Party with Your People: The Ushpizin Sukkot
Spectacular!
Costume Party and (Jewish) Law and Order
Age: Kadima
Duration: 2 Hours
Educational theme/Jewish content- USHPIZIN-inviting guests into the Sukkah, Sukkot
brachot
Materials- Sukkot decorations, sticky name tags, blank place cards, dinner (and food
supplies), page with Sukkot blessings, lulav and etrog, Sukkot trivia page, music,
equipment for a S’mores Roast (food supplies, shish kabab sticks, Sternos)
Famous Jews/great Jewish personalities cards, copies of character/clue sheet, clues cut
out (one per team), markers or pens, costumes or props for Kadimaniks to get into the
role
Pre-program planning:
In your program advertisement, explain the idea of Ushpizin
FYI: Ushpizin is Aramaic for guests. During the seven days of Sukkot, Jews symbolically
invite biblical characters into the Sukkah,. We celebrate Sukkot and honor Ushpizin by
inviting guests to our Sukkah.
Send out a formal “invitation” inviting the Kadimaniks to get into the character and
come in costume as any character who they would want to bring with them to dine in the
Sukkah. Address the flyer to “Dear Kadamanik and Guest”
 Invite them to the criminal investigation of “Jewish Law and Order” and explain that
you need their help to solve a “halachik crime” and catch a Traif-ster (instead of pizza IN
the hut someone has brought Pepperoni Pizza Hut into the Sukkah!)
Program implementation:
*Chapter Advisor should also be in costume as one of the traditional Ushpizin
guests (Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Yosef, King David, Moshe, Aaron). It really
enhances the program if the advisor/staff plays a part too.
1. Upon entering the Sukkah, each person is given a name tag to write their name
and the name of their character they’ve “brought with them.”
2. Welcome and explanation of Ushpizin. Ask each guest to introduce themselves
and explain why they chose to “bring” that person
3. “leshev baSukkah” bracha, Hamotzi and dinner
4. A Sukkah Cop (see if you can have a shul staff person come in and visit and play
this role) stops the dinner in the middle and explains that the real reason they were
all invited here was not just for Ushpizin but to help Jewish Law and Order solve
a Sukkot mystery. Explain that yesterday, evidence was discovered that instead of
pizza in the hut, a box of Pizza Hut traif pizza was discovered in the Sukkah.
Their help is need to track the traif-ster
5. Spilt them into small groups sitting nearby or pairs. Each group or pair is given a
role (like a murder mystery) with an identity of a famous Jew. Together, they
must get into character, play that part and think of a creative alibi (example:
Yosef- he couldn’t have done it, there was a famine in Canaan or he was thrown
into a pit!). Each character gets “interviewed” and the Kadimaniks must play the
role as if they were that person. At the end of their interview, they give their alibi.
Provide descriptions of that famous Jew on a cue card to help the team get to know
their person
6. Hand out attached clue sheet for groups to keep track as they answer questions
and earn clues.
7. Clues should be cut into strips. The detective or advisor asks a trivia question. A
group is called upon to answer the question. If they answer correctly, they are
given a clue on a strip of paper and can eliminate that person from their list. The
group figures out who the “traifster” was by answering questions and the process
of elimination.
Sikum/program summary: The group that has figured it out can announce the Traifster.
Thank them for their Jewish Law and Order crime fighting skills!
-Dessert- S’more Sukkot fun- make s’mores and Lulav Shake-down (blessings, lulav and
etrog shake, music!)
-announce upcoming programs
CHARACTERS TO ASSIGN:
ALIBI
If you choose to include other famous Jews, make clues according to your choices
1. Natalie Portman- famous actress, studied Hollywood pressure, no pizza for me, gotta
for a semester at Hebrew University
stay in shape!
2. Isaac
I was out walking to Mount Moriah with
my dad yesterday
3. Yaakov
There’s a famine in Canaan, that’s why we
have to leave for Egypt. We don’t even
have bread, never mind meat!
4. Esther
I was a vegetarian after I become queen, no
pepperoni for me!
5. Moshe
I gave the law to the people from God, why
would I break it?
6. Devorah- woman prophet, warrior
Too busy in battle to eat
7. Miriam- sister of Moshe and Aaron, led
I was too busy teaching a dancing lesson to
the Jewish women in song and dance after
be eating pizza in the Sukkah
crossing the Yam Suf
8. Mark Spitz- Olympic Athlete whose 9
Pizza is too heavy and greasy and won’t
gold medal record was recently broken by
help me speed through the water
Michael Phelps
9. Ahad Ha’am- cultural Zionist- believed
Wouldn’t I be a hypocrite if I ate traif after
that Jewish values were at the core of a
writing all about how Jewish living
Jewish society
sustains a Jewish culture?
10. Yosef
Sorry, no pizza for me, I can’t even get a
slice of bread here in this pit and I had a
rehearsal for the Technicolor Dream Coat
last night!
11. Avraham
OTHER OPTIONS:
Sandy Koufax – baseball player who
refused to pitch in the world series on Yom
Kippur
David Ben Gurion- first PM of Israel
Rashi- great Jewish commentator,
Medieval Spain
Isaac Beshevis Singer- Yiddish Writer,
Nobel prize for literature
Ralph Laren- famous fashion designer
I believe too strongly in my Judaism to
break the laws of Kashrut. I gave up
playing in the World Series for Yom
Kippur!
