pilgrimage festivals<\/a>\u00a0 (the others being Passover and Shavuot), it was tradition for Jews to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem.<\/p>\nLaunching Panoramic Sukkah as a business two years ago, Alpern had to find the material to print the walls on and a printer to transfer the images, taking into consideration both quality and affordability for the consumer.<\/p>\n
Alpern declined to say how many sukkahs he has sold to date, but said his goal is to sell 100 by the time next year’s festival begins. (And while it’s too late to purchase a Panoramic Succah for this year, it’s not too early to plan for next: Keep an eye out for a sale during the intermediary days of the holiday, when Jews have Sukkot on the brain.)<\/p>\n
A variety of images and styles are available. The full Panoramic Succah kit (from $1,080) includes a frame, as well as four walls with a 360-degree image on semi-translucent fabric. Other options include walls only (from $800) or single-wall panels (from $210) if, as the website says, you’re “looking to bring Israel into your succah, but not for quite so\u00a0much<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>Israel.”<\/p>\nOf course, Alpern can also create custom succahs. This year he created a wall panel for a customer depicting the Ushpizin, mystical special guests that are ritually welcomed each evening of the holiday. The panel included the images of the traditional “guests” \u2014 Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and King David \u2014 and interspersed them with images of the customer\u2019s family members and inspirational figures such as Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p>\n
If Alpern’s Panoramic Succahs can bring Jerusalem to anywhere in the world, then it’s probably no surprise that the reverse can also be true.\u00a0Perhaps the greatest custom sukkah that Alpern has created was for himself: Wrigley Field. A diehard Chicago Cubs fan since he worked as a vendor at the iconic ballpark in 1984, Alpern was disappointed that he could not make it back to his hometown last year for the\u00a0World Series<\/a>. So he took a panoramic photo of Wrigley that he had shot a few years back and turned it into a Panoramic Succah of his own.<\/p>\nLast year, Alpern and his three sons slept in the succah, waking up in the middle of the night to watch the games broadcast over the internet. This year \u2014 with the Cubs on a hot streak and ready to defend their title \u2014 they plan to do the same: Major League Baseball’s postseason began last night, the night before Succot begins.<\/p>\n
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