Halachos of Sukkos הלכות סוכות

When the first day of Sukkos is Shabbos. You do not need to buy a fancy or expensive lulav and esrog if the first day of Sukkos is Shabbos, since the Torah requirement for the esrog to be beautiful is only on the first day of Sukkos.

Spots. A black, white, or dark brown spot, or a boil/blister, and according to some, a raised blettel (a light brown mark caused by a leaf resting on the esrog during the fruit’s growth), invalidates the esrog in either of two circumstances: the mark is on the chotam (lit., nose; the upper section of the esrog, from the point where the inward slope toward the top begins); or the marks are below the chotam, but there are two (or more) of them, positioned such that if one were to draw a line to encircle them it would go most of the way around the esrog.

Bais HaVaad guideThere are many other types of spots that can pose halachic questions.

Shape. An esrog shaped like a ball is invalid. It is a hidur (beautification of the mitzvah) for the esrog to have shekios uvelitos (valleys and ridges) and for the pitam (the protrusion on top) to be aligned with the uketz (stem).

Completeness. If even a minute amount of the fruit beneath the glaze is missing, the esrog is invalid on the first day of Sukkos. (Identifying the point at which the glaze ends and the skin begins requires expertise.) On the remaining days of Sukkos, depending on numerous factors, the esrog may still be kosher.

Bais HaVaad guideWhen the first day falls on Shabbos and the Four Species are not taken until the second day, the esrog can be missing small amounts below the chotam. If it is unclear whether anything is missing from the esrog, there is halachic basis to be lenient even on the first day.

Chutz la’aretz Pitam. The pitam is the shaft that protrudes from the top of the esrog. An esrog that had a pitam—even only during the final stage of its growth—but it has fallen off, cannot be used on the first two days of Yom Tov. If the esrog had a pitam early in its development but it fell off while the esrog was still on the tree, its validity is the subject of debate among contemporary poskim. However, it is generally accepted that if the pitam fell off at a very early stage, the esrog remains kosher. Some are careful to use only an esrog with a pitam to avoid these issues.

Bais HaVaad guideThere may be visual clues to when the pitam came off: If the fruit shows signs of healing at the point of connection to the missing pitam, this indicates that it was still on the tree when the pitam was lost.

Bais HaVaad guideAccording to the Aruch Hashulchan, an esrog whose pitam has fallen off may be used on Chol Hamo’ed.

Color. When an esrog is dark green and doesn’t turn yellow with time, it is a sign that the esrog isn’t completely ripe and is unfit for the mitzvah. Once the esrog is partially yellow or light green, it can be assumed that it will turn completely yellow with time, and it is kosher. Still, it should preferably be completely yellow. Some poskim even write that the lechatchila to use a yellow esrog outweighs all other hidurim.

Uketz. The stem that connects the esrog to the tree is called the uketz. On the first day of Sukkos the esrog is invalid if so little uketz is attached that it isn’t either protruding from or flush with the esrog but sunken.

Size. According to the Chazon Ish, an esrog must be large enough to displace 3.53 fluid ounces of water. According to R’ Avraham Chaim No’eh, 2.04 fl. oz. is sufficient. Esrogim can sometimes shrink, so one should not purchase one too close to the minimum size.

Grafting. One should only purchase an esrog from a trusted source, to ensure that it isn’t from a grafted tree, which would likely invalidate it.

Freshness. An esrog that has dried out to the point that it would emit no juice if cut is invalid. An esrog from the previous year is presumed dried out unless it was artificially preserved.

Must — length. The lulav must be four tefachim from where the lowest leaves are connected to the spine until the top of the spine not including the t’yomes. According to the Chazon Ish this is 15.35 inches. According to Rav Moshe Feinstein this is 14.16 inches. According to Rav Chaim No’eh this is 12.6 inches.

Must — the top leaf (t’yomes). The top leaf (t’yomes) must not be open like a fork, it must be both doubled and closed. The top leaf must not be split more than half of its length. When there are two top leaves neither one may be split more than half of its length. The t’yomes must not be cut off.

