Building the Sukkah

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Number of walls of the Sukkah

  1. The minimum number of walls necessary for a Sukkah is 3 of length 7 Tefachim. It's possible to build the third wall without having to complete it but footnote for details. [1]
  2. The minimum measure of a Sukkah is 7 Tefachim in length by 7 Tefachim in width and 10 Tefachim in height. [2]
  3. There is no maximum width or length but the maximum height is 20 Amot. [3]
  4. If the walls are made of polls or strings only in the horizontal direction or only in the vertical direction then one must have 4 wall complete walls, however, if there are 3 walls and a Tefach for the fourth wall it's a doubt whether it's acceptable. [4]
  5. The walls must be built within 3 Tefachim of the ground. [5]

Arrangement of the walls

  1. If one has two walls facing one another and the third is four tefachim it must be within 3 tefachim of one side and within 3 of the other or at least have a tzurat hapetach to the second side. [6]

Building a Sukkah in the street

  1. If there's no room on private property to build a Sukkah and the city leaders (mayor) give permission, it's permissible to build it in the public street however one should make sure that the Sukkah doesn't to block walkers (traffic). [7]

Materials for walls of Sukkah

  1. All materials are permissible to be for the walls of a Sukkah (see next halacha). Some say that that a pious person should preferably only use materials that aren't Biblically unfit for S'chach. [8]
  2. Many authorities hold that plastic curtains (tarp, canvas) are unfit for walls of a Sukkah, while others permit. [This is not because of an issue with the material itself but because of an issue with it blowing in the wind.] [9]

S'chach of Sukkah

  1. There's three conditions regarding the S'chach (covering) of the Sukkah. It must be made from a material that grows from the ground, is unattached from the ground, and is impervious to impurity (see further for examples). [10]
  2. Metal, dirt, and animal hides are unfit for S'chach as they do not grow from the ground. [11]
  3. Branches attached to a tree which is still attached to the ground is not fit for schach. Therefore, if one put that over his sukkah, and then decided to detach them from the tree one must shake each branch by lifting and placing back down, otherwise it is not kosher as this is a problem of taaseh vilo min ha'asuy. [12]
  4. Bamboo mats made for S'chach which are 3x2 meters according to most poskim are fit for S'chach. [13]
  5. The S'chach should be made so that there is a majority of shade and minority of sunlight that's let through the S'chach. If there's an equal amount of shade and sun in the actual S'chach it's unfit but if there's an equal amount of shade to light that shines on the floor of the Sukkah it's fit. [14]
  6. The S'chach should be thin enough that one can see the large stars through the S'chach. [15]
  7. If one made the S'chach very thick so that one can't see the stars nonetheless it's fit. However, if it's so thick that when it rains a lot water won't come in then it's unfit unless there's no way to remove some S'chach in which case one may rely on the lenient opinions. [16]
  8. If one made the S'chach very thin so that there's patches of empty space it's fit only if (1) there's no area of empty space larger than 3 Tefachim and (2) there is a majority of shade and minority of sunlight (counting the entire area of the S'chach). Even if it's an acceptable Sukkah, nonetheless, if there's a patch of 7x7 7 Tefachim which has more sunlight than shade one may not sit in that area. [17]
  9. It's preferable not to put the S'chach directly on top of walls which are made out of material that's unfit for S'chach. [18]According to most leading authorities, however, it's permissible to place S'chach on top of a material that's fit for S'chach which is in turn held up by something that's unfit for S'chach. Therefore, if one has a metal frame one should place wooden planks on the frame and then S'chach on top of it. [19] Bidieved, if the schach was placed directly on metal, it is kosher. [20]
  10. One must ensure that one's Sukkah is under the open sky and not beneath a tree, roof of a house, or a porch. (For details about after the fact see the footnote.) [21]
  11. A sukkah built under clothes-lines or electric/phone lines, even if there isn't a space of 3 tefachim between each one, is still kosher, even if clothing is on the lines. [22]
  12. If one built a sukkah under a tree or a house which would render it unfit, and then removed the branches or the roof to make it kosher, this isn't a problem of taaseh vilo min ha'asuy as the problem was never in the schach itself. [23]
  13. One shouldn't use schach with a foul odor or whose leaves are falling off because there is a worry that the person may come to leave his sukkah because of the smell or the leaves falling on him. [24]
  14. Although it is permitted for any person to place the schach [25], it is preferable to be stringent and have an adult Jewish male place it on the sukkah. </ref> Kaf Hachayim 635:8 </ref>
  15. If the schach of the sukkah was placed on a slant, the sukkah is still kosher. [26]
  16. If a strong wind blew the schach higher than 3 tefachim above the sukkah and then fell back down, even though since it happened automatically it wasn't put down for the sake of shade, the sukkah is kosher since it was originally placed in a kosher manner. [27]
  17. If snow falls and solidifies on top the schach, it doesn't render the sukkah not kosher, and one can still eat in it and some poskim permit saying a beracha of leshev basukkah in this situation. [28]

