Sleeping in Sukkah

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Those who are lenient

  1. If it’s cold outside, some defend the practice of those who do not sleep in the Sukkah, however, many hold that one should make an extra effort to sleep in the Sukkah (either by making a insulated Sukkah, by bringing in heaters, or by toughing it out). [1]
  2. One is exempt from sleeping in the sukkah if he is genuinely afraid of terrorism. [2]
  3. Some Chasidim have the practice of not sleeping in the Sukkah. [3]

Sleeping in a small Sukkah

  1. One is obligated to sleep in a small Sukkah even if that means bending or folding one’s body and there’s no exemption of being uncomfortable in the Sukkah (like there is if it rains). [4]

Leaving the table in the Sukkah

  1. Even though one major authority states that one must leave the table in the Sukkah while one sleeps, many disagree and say that one doesn’t need to be strict but should be if there’s no need to remove the table and so is the custom. [5]
  2. One may sleep under the table in the Sukkah if it’s not Ten Tefachim high. [6]

Taking a short nap

  1. It’s forbidden to sleep outside a Sukkah whether it’s a fixed sleep or a short nap. [7] (however, it's not even considered a nap if it's less than 53.7 seconds and many poskim hold that it's permissible while some forbid even that). [8] Additionally, Hacham Ovadia Yosef provides a leniency for anyone who is prone to sickness to take naps outside of the Sukkah. [9]

Married man

  1. It’s preferable that a man sleep with his wife in the Sukkah (not on nights of Onah) to fulfill the requirement of dwelling in the Sukkah like one would in one’s home, however this doesn’t inhibit the mitzvah. [10]
  2. It’s an obligation to sleep in the Sukkah even for a married man unless it’s the night of his wife’s Tevilah or Onah and it’s not private enough in the Sukkah. [11]

Sleeping alone in the Sukkah

  1. It is permissible to sukkah alone in the Sukkah even though one shouldn't sleep alone in a house. [12]

If one's traveling

  1. One is allowed to travel by bus for business purposes even if one knows that one will fall asleep on the way and one does not have to stand up so as not to fall asleep outside the Sukkah. However, if one is traveling for a leisure trip one may not sleep outside the Sukkah and one may not even nap on the bus. [13]

Other activities in the Sukkah

  1. Eating in the Sukkah
  2. Learning in the Sukkah
  3. Doing other activities in the Sukkah

Sources

  1. ↑ Rama 639:2 defends the practice of those who are lenient in not sleeping in the Sukkah saying that where it's too cold it's painful to sleep there and so one may sleep outside the Sukkah. Mishna Brurah 639:17 comments that this is so if one doesn't have proper pillows and blankets to keep one warm (implying that if one has proper coats and blankets one should sleep in the Sukkah.)[see Nemukei Orach Chaim 639:1 who discusses this at length.] Chazon Ovadyah pg 195 rules like the Rama.
  2. ↑ Rav Avigdor Neventzal in his Mishnah Berura Biytizchak Yikare on Rama 639:2
  3. ↑ see Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXIX, pp. 211-219 quoted by chabad.org
  4. ↑ Rama 640:3, Chazon Ovadyah pg 194)
  5. ↑ Mishna Brurah 640:27 writes that if one takes the table out of the Sukkah in order to sleep one doesn’t fulfill the mitzvah since the Sukkah must be useful for all purposes and if one isn’t able to sleep in it with a table, one doesn’t fulfill the mitzvah of eating it in either. At first glance there appear to be no early sources to corroborate this stringency, however Mikrai Kodesh (Siman 35 pg 155) and Sh”t Shraga Meir 5:55 both try to defend the Mishna Brurah. Moadim UZmanim (Rav Moshe Shternbach; Vol 1, Siman 87) quotes someone who actually saw the Chafetz Chaim act this way in practice. Orchot Rabbenu (Vol 2 pg 229) writes that that the practice of the Steipler would leave a small table in his Sukkah when he slept. Similarly, Sh”t Az Nidabru 14:1 writes once such a holy mouth said such a ruling it’s proper to follow it. On the other hand, many achronim including Rabbi Eliezer Waldenburg in Sh”t Tzitz Eliezer 8:33, Rav Ovadyah Yosef in Chazon Ovadyah (pg 198), Rav Moshe Shternbach in Moadim UZmanim (Vol 1, Siman 87), and Piskei Teshuvot 640:8 argue on the Mishna Brurah saying that there’s no source for such a stringency and conclude that one may remove the tables if there’s a need for room to people to sleep (even a child who reached the age of Chinuch). Chazon Ovadyah and Moadim Uzmanim write the minhag is to remove the tables.
  6. ↑ Natai Gavriel 59:19 based on S”A 627:1
  7. ↑ S”A 639:2; Yalkut Yosef, Moadim, laws of dwelling in the Sukkah, 10
  8. ↑ Mishna Brurah 639:11 writes that even though one may not take a short nap outside the Sukkah one may take a nap that's less than the time it takes to walk 100 steps. Mishna Brurah 44:4 defines this time as around 1/67 of an hour (which is 53.7 seconds). Kaf HaChaim 639:27, Pri Megadim (M"Z 639:5), and Natai Gavriel 59:2 (as first stam-anonymous opinion) agree with Mishna Brurah. However, Bikurei Yacov 639:12 and Hilchot Chag BeChag (pg 44) argue on Mishna Brurah and forbid for any amount of time.
  9. ↑ Yalkut Yosef, Moadim, laws of dwelling in the Sukkah, 10
  10. ↑ Mishna Brurah 639:18 writes that men are obligated to sleep in the Sukkah without their wives and it’s not called Mitzta’er unless it’s the night of Onah. This is also the opinion of the Chazon Ovadyah (pg 194). Shalmei Moed (pg 114) agrees but adds that if the wife is scared to sleep alone in the house, the man may be lenient.
  11. ↑ Rama 639:2 writes that many are lenient not to sleep in the Sukkah since a man can’t sleep with his wife in the Sukkah unless he has a private Sukkah. However, the Mishna Brurah 639:18 quotes the Gra and Magen Avraham who argue on this saying that a married man is obligated in Sukkah even if he can’t sleep with his wife in the Sukkah. However, the Mishna Brurah concludes that on nights when the women had her Tevilah or it’s the time of Onah, they may sleep outside the Sukkah so as not to miss the mitzvah of Pru Urevu, assuming that it’s not private enough in the Sukkah. This is also the opinion of Chazon Ovadyah (pg 194)
  12. ↑ Maaseh Rav (Siman 214), Nefesh Kol Chai (Samach #4), Yafeh Lelev 2:1, Bikurei Yacov 639:18, Torat HaMoedim (Rabbi Efraim Oved) 6:3
  13. ↑ Torat HaMoedim (Rabbi Efraim Oved) 6:2 and 10:10 based on Shulchan Aruch 640:8. BeYitzchak Yikra 640:8 quotes Rav Shlomo Zalman who holds that a trip isn't considered someone who's traveling that could be exempt from the Sukkah and so one can't nap on the bus. See also Halichot Shlomo 9:21.
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