Must — shape and freshness. The lulav must not be crooked or bent over like a sickle. The lulav must not be withered. The leaves of the lulav must not be so dried out that they cannot be tied together.

Rabbi Hoffman’s checklistIf just the t’yomes is withered – the Mishnah Berurah writes it is invalid, the Chazon Ish permits it.

Should. The t’yomes should be completely closed. The spine of the lulav should be five tefachim from where the lowest leaves are connected to the spine until the top of the spine not including the t’yomes. The lulav should be green and appear fresh. The lulav should be completely straight.

Rabbi Hoffman’s checklistIdeally, it is the choice form of fulfilling the Mitzvah if the leaves lie naturally together.

Must. They must be 3 tefachim in length. According to the Chazon Ish this is 11.8 inches. According to Rav Moshe it is 10.62 inches. According to Rav Chaim No’eh it is 9.45 inches. They must be triple-leaved – meshulash (three leaves growing at same level) for at least 1 and ½ tefachim.

Should. They should be meshulash for 3 tefachim. All the leaves should be intact. All the leaves should be green and appear fresh. The leaves should not be larger than a thumb nail. The wood part should be covered with leaves, i.e. the top of the leaf should reach and cover the bottom of the leaf above it.

Must. They must be 3 tefachim in length. According to the Chazon Ish this is 11.8 inches. According to Rav Moshe it is 10.62 inches. According to Rav Chaim No’eh it is 9.45 inches. The top of the Aravos must be intact. Most of the leaves must be present.

Should. The leaves should be green and appear fresh. The leaves should be complete and not slit. The leaves should be long. The leaves should have smooth edges. The wood part should be reddish. The aravah, ideally, should come from a tree that grows next to a river (Arvei Nachal).

Borrowing. You may borrow a lulav on all days of Sukkos except the first day (or first two days outside of Eretz Yisrael). On the first (two) day(s), you may acquire a lulav and esrog by having a friend “give” them to you as a gift, even if you will later “give” them back to your friend, also as a gift.

OU practical summaryIf you intended to use someone else’s lulav on the first day of Sukkos, it is considered as if the lulav is yours, even without doing the normal acquisition.

Chutz la’aretz Husband and wife. A man’s wife does not own the lulav with him (and a wife’s husband does not own her lulav), but it is assumed that each gives their lulav to the other (on the first and second day of Sukkos) as a gift with a condition that the recipient will give the lulav back to the other spouse as a gift once finished.

Dry or moldy. A lulav, willow branches, or myrtle branches are only disqualified/pasul if the leaves are so dry that they will crack if you bend them. Being moldy does not disqualify them.

Putting them back in water. You may put the myrtle and willow branches into water after using them only if they were in water before the Sukkos holiday began. You may not add water on Shabbos, but you may on the other Jewish festival days. You may change the water only on chol hamoed.

Not where there is a bad smell. The sukkah should not be located in an area that has a bad smell.

Nothing above it. It cannot be placed under a tree or awning.

A hard surface is preferable. It should preferably be built on a patio, deck or driveway and not on the grass.

Three walls, 28 inches long each. A kosher sukkah must have at least 3 walls, and its floor must measure at least 7 tefachim by 7 tefachim (28 inches by 28 inches) — so each wall runs at least 28 inches long. How high the walls go is a separate measure.

At least 40 inches high. The walls of the sukkah must extend at least 40 inches (10 tefachim) high. This is their height, not the 28 inches they run along the floor.

No more than 9 inches off the ground. The walls may not be suspended more than 9 inches above the ground. This is a common problem with fabric sukkahs.

Walls that move in the wind are not walls. The walls of a sukkah should be tied tight so they do not move with the wind. Sukkah walls that move in a regular wind are not valid walls.

OU Sukkah Q&AThere are different opinions as to what type of movement invalidates a sukkah. To satisfy all opinions, the walls should not move in the wind at all. This standard is difficult to achieve with a canvas sukkah.