When should one build the Sukkah?

  1. The pious are careful to build to begin building the Sukkah on Motzei Yom Kippur and finish it the next day in order to go from one mitzvah (Yom Kippur) to another (Sukkot). [29]
  2. If there is a shabbat between Yom Kippur and Sukkot some poskim say that there is an obligation to build it before that shabbat. Avnei Nezer 459 writes that this obligation isn't just because of zrizin makdimin limitzvot and therefore it is an obligation. However, the Minchat Elazar 4:55 writes that this is not an obligation but just the preferred option, and this is the conclusion of Yalkut Yosef page 118 and Chazon Ovadia Sukkot page 99. </ref>
  3. Preferably, one should build it for himself, but if this isn't possible he should appoint an agent to do it for him and strive to at least take part in the building in some form even if this means missing out on more learning time. [30]
  4. If a Sukkah was set up with the S'chach from before 30 days before sukkot and it wasn't made for the purpose of the mitzvah of Sukkot one must change or improve one thing (such as putting down S'chach) of an area a Tefach by a Tefach or the whole width even if it's of minimal length (or vice versa). However, if it was made within 30 days of Sukkot or was made for the express purpose of Sukkot it's fit even without any change. However, if the Sukkah was originally built for Sukkot and stands unchanged year to year it requires some change the each year. This is only if the S'chach was put in advance but if just the walls were putup in advance and not the S'chach there's no issue. [31]
  5. If you forgot to build a sukkah before Sukkot one can build it on chol hamoed. However, one may not build it or fix it on Yom Tov. [32]

Decorations of the Sukkah

  1. It is a mitzvah to decorate and beautify the sukkah. [33]
  2. The decorations of the Sukkah are forbidden from benefit all 8 days of Sukkot unless one stipulates before Yom Tov that I want to be able to eat and get benefit from these decorations at any time during the holiday. [34]
  3. If the decorations fell on Chol HaMoed one may move them and put them back up, however, one may not benefit from it (if it's food one may not eat it) unless one stipulated as above. [35]
  4. One should make sure to keep the decorations hanging from the S'chach within 4 Tefachim of the S'chach. [36]
  5. One who makes colored paper chains as a decoration of the Sukkah should make sure that it is within 4 Tefachim of the S'chach. After the fact, it is, nonetheless, fit to sit, eat, and sleep under. [37]
  6. If the decorations fell on Yom Tov they are muktzah and can not be moved. [38]
  7. If one needs to remove a decoration because of fear of rain or thieves preferably one should stipulate (as above), however, if one forgot then one may remove them one Chol HaMoed. [39]

Miscellaneous

  1. A sukkah built for sukkot is exempt from a mezuza since it is a temporary structure. [40]
  2. A sukkah built on a wagon, car, ship, etc. is kosher, and one who sits in it can recite the beracha of leshev basukkah even while it is moving. [41]

