15
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 ...
14
Yes. The first mishna of Maseches Sukkah lists the different factors that would invalidate a sukkah, but transparency isn't an issue. You can also make the walls with 4 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 ...
14
There is no lav in the Torah against eating outside the Sukkah, so it would just be a bitul aseh. It says "Basukkos teshvu", but does not say anythink like "lo tochal chutz me'suka".
13
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.
12
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 Sukkah ...
11
I'll start with the usual caveat: CYLOR. The more so since someone local will be more familiar with your specific situation.
It's pretty basic to the definition of a sukkah that it be under the sky. So a sukkah under a balcony, as much of a good-faith effort as it may be (and as much as G-d might appreciate the thought), simply isn't a sukkah - no more so ...
11
Actually, I don't know why you'd have to ask specifically about the USSR. Wouldn't the same question apply to any feudal-type government, where the king is in principle the owner of all of the land in the kingdom? And AFAIK there's no concept in halachah that you have to ask him for permission to build a sukkah.
I think the reason might be, building on zaq'...
11
Regarding #1:
If it is likely to melt, I assume it would be a problem using this to begin with, as the walls are not steady.
Not sure what you mean here. If the walls don't sway in the wind, then they are halachically steady. (And see #3)
Regarding #2:
What if there is a high likelihood of heavy snow on a nearly daily basis. Enough snow to cover the ...
11
As the Mishnah Berurah there explains, it’s because of תשבו כעין תדורו - one lives in the sukkah as he would in his house.
You would leave your house if it was causing you significant discomfort, so you may leave the sukkah under the same circumstances.
10
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 ...
10
Even if there's a decoration that completely covers the schach, if it's placed there merely for decoration, than it isn't a problem, provided that the decorations are within 4 tefachim of the schach (Gemara Sukka 10a, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 627:4)
However, this is assuming that they have been placed there for the purpose of decorations, otherwise, even a small ...
10
Like any time-bound, yes-do mitzva; women aren't obligated, but they receive merit if they choose to do it.
10
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)
9
It looks like a general Chassidic custom.
The Minchas Elazar writes that it is a tradition from the Ba'al Shem Tov. He explains the mishna that says that one stays is "comparable to a slave who mixes wine for his master and he spills it in his face." in a novel way.
He says that there are two ways to explain "he spills in his face", is it the master ...
9
The Bavli (Sukkah 8b) explicitly permits a gentile's hut if it was made for shade, and that is the accepted Halakha (OC 635).
This is consistent with Beit Hillel's opinion (ibid. 9a) that a Sukkah does not need to be made specifically for the holiday of Sukkot. Some note though that the Yerushalmi there says that Beit Hillel agrees that you need to make a ...
9
It's apparently an oral tradition relating to one of the students of the Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov. The more complete story is recounted here in Hebrew. It begins like this:
הגאון רבי ישראל משקלוב מספר, על תלמיד מתלמידי הגר"א, שבא לקבל פני רבו בחול המועד סוכות, וביקש מרבו כי יעמידו במבחן על כל מסכתא דסוכה על פה. היה זה אחר שקודם החג עורר הגאון ...
8
In Maseches Sukkah 4b (copied below), Rava rejects Abaye's proposal for a platform without walls because there is a requirement that they be "ניכר". Therefore there may be a basis for transparent walls being invalid.
היתה גבוהה מעשרים אמה ובנה בה עמוד שהוא גבוה עשרה טפחים ויש בו הכשר סוכה סבר אביי
למימר גוד אסיק מחיצתא א"ל רבא בעינן מחיצות הניכרות ...
8
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 ...
8
The Shulchan Aruch in סימן תרלב - דברים הפוסלים בסכך says:
א סְכָךְ פָּסוּל, פּוֹסֵל בָּאֶמְצַע בְּד' טְפָחִים; אֲבָל פָּחוֹת מִד', כְּשֵׁרָה, וּמֻתָּר לִישַׁן תַּחְתָּיו מִן הַצַּד אֵינוֹ פּוֹסֵל אֶלָּא בְּד' אַמּוֹת, אֲבָל פָּחוֹת מִד' אַמּוֹת, כְּשֵׁרָה דְּאָמְרִינָן דֹּפֶן עֲקֻמָּה, דְּהַיְנוּ לוֹמַר שֶׁאָנוּ רוֹאִים כְּאִלּוּ הַכֹּתֶל נֶעֱקָם ...
8
This is a Machloket in the Talmud (Sukkah 27b, see OC 637) and the Halacha follows the Sages that one can start building a Sukkah on Chol HaMoed. Even R Eliezer who argued there agreed that if one's Sukkah fell down on Chol HaMoed that one can rebuild it.
7
You may want to check out the kits sold by The Sukkah Project. They will sell you all the hardware and plans you need, leaving you to get the lumber and tarp. I once bought and put up a Sukkah using one of their kits. The frame went together fine, but it was a bit annoying to get the not-custom-made tarp I bought to hang nicely. If you know something about ...
7
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 ...
7
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 ...
7
The Posuk does not say that there was more sun than shade. On the contrary the Posuk says "Vayeshev Tacteho Bzel" which translates into "He sat under it in the shade.
The following Posuk says that a Kikoyon was shade upon him, and the Radak explains that this happened 40 days later when the Sukka dried out and therefore it was not providing shade anymore.
7
Nitei Gavriel Sukkah 37:6:10 says that some have a Minhag to place a special chair for the Ushpizin. He mentions it the name of the Chida - Avodas Hakodesh 289 - He also mentions it in the name of the Kaf HaChaim 639:8. Kaf HaChaim 639:8 mentions it from the Zohar Parshas Lech Lecha 93:1. Sefer Be'er Miriam says he saw the Chida do so.
7
According to this Star-K article written by Rabbi Moshe Heineman, paper cannot be used for Schach:
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 ...
7
I would like to potentially challenge the premise of the question. You assume that the threshold of "someone who is in pain" only applies to the mitzvah of succah. However, R. Joseph Messas has a responsum where he seems to apply this rule beyond the mitzvah of succah. The question he was asked involved a certain case where two couples needed to get married ...
7
"And it is permitted to drink water and wine and eat fruit [even if he established himself on them- REMA's own opinion] outside of the Sukkah. And he who is stringent upon himself, and will not drink even water outside of the Sukkah, he is praised."
Shulchan Aruch with Rema; 639:2
"Water and wine and to eat fruit - The reason is that eating even a lot of ...
6
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 ...
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