The strap method on a canvas sukkah. Some sukkah merchants include stretchable straps with the canvas walls, which wrap around the sukkah. The first strap should be placed 40 inches above the ground. The next strap should be placed less than 9 inches below the first, and each subsequent strap should be placed within 9 inches of the strap above it, until the bottom strap is within 9 inches of the ground. Depending on the thickness of the straps, this will require stretching either four or five straps around the sukkah.

Why the straps count as a wall — lovud. The principle of lovud states that the space between two objects that are within three tefachim (approximately 9 inches) of each other is treated as sealed in the eyes of halacha. The series of taut straps placed within 9 inches of each other therefore form a halachically valid wall, irrespective of the canvas.

What the Torah intends. The sukkah should be made from the unused parts of the harvesting of grain and wine, namely the stalks of grain and twigs of the vine. Unfinished wood slats, corn stalks, and palm branches are popular varieties that satisfy the criteria for schach.

What does not grow from the ground. Leather is a natural product that does not grow from the ground; neither do cement nor natural materials such as metal. None of these may be used for schach. All types of foods are not kosher material for schach, and included in this halacha are grain husks that have some grains remaining in the husks.

Anything shaped into a vessel. Wood products that are cut and shaped into vessels, utensils, or equipment that is tubular would not qualify as schach because these products can become tamei. Even if the wood vessels were to be broken and unfit for their original use, and can no longer become tamei, they remain disqualified.

Bamboo poles and wooden beams. Although hollow, bent wooden pipes would not be kosher for schach, hollow bamboo poles would be kosher because they grow hollow naturally, and were not fashioned by anyone with the intention of putting things into their opening. Similarly, straight wooden pipes without indentations would be kosher, as well as wooden beams, even those with imperfections in the wood — however, the custom is not to use them.

It must be in its original state. Stems that are used for schach must be in their original state and cannot be subject to further processing. For example, wood is kosher while paper is not. Flax stems are kosher but flax rope is not. Cotton wool, which has been combed out and no longer resembles the natural cotton plant, would no longer qualify as schach.

Star-K schach articleAccording to Rashi, if the linen fibers were twisted into threads and braided into rope, they are posul min haTorah — the Torah disqualifies them as it does any other woven material.

How wide a board may be. One may use boards that are less than 4 tefachim (14") wide. Even if wider boards would be set on their sides, these boards would not be kosher. It is the custom not to use narrower finished wood planks generally used in construction.

A branch still on the tree. Branches of a tree cannot be used for schach if the branches are still connected to their original source. If the branch was still connected to the tree while covering the sukkah and was then cut down, the branch would still be disqualified, unless a person lifted the branch and then replaced it on the sukkah with the intention of using the branch for schach.

Schach that smells. Schach that has an unpleasant odor should preferably not be used. Use of schach that has a pervasive foul smell is forbidden.

It has to last the whole chag. Kosher schach has to remain fresh throughout the entire chag. Branches with leaves that will dry out during Sukkos, or vines that will shrivel, are disqualified and are not kosher even while the leaves are still fresh.

Bundles of 25 or more. The halacha forbids the use of bundled schach if it is generally subject to drying, and our Rabbis forbade the use of this bundled kosher schach even if it was intended for schach. This restriction applies to bundles of 25 sticks or more that are tied in the middle or at both ends.

A mat is kosher only if it was made for schach. Reeds, straw, or wooden slats that are woven into mats would not qualify as schach if they were woven for the purpose of sitting or sleeping upon, as well as any other specific function. However, if they were made expressly for schach, these mats would be kosher.

Which is why a mat needs a hashgacha. Mats that are made for sitting are not kosher for schach. Because these mats are made in a part of the world where it is common to make mats for sitting, it is imperative that one’s schach mat comes with a reliable hashgacha.

