure his work is completed while he's gone by either requesting to work extra hours before or after the requested time of his absence or by having other employees cover for him, possibly by swapping vacation time with him?
• Has the employee approached me early enough for me to arrange work schedules around him?
• Is the employee demanding time off or is he humbly requesting it?
• Finally - is this employee a good worker? (This final point is probably the most important. Most employers will bend over backwards for his good employees.)

Remember, you're employer in many cases has his hands tied by federal, state, and company policies. Therefore, do what you can to make this easier for him. As always, spend some time praying about your situation before going to your boss, you may need that extra bit of persuasive power.

Make arrangements to get your children out of school -

Getting children out of school is not as hard as it might seem since there are laws pertaining to children being out of school for religious reasons. Even though using the law should not be your first course of action, you should arm yourself with the information you need to show your school officials that the law is on your side.

Many school districts include information about religious holidays in the Student Handbook. Be sure to read it! Check your states statues concerning religious holidays. You may be surprised to find (thanks to our Jewish brothers) that in some states, the Feast of Tabernacles is already deemed a religious holiday.

After gathering the information you might need, here's the steps I would follow:

• Arrange a meeting with your child's teacher and principal. Tell them you're wanting to discuss taking your child out of school for a few days to observe a religious holiday season. I would not call it a Jewish holiday since most Jewish people do not take their children out of school for these days.
• Obtain a letter from your Sabbath keeping affiliation that states that as a group, you observe the Biblical holy days. If you are not affiliated with any particular group, we have a 'generic' letter that we'll be happy to provide explaining our position.
• When the time comes to meet with the school officials, be sure to have your facts strait;
  • Be able to explain your convictions
  • Be able(if needed) to state from the student handbook and/or state law what the law says regarding your position.
  • Be able to give examples of what you do to support your position. For example, you don't let your children play or go to football games after sundown on Friday night because of your conviction about the Sabbath.
• Explain to the teacher(s) that your children will take school work with them and have it completed when they return. If necessary, offer to have your children take tests in advance of leaving (provided, of course, they've been given ample opportunity to prepare).
• Stand firm in your conviction. In many cases, the school's resistance to letting your child out excused is a money issue. For you it's a spiritual issue.

From what we have seen, it is usually not a problem getting the children out of school and it being an excused absence. Usually after the first year, it's a snap. In fact, you may have more difficulty convincing your older children to leave school than you'll have problems with the school. The older children will come around real quick once they enjoy one of God's festivals!

Hag Samaech!   (Have a great festival!)