I helped create a Jewish society, founded in
Jewish law. Traif in a Sukkah goes against
all of that!
Pizza? What’s Pizza? As it is written: “You
shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk”
(Shemot 34:26) This can be explained
as…no traif!
Traif! Oy! What a shandeh (catastrophe)! I
write for what my people stand for- Jewish
values
Pepperoni stains don’t go with my newest
looks
Trivia questions and clues: (clues to be written on cards or strips of
paper for handout)
1. How many days after Yom Kippur does Sukkot fall?
(5 days after)
2. Sukkot is one of the Shalosh Regalim or 3 Pilgrim festivals. What are
the other two? (Pesach, Shavuot)
3. How many walls must a Sukkah have? (at least 2.5, one can be the
side of a building)
4. What is another name for Sukkot? (Chag Ha’asif: the Harvest
Festival)
5. What are the arba minim (hadas, lulav, aravot, etrog)?
6. What is the covering of the Sukkah called (S’chach)
7. What is one rule (there are a few) about the Schach? (must be natural,
not attached to anything living, sparse enough so you can see the
stars)
8. What are 2 customs to do in the sukkah? (eat, sleep)
9. When do we shake the arba minim in synagogue (Hallel service)?
10. Who are the seven symbolic guests we invite for Ushpizin? Who would
YOU invite into your Sukkah?
(Avraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moshe, Yosef, Aaron, King David)
Now guess…who dunnit?
TRAIFSTER: Avraham! The laws of Kashrut had not yet been known to our
great Patriarch. You can’t blame someone who doesn’t know, it’s why
learning is so important – we learn so we can know and do!
Beresheit 18:8
-‫ ּובֶ ן‬,‫ַוי ִַּקח חֶ ְמ ָאה וְ חָ לָב‬
,‫ ַוי ִֵּּתן‬,‫הַ בָ ָקר אֲ שֶ ר עָ שָ ה‬
‫עֹמֵּ ד‬-‫לִּפְ נֵּיהֶ ם; וְ הּוא‬
,‫ֲעלֵּיהֶ ם ַתחַ ת הָ עֵּ ץ‬
.‫וַי ֹאכֵּלּו‬
8 And he [Avraham] took curd, and milk,
and the calf which he had dressed [made
ready], and set it before them; and he
stood by them under the tree, and they
did eat.
Clues to cut out: (make enough copies for each team to get each one)
Clue: This famous movie star feels the Hollywood pressure to stay in shape.
She’s young and beautiful and studied at the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem. It wasn’t __________
Clue: This person was out walking to Mount Moriah with his dad, was in
danger and then his dad saw a ram that saved his life. It wasn’t _______
Clue: This person became a vegetarian when there was no Kosher food
available in the palace. It wasn’t _______
Clue: This person was too distracted by war and by being a woman of vision
(prophet). It wasn’t ______
Clue: He gave the law to the people from God, why would he break it? It
wasn’t _________
Clue: This person suffered a famine in Canaan, that’s why he and his family
had to leave for Egypt. We don’t even have bread, never mind meat! It
wasn’t _______
Clue: This former Olympian whose record was recently broken, was too
busy swimming to stop for unhealthy food. It wasn’t ______
(Kadimaniks may need help with this one but may know it because the record was recently broken)
Clue: This person was a cultural Zionist who believed that a Jewish state
was the center of Jewish culture and values. It wasn’t ___________
Clue: Sorry, no pizza for this person, he can’t even get a slice of bread in the
pit where he finds himself. And he had a rehearsal for the Technicolor
Dream Coat last night! It wasn’t __________
Clue: This person was teaching a dance class to women with a tibrel in her
hand. It wasn’t ________
Who Dunnit? Catch the Sukkah Traifster
CLUE SHEET
Characters
Alibi
Natalie Portman- actress
Isaac- patriarch
Yaakov- patriach
Esther- queen of Purim Story
Moshe- led the exodus, transmitted the
law to the people
Devorah- prophetss
Miriam – sister of Moshe, Aaron
Avraham- patriach
Mark Spitz- Olympic swimmer
Ahad Ha’am- cultural Zionist
Yosef- son of Yaakov, sold by his
brothers as a slave
Shake Yo Lulav! Blessings for Sukkot
Blessing for dwelling in the Sukkah
Baruch ata Adonai Elohanu melech ha-olam
asher kedshanu b'mitsvotav vetsevanu
leisheiv ba-sukkah.
Blessed are you Adonai, king of the universe
who has sanctified us with your commandments and commanded us
to dwell in the sukkah.
Blessing for the Lulav
Baruch ata Adonai Elohanu melech ha-olam
asher kedshanu b'mitsvotav vetsevanu
al netilat lulav.
Blessed are you Adonai, king of the universe
who has sanctified us with your commandments and commanded us
to take hold of the lulav.
Shake shake shake in all directions!
*this sheet has the name of God on it. Please treat it with respect and do not throw away