What holds the slats together. HaRav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, ruled that venetian blinds made out of wooden slats and held together with cloth tape, which is mekabel tumah, are not kosher — and even if the tape was removed, the slats remain disqualified. Mats held together with braided nylon filament thread would be disqualified for the same reason, since according to Rashi they are considered to be woven. A monofilament line merely holds the slats together and is not woven, so wooden mats made for schach using monofilament line are kosher.

A mat may have more than 25 slats. Since the mat does not need to be dried, it may contain more than 25 slats without qualifying as a bundle (chavila).

It must be laid down for schach. Kosher schach material must be placed on top of the sukkah with the intention of being used for schach. One cannot place kosher schach material on top of the sukkah with the intention of drying the material, and then change his mind in the course of the drying process and use it for schach.

Who lays the mats. The mats should be placed on the sukkah by a Jew l’shem mitzvah — for the purpose of the mitzvah. If it is necessary to have a non-Jew assist with the laying of the mats, a Yisroel should raise the mats slightly and lay them back down, and this may be done with a pole.

Lay the slats across the beams, not along them. The bamboo slats should be placed perpendicular to the beams and walls upon which they rest. In other words, if the monofilament line — which does not qualify as schach — is supporting the slats, the mat has been placed down improperly. One may not suspend schach with non-schach material.

What the schach may rest on. One should not support the schach with anything that can become tamei, i.e. metal rods or pipes, and one cannot use metal to weigh down the schach so that it will not blow off with an ordinary wind. One may, however, hold down the support with something that is not kosher for use as schach: if the schach is supported by wooden beams, which strengthen it against an unusual wind, then nails or string may be used as a support to the beams.

Stopping a mat from blowing away. Schach mats must not be anchored with string to prevent the mat from blowing away in a normal wind (a ruach metzuya) — string is an improper schach material, so it cannot be used for anchoring. Instead, a kosher wooden beam may be placed across the mat in order to hold it down.

More shade than sunlight, but rain gets in. The amount of schach required is determined by the amount necessary to shade the sukkah. The schach must be dense enough so that there should not be more sunlight than shade. However, it cannot be so dense that the rain would not be able to fall into the sukkah.

What must be eaten in the sukkah. Bread or mezonos foods in the quantity of more than a kibeitzah — around the size of a medium slice of challah, 6 crackers, 2.5 sandwich cookies — must be eaten in the sukkah.

OU reviewChicken, meat, fish and cheese do not need to be eaten in the sukkah.

OU reviewBeverages (water, juice, coffee, etc.), fruit and vegetables do not need to be consumed in the sukkah.

Women. Women are exempt from eating in the sukkah. Women of Ashkenazic descent who sit in the sukkah should recite the bracha of leishev; women of Sefardic descent do not recite a bracha of leishev.

On bread. One who eats bread more than a kibeitzah in the sukkah recites the bracha.

On mezonos. One who eats a normal amount of cake, cookies, pretzels, etc. does not recite the bracha. But if one is kovea seudah (a full meal), or one eats together with a group of people, then the bracha should be recited.

When it is said. The bracha is recited after reciting the appropriate bracha on the food or drink — before taking a bite or sip.

If one forgot. One who forgot to recite the bracha can still recite it whenever they remember, provided that they have not yet recited the bracha acharona.

Chutz la’aretz Rain exempts — except the first two nights. If it rains on Sukkos, a person is exempt from eating in the sukkah, except for the first two nights.

How much rain counts. Rain is relevant only if it is dripping in the sukkah to the extent that if it occurred in the same manner in the home, one would change locations.

The first night. If it is raining on the first night, one should ideally wait an hour or two after nightfall before reciting Kiddush to see if it stops raining. If it continues, one should enter the sukkah with the family, recite Kiddush and Shehechiyanu, wash and eat one kezayis of challah (about one small slice) in the sukkah. The bracha of leishev basukkah is not recited. The meal is completed in the house.

Chutz la’aretz The second night. If it is raining, one waits a short time to see if it will subside. If it continues, Kiddush and hamotzi are recited in the home after nightfall. One should eat a kezayis of challah at the end of the meal in the sukkah, but does not recite leishev basukkah.

