There are few times when a sense of community is more necessary than when our lives are touched by death. Perhaps that is why more than 400 people from every point along the spectrum of the Los Angeles Jewish community came together Sunday at the site of the new Mount Sinai Memorial Park and Mortuary in Simi Valley for the opening of the park\’s chapel and administration building.
So have you heard the one about the two rabbis on a boat? It\’s actually a story told by the Talmud in its discussion of the laws of the sukkah. It seems that Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Gamliel were on a boat during the days leading up to the holiday of Sukkot, and it became clear that they were not going to make it to land in time for the beginning of the festival. Rabbi Akiva sprung into action, pressing the members of the crew for a bit of lumber, some nails, and whatever other materials might be employed, to assemble a sukkah just large enough for himself and for his colleague.
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