Tzaki and His Holiday Miracles

The story behind the stories: The Origin of the Tzaki Stories In the early days of Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto most of the membership comprised young parents with very young children. Following the solemn moods of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur with their serious sermons, it seemed appropriate to celebrate the joyous spirit of Sukkot by telling lighthearted stories to excite the imagination of the children and their young-at-heart parents. When the Yom Kippur War of 1973 broke out, a special challenge and opportunity arose. This was a time to raise the consciousness of young and old to the importance of Israel in Jewish life throughout the world. Years before that, on my first visit to Israel I had been introduced to a wonderful family of cousins who lived in Rishon LeTziyon. Among these newly found relatives was a precocious little boy named Yitzhak whom everybody called Tzaki. His parents told me that from the time Tzaki was six years old he insisted on sleeping in their sukkah throughout the holiday, no matter what dangers hovered over the Jewish state. At the time of the Yom Kippur War, Tzaki was 12 years old and it occurred to me that telling stories about the adventures of this young Israeli Jew would help bring everyone emotionally closer to the trials of our brothers and sisters in Israel. Thus was born the first story of Tzaki and his magical flying sukkah that saved Jewish lives. Each succeeding Sukkot another story was told and a legend was born in the synagogue. Families grew up loving the stories and each Sukkot anticipated the next episode. All the stories are based on truth, particularly when at the age of 18, the real Tzaki went into the Israeli air force and for 20 years flew helicopters in the service of Israel and the Jewish People.