The custom. There is a custom to beautify the mitzvah of sukkah by adorning the sukkah with decorations.

They may not be used. One is forbidden to benefit from or use the decorations during all eight days of Sukkos. Decorations should not be taken down during all eight days of Sukkos, unless it is raining and one is worried that the decorations will be ruined.

OU reviewOne is allowed to change the location of the decorations from the schach to the walls of the sukkah.

How the set sits. With the spine of the lulav (the greenish side) facing you, the hadassim should be on the right side and the aravos on the left side. Hadassim should be higher up on the lulav than the aravos. The top of the hadassim and aravos should not be within four inches from the top of the palm spine.

Holding them for the bracha. One should take the lulav in their right hand. The esrog should be taken upside down in the left hand while both brachos — al netilas lulav and Shehechiyanu — are recited. After the bracha is recited, one turns the esrog back straight and shakes the lulav and esrog.

OU reviewLefties should hold the lulav in their left hand and the esrog in their right hand.

Shehechiyanu when the first day is Shabbos. Normally, on the first day of Sukkos, the bracha of Shehechiyanu is also recited. When the first day of Sukkos is Shabbos and we do not take the lulav on Shabbos, one should recite a Shehechiyanu on the second day of Sukkos.

Women. Women are exempt from the mitzvah of lulav. Women of Ashkenazic descent who shake the lulav should recite the bracha of al netilas lulav; women of Sefardic descent do not recite the bracha.

On Shabbos. The lulav and esrog are not taken on Shabbos and are considered muktzeh.

Afterwards. Lulav and esrog are not sheimos and, as such, do not need to be buried. However, it is not appropriate to simply discard mitzvah items in the garbage. There is a custom to save the lulav until Erev Pesach and burn it with the chametz.

Who circles the bimah. Only those with a lulav and esrog should circle the bimah with the congregation during hoshanos.

An avel. An avel, in the year of mourning, does not circle the bimah during hoshanos.

With a minyan. Hoshanos is only recited if one is davening with a minyan.

When it is made. The eruv tavshilin should be made before one lights candles for Yom Tov.

What it consists of. An eruv tavshilin is accomplished by taking two already prepared food items. One of these items should be a cooked food (traditionally a boiled egg), and the other item should be a baked item (a challah roll or matzah). A bracha should be recited while holding the two prepared food items.

Keeping it. One should keep the eruv in a secure place and not consume or discard it on Yom Tov.

The brachos. The correct bracha is lehadlik ner shel Yom Tov, followed by Shehechiyanu. Kiddush should not be recited until tzeis hakochavim.

The order after Kiddush. After Kiddush, one should recite the bracha of leishev basukkah and then recite Shehechiyanu — the Shehechiyanu is also going on the new mitzvah of sukkah.

The order by day. After Kiddush, one should recite Shehechiyanu before reciting the bracha of leishev basukkah.

The bracha. The correct bracha is lehadlik ner shel Shabbos.

Havdala in the sukkah. Havdala should be recited in the sukkah. There are three customs regarding the bracha of leishev basukkah during Havdala.

Chutz la’aretz The brachos. On the night of Shemini Atzeres, and likewise on the night of Simchas Torah, the correct bracha is lehadlik ner shel Yom Tov, followed by Shehechiyanu.

Tefillin. Those who wear tefillin on Chol Hamoed should remove them after Kedushah of chazaras hashatz. The shaliach tzibur on Chol Hamoed Sukkos should remove his tefillin before reciting Hallel.

Hoshana Rabbah — Pesukei D’Zimra. The Shabbos/Yom Tov Pesukei D’Zimra is recited, except that Mizmor L’Soda is recited and Nishmas Kol Chai is not recited.

Chutz la’aretz Taking the sukkah down. One is not allowed to take down the sukkah on Chol HaMoed, even if they will not be home for the second days of Yom Tov, unless they are taking it down to rebuild somewhere else.