Hot answers tagged sukkot
12
The walls of the sukkah can be constructed anytime you want; you can even leave them up all year, if you're so inclined. (There are even people who have retractable roofs on their houses, so that their sukkah is their dining room or bedrooms or whatever.)
The sechach (plant material used for the roof of the sukkah) is a different story. You can put it up ...
12
Most will tell you that reading the other 4 Megillahs is custom, not Rabbinic decree. That's the general practice.
The Vilna Gaon, however, is of the opinion that all 5 Megillahs must be read from a handwritten parchment klaf, and (if done so) have the blessing "who commanded us regarding Megillah reading." You will see this opinion out there too.
(Mind ...
10
Yes. The gemara in the beginning of Sukkah discusses different factors that would invalidate a sukkah, but transparency isn't an issue. You can also make the walls with 3 horizontal strings, each within 3 tefachim from the other one. Though if it was completely transparent, i.e. invisible, perhaps there would be an issue that no one could tell they're in a ...
10
I don't have an explicit answer, but since women are not obligated to sit in the sukkah, and we know that women are obligated to fulfill negative commandments, it would stand to reason that eating out of the Sukkah would be a Bittul Asseh.
8
http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=49716&st=&pgnum=30
Per the Machtzis HaShekel Siman 640:9 it is preferable to eat in a
Sukkah with a Schlack, over eating in the house when it is raining
since there are Poskim that consider it a Kosher Succah.
The Bikurrei Yaakov Siman 626:12 says also that it is preferable to
eat in a ...
8
Because in theory you could have said Shehecheyanu when you prepared (bound) your lulav before Sukkos. So even supposing that the second day of Sukkos was the real Yom Tov (and the previous day was actually erev Sukkos), your Shehecheyanu then would still count as the real thing. (By contrast, with kiddush, you're saying the berachah because of the holiday ...
7
Don't take my word on the translation, but Shulchan Aruch 634:2 says:
If it's round, it must contain within it a square of seven by seven t'fachim.
And MB adds that any other shape has the same rule and that one need not sit in the contained square.
You ask about wall length, though. For a circle, a contained square of 7×7 means, Baer Hetev and others ...
7
Yes. While R'Yehuda holds "lulav tzorech egged" (they need to be tied), and therefore one must use part of the 4 minim to tie it, the halacha is not like R'Yehuda. Thus you can use anything to tie the 4 minim, or nothing at all. In fact, the Gemara says the anshei Yerushalayim would use gold to tie their lulavim.
Even though its not required, we have a ...
7
I don't know that "Why did the paytan choose this formulation" can be answered. I don't think that the Paytan himself ever explained his choice of formulation( I haven't seen any evidence of such, and I'm under the impression Paytanim rarely did), and everything else is speculation.
As to a question of "Why would the Paytan choose this formulation", I found ...
6
The source is in the Talmud, Megillah 31a (link). It is a statement of Rav Huna, in the name of Rav:
אמר רב הונא אמר רב שבת שחל להיות בחולו
של מועד בין בפסח בין בסוכות מקרא קרינן
ראה אתה
Rashi explains:
מקרא קרינן ראה אתה - שיש שם מצות שבת
ורגלים וחולו של מועד דכתיב את חג המצות
תשמור ומכאן למדנו איסור מלאכת חולו של
מועד במסכת חגיגה (דף ...
6
According to Halacha (Orthodox Jewish Law) you may build the Sukkah from 30 days prior to the Yom Tov. If it was made more than 30 days before the holiday, and you do not have in mind that it is being made for Succos, all you got to do is remove some Sechach and replace it and have in mind that it is for Succos and then it is Kosher. If it was put up anytime ...
6
I don't have time to consult the sources right now, but if memory serves correctly, there is no problem disassembling a sukkah during Chol HaMoed. (There are actually portable sukkahs on the market, which are designed to be taken apart and reassembled during the holiday.) You would only run into problems if you wanted to use the materials for some other ...
6
Nope. If the s'chach isn't valid, it's not a sukkah.
The practical advantage is, you can have all sorts of nice stuff in the sukkah; if it starts to rain, just put up the tarp; as soon as it stops raining you can pull off the tarp and get right back to your mitzva. Whereas if you didn't have the tarp, you have to rush everything out of your sukkah when it ...
6
I found a German source in the Tur, Orach Chayyim 625:
"...in the seventh month, when it's rainy, and people generally leave their summer shade
huts and go into their houses, we leave our houses and sit in our huts so that everyone
will see that it's because of the commandment of The King to do so."
And a friend pointed me to a Mediterranean source in ...
