Search results for: ""sukkah""
Sukka: Roof: Using Lumber
You may use lumber boards (such as 2” x 4”s) to hold up the roof (schach) of a sukka, even though lumber can be a “utensil” (kli).
Sukka: Walls: Flapping
The walls of a sukka must be able to withstand wind without flapping up from the bottom to more than 10.5 inches above the ground.
Sukka: Walls: Tree Trunk
You may use the trunk of a tree as part of a sukka, but consult a rabbi about the spacing and curvature of the roots.
Sukka: Dimensions: Minimum/Maximum
- A sukka must have at least three walls, but one of those walls may be as little as 1 tefach wide.
- A round sukka must extend to at least 270 degrees.
- Sukka height: More than 10 tefachim (40” or 1 m) high and less than 20 amot (33'4” or 10 m) tall.
- Minimum sukka width: 7 tefachim x 7 tefachim (28” x 28” or 71.1 cm x 71.1 cm).
- Maximum wall-to-ground gap for sukka: walls must be within 3 tefachim, or 10 ½” (27 cm) of the ground.
- Maximum permissible angle (slope) of a roof on a sukka is less than 45 degrees from horizontal.
- Schach: Must cover the sukka so that there is more shade than sun when the sun is directly overhead and must have at least enough space between the schach elements for rain to penetrate.
Sukka: Blessings: When To Say
Do not say the blessing leisheiv ba'sukka except when you will eat bread or mezonot. Even drinking wine is not an exception, so do not say leisheiv ba'sukka even for havdala (unless you will also eat mezonot at the same time).
Note We do say leisheiv ba'sukka at kiddush, but that is in anticipation of eating bread at the meal to follow.
Sukka: Eating: What To Eat
There is no requirement to eat any food other than mezonot or bread (and some opinions say also drinking wine) in a sukka. Eating other foods in a sukka is considered to be saintly behavior (midat chasidut).
Sukka: Being Inside: Requirements
There is no requirement to be in a sukka except when eating bread or mezonot, and possibly sleeping in the sukka, but there is some spiritual benefit from being in the sukka at other times.
Women: Sukka
Permitted Sukka Shapes
A sukka may have many sides and may even be circular, but it may not have a pointed top (shaped like a teepee).
Shmini Atzeret: Eating in Sukka
Lulav: Where To Bless: Sukka or Synagogue
Say blessings on the lulav and etrog in the sukka or in synagogue.
Building or Fixing a Sukka on Sukkot
A Jew may fix or build a sukka on chol ha'moed.
A non-Jew may fix or build a sukka on chol ha'moed or even on the Jewish festival days. A Jew may explicitly tell the non-Jew how to accomplish the repairs or the building of the sukka.
A non-Jew may fix or build a sukka on chol ha'moed or even on the Jewish festival days. A Jew may explicitly tell the non-Jew how to accomplish the repairs or the building of the sukka.
Women: Eating Outside the Sukka
Women and girls may eat bread or mezonot outside of a sukka. They do not need to eat any meals in the sukka, but if they do, it is a mitzva and they say leisheiv ba'sukka.
Men: Eating Outside the Sukka
Bread: Men may not eat bread or a full meal outside the sukka during Sukkot.
Mezonot: Men may not eat more than 1.9 fl. oz. (56 ml) of mezonot (within four minutes) outside the sukka during Sukkot, but they may eat 1.8 fl. oz. or less, wait nine minutes, and then eat another quantity up to 1.8 fl. oz.
Mezonot: Men may not eat more than 1.9 fl. oz. (56 ml) of mezonot (within four minutes) outside the sukka during Sukkot, but they may eat 1.8 fl. oz. or less, wait nine minutes, and then eat another quantity up to 1.8 fl. oz.
Birkat HaMazon If You Ate Sukka Meals Indoors
If you ate your meal inside the house on Sukkot, you do not need to go to the sukka to say birkat ha'mazon.