Covering the Sukkah in case of rain

  1. It's permissible to cover the Sukkah with a plastic tarp to prevent it from getting wet if one places the tarp directly above the Shach and not a tefach above the Shach and one has in mind to remove the tarp when one next uses the Sukkah for the mitzvah. [42]

Sources

  1. ↑ S"A 630:2 according to the explanation of the Mishna Brurah 630:6 the third wall doesn't have to be a full wall of 7 Tefachim but must still look like a wall and so it's permissible to build two walls next to each other (say one is from southwest to southeast and the other is southeast to northeast) and then a third wall (from northeast to northwest) constructed with a wall which is more than one Tefach thick within 3 Tefachim to one of the two other walls (within 3 tefachim of the northeast corner) and also a poll at the end of 7 tefachim (7 Tefachim from the northeast corner) and a poll on top of the more than one tefach wall and the poll at the end of 7 Tefachim. See picture.
     
  2. ↑ S"A 633:8, 634:1, chazon ovadia sukkot page 9.
  3. ↑ S"A 633:1, 634:1
  4. ↑ Halichot Shlomo (7:2 , pg 98)
  5. ↑ Halichot Shlomo (7:5, pg 100)
  6. ↑ S"A 630:3
  7. ↑ Halichot Shlomo (7:11, pg 109)
  8. ↑ S"A 630:1 rules that all materials are permissible. Biur Halacha D"H Kol quotes two reasons that a pious person should be strict only to use materials that are not unfit biblically for S'chach based on the Bach siman 630, but quotes others who reject this stringency. See Chazon Ovadia Sukkot 1-2 for a list of poskim as well even though he allows the use of these materials.
  9. ↑ Rav Ovadiah Yosef in Chazon Ovadyah (pg 1-5), Yabia Omer OC 9:59, and Yechave Daat 3:46, Rav Menashe Klein Mishnah Halachot 512, rav chaim zonnenfeld in salmat chaim 254 and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach in Halichot Shlomo (Sukkah 7:1 pg 97) hold that plastic curtains that sway in the wind even slightly are unfit for walls of a Sukkah. However, Rav Moshe Feinstein in Sh”t Iggerot Moshe 5:40 permits if the curtains are thick and there are poles. Rav Hershel Schachter (min 72-80) explains that even though the Chazon Ish (hilchot eruvin 13:6) was lenient most poskim are strict. Rav Schachter leaves an absolute guideline unclear but in a situation of extreme need one could rely on the Chazon Ish.
  10. ↑ S"A 629:1, Sukkah 12a based on Devarim 16:13, Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 123, Chazon Ovadia Sukkot page 14.
  11. ↑ S"A and Rama 629:1, Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 123, Chazon Ovadia Sukkot page 14
  12. ↑ Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 123, Chazon Ovadia Sukkot page 33.
  13. ↑ Chazon Ovadyah (Sukkot pg 25-6). Halichot Shlomo (pg 128) and Rav Hershel Schachter (min 78-79:30) are also lenient unlike Rav Elyashiv (quoted by Sh"t Shevet HaLevi 6:74) who is strict.
  14. ↑ S"A 631:1 and 4
  15. ↑ S"A 631:3
  16. ↑ S"A 631:3, Mishna Brurah 631:6
  17. ↑ S"A 631:2 and 4 rules that if altogether there's a majority of shade and minority of sunlight and there's no open space of 3 Tefachim it's fit. Rama 631:2 adds that some are strict if there's an area of 7x7 Tefachim which has more sunlight than shade. The Aruch HaShulchan 631:5 and Mishna Brurah 631:4 writes that in such an area one may not sit. Mishna Brurah adds that if there's such a patch that breaks up one of the walls so that there's only 2 walls left then it puts the whole sukkah into question.
  18. ↑ Mishna Brurah 630:59, Chazon Ovadyah (Sukkot pg 44)