6
You can eat in a sukkah standing up (as regards the lawa of sukkot). The word 'sitting' is used to imply a sort of permanence of dwelling, but if one eats in a sukkah while standing he certainly says a bracha and fulfils his mitzva. (See Aruch Hashulchan OC 643:3)
5
The Rema (Orach Chayyim 624:5 and 625:1) quotes the Maharil's customs to start building the sukkah the night after Yom Kippur, to go from mitzvah to mitzvah; the following day, to build it completely, so as not to delay an available mitzvah.
This is a custom from the Ashkenazi world regarding the ideal time to build the sukkah, but the sukkah is certainly ...
5
Actually the Arizal doesn't speak on this topic. The order that is followed by the mekubalim is derived from the Zohar parashat Emor 103b and through onto 104. The Matok UMdvash commentary also claims that the Remak in his commentary discusses the issue(neither are online that I know of). However as to the Ushpizin and their order the Arizal himself is ...
5
Anything that grows from the ground
and is not 'mekabel tumah' is a
candidate for scach[sic].
These are two of the three basic requirements. The last is that the material not be currently attached to the ground. This disqualifies, for example, building a suka next to a vineyard and stretching some vines (which fill the other two criteria) over as ...
5
If it's the day immediately after Sukkos (Shemini Atzeres in Israel, Simchas Torah outside it), then there is indeed a problem with eating in the sukkah, in that it resembles "adding to the mitzvah" (although technically it isn't, because there is no intention to perform the mitzvah). The recommended approach in that case is to disqualify it by removing some ...
5
I'd like to add (because the question differentiated between Kohelet and the other 3: Rut, Eicha and Shir HaShirim) that even among those who do recommend saying a bracha when reading from a klaf, the Magen Avraham in OC 490 sk 9 says that Kohelet is excluded and no bracha is recited upon it even when reading from a klaf. Despite this prominent opinion, I ...
5
Mishnah Berurah (490:16), citing Pri Megadim, says that the difference is because each day of Sukkos is considered in a sense a separate Yom Tov, since the offerings in the Beis Hamikdash were different (each day there was one bull less than the day before). By contrast, the same offerings were brought every day of Pesach.
Therefore, he says, we end the ...
4
Trees branches and bamboo poles are popular. I most prefer evergreen tree branches because they look the prettiest and may even have a nice aroma. Anything that grows from the ground and is not 'mekabel tumah' is a candidate for scach. Fruit is an example of an item that is 'mekabel tumah.'
mekabel tumah = something that can become ritually impure
4
If you live in a more arid and hot climate, like southern California, put a few drops of water in the lulav bag. When you walk out in the street, the heat of the day causes the water to evaporate, but because the bag is closed, it has nowhere to go. this disperses the water around the whole bag, and keeps the everything moist. Kind of like a mini greenhouse.
...
4
There's the general question of doing a mitzva sooner vs doing a mitzva better. Of course, if there's ever a doubt if you'll get the mitzva later, definitely seize it now!
Some point to the Radbaz who seems to say do it sooner.
Our practice is usually to wait for kiddush levana till motzei shabbos (and/or post Yom Kippur or Tisha B'Av; post Yom Kippur is ...
4
Here's my understanding of what you have to do, based on setting one of these up, with Rabbinic guidance, for a few years in college. I've never studied the relevant laws in depth, but I believe based on what I learned in practice from my Rabbi that under normal conditions, the following procedure will do the trick. Ask your Rabbi to be sure. This will be a ...
4
In theory it should work with the following qualifications:
1- Your car roof width from the far inner door to the schach area is 4 amos or less (for dofen akuma)
2- Your car doors are less than 3 tefachim off the ground (for mechitza- gediim bok'im)
Like you mentioned, you need the second door for the third wall, just resting it on the roof won't help. ...
4
The Rebbe actually addressed this question in a letter dated 7 Cheshvan, 5715 [1954]:
Re Sleeping in the Succah In order to safeguard and inspire a greater
feeling toward the Succah, sleeping in it is not practiced by us. The
basis for this is two-fold: First, we have a rule that Hamitztaer
putter min HaSuccah (suffering exempts one from dwelling ...
4
Generally speaking, treat the sukkah as your dining room. If you had a massive leak in your dining room roof, you would eat elsewhere (potentially even going to a neighbor's house).
There is a stricter standard for eating one piece of bread on the first night of sukkos, but otherwise:
If it rains enough that the rain is ruining your soup
If it's severely ...
4
When using panels, usually people use 4 foot by 8 foot panels. (8 feet tall is perfect for height). Thus 8 X 8 or 8 X 12 is common in size.
If you do it your way, with tarps, you are not limited to 4X8 panels. However most things you might buy as beams (wood at least) come in 8 feet long. So 8 feet tall makes sense.
Also, a simple cube 8 X 8 X 8, is ...
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