  19. ↑ Mishna Brurah 629:26, BeYitzchak Yikra (Rav Nevensal) on that Mishna Brurah quoting Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Yabia Omer 10:46 and Chazon Ovadyah (Sukkot pg 44) are lenient unlike the Chazon Ish 143:2-3. Rav Hershel Schachter (62:30-66:15) also seems to be lenient (listen for exact language). see Chelkat Yaakov 3:127, Minchat Shlomo 2:55 and Moadim u'zmanim 1:82.
  20. ↑ Mishnah Berurah 629:22 and 630:58
  21. ↑ Rama 626:1 writes that in all cases one should avoid building one's sukkah under a tree or roof. Mishna Brurah 626:1 and Aruch HaShulchan 626:1 explain that it's best to build the Sukkah under the open sky. So rules Chazon Ovadyah (Sukkot pg 11) and Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 125. However, after the fact, Aruch HaShulchan 626:1 writes if it's built under a roofed area it's unfit, but if it's built under a tree there is a discussion about when it is fit. S"A 626:1 (according to Biur Halacha D"H VeYesh, Mishna Berurah 626:10 and 11) rules that a sukkah under branches of a tree is fit only if it fits three requirements (See S"A with Mishna Berurah 626:10 and 11). (1) Among the branches of the tree there is majority of sun and minority shade (2) the there is less than four tefachim of tree branches over the schach, and (3) there is a majority of shade from the kosher schach and a minority of shade even without the tree branches (and even so the sachach under the tree branches itself is unfit but the rest of the sukkah is fit).
  22. ↑ Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 125, Chazon Ovadia Sukkot page 69.
  23. ↑ Chazon Ovadia page 33.
  24. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 629:14
  25. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 635:1
  26. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 631:10
  27. ↑ Sh"t Shevet Halevi 10:100
  28. ↑ Sh"t Ginat Veradim 4:7, Moed Likol Chai 21:20, Bikkurei Yaakov 626:7. Aruch Hashulchan 629:2 however only permits saying a beracha if the schach is still more than the snow. see Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 125 and Chazon Ovadia Sukkot page 37.
  29. ↑ Rama 624:5, Mishan brurah 624:19, Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 118, Chazon Ovadia Sukkot page 99
  30. ↑ Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 199, Chazon Ovadia Sukkot page 99
  31. ↑ S"A 636:1, Mishna Brurah 636:1, 5-7. Mishna Brurah 636:4 also points out that this is only the preferable course of action (but after the fact isn't absolutely necessary).
  32. ↑ S"A 637:1, Mishna Brurah 637:1
  33. ↑ Gemara Shabbat 133b, Chazon Ovadyah (Sukkot pg 74). Mishna Brurah 638:11 writes that it's a mitzvah to decorate the sukkah with important fruit and clothes, however, one should not hang nice fruit if one has children and one knows that the children will rip them down and eat them.
  34. ↑ S"A 638:2, Chazon Ovadyah (Sukkot pg 77)
  35. ↑ Mishna Brurah 638:13-4, Chazon Ovadyah (Sukkot pg 83)
  36. ↑ Rama 627:4
  37. ↑ Chazon Ovadyah (Sukkot pg 76)
  38. ↑ Rama 638:2, Chazon Ovadyah (Sukkot pg 83)
  39. ↑ Mishna Brurah 638:24, Chazon Ovadyah (Sukkot pg 92), Shalmei Moed (pg 107)
  40. ↑ Chazon Ovadia Sukkot page 94, Shulchan Aruch YD 286:11 based on Yoma 10b.
  41. ↑ Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 121, Yechave Daat 3:47, Chazon Ovadia Sukkot page 169.
  42. ↑ Sh"t Igrot Moshe 5:39(4) writes that it's permissible to cover the Sukkah with a plastic sheet on Shabbat and Yom Tov without an issue of Boneh by making an Ohel nor the issue of muktzeh.
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