Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 639 - Laws Relating to Dwelling in Sukkah

SECTION 639 Laws Relating to Dwelling in the Sukkah. (1–26)

1 It is written,1 “You shall dwell in sukkos for seven days.” Based on the Oral Tradition, [the Sages] commented:2 “You must dwell [in the sukkah] as you reside” — i.e., in the manner that one resides in his home throughout the year. The Torah requires that one leave his home and dwell in the sukkah with his beds, his bedcovers, and all his household articles. On this basis our Sages said:² Throughout these seven days, a person should treat his home as his temporary dwelling and his sukkah as his permanent dwelling.

What is implied? If a person has attractive bedcovers and attractive utensils, he should bring them3 to the sukkah. Similarly, all the drinking utensils that he requires should be with him in the sukkah,4 just as he has them at hand in his home throughout the year. By contrast, containers used to store flour, kneading troughs, and water containers need not be kept in the sukkah, for one does not [necessarily] keep such articles in his home5 throughout the year; they are kept is separate [store]houses.

2 After a meal, vessels that were used for food, such as pots and plates, are offensive. Hence they must be removed from the sukkah.6 Similarly, a bucket or a jug that serves to draw water [from a well] should not be brought into the sukkah. Nor should the sukkah be used for any lowly task, such as washing pots and plates, so that mitzvos will not be held in disdain. Drinking utensils, however, such as glasses and jars, may be washed in the sukkah.

3 While a lamp is lit, it should be placed in the sukkah.⁴ If the sukkah is so small that there is reason for concern that it may be placed close to the wall or the s’chach and the sukkah will catch fire, it should be placed outside the sukkah, even if the lamp is golden.

It is customary not to bring an earthenware lamp into a sukkah, even if the sukkah is large.7

4 How is the mitzvah of dwelling in the sukkah [observed]? A person should eat, drink, sleep,8 relax, and dwell in the sukkah for all these seven days,9 during the day and at night as he dwells in his own home throughout the year. If he wants to speak to a friend, he should speak with him in the sukkah. To summarize: A person should regard the sukkah as his home. Whatever he would not do outside his home, he should not do outside his sukkah.10

For this reason, throughout these seven days, he should read and study11 in the sukkah¹ (unless he reads and studies in the House of Study12). If he studies in depth and with careful scrutiny, he may do so outside the sukkah13 so that his mind will be settled, for ample space broadens one’s thinking.

Nevertheless, every situation should be judged individually. If a person is at ease in the sukkah, he should study in the sukkah. If his study requires many books, and he can prepare a place for them in his sukkah so that he will not have to remove them when he eats and sleeps and bring them back when he studies, he should study in the sukkah. However, if he cannot prepare a place for [his books] easily, without much difficulty, and he finds it very troublesome to take them out and bring them into the sukkah, he may study outside the sukkah. If dwelling in one’s home as people normally do required such a burdensome effort that one would refrain from undertaking it, one is likewise not obligated to undertake such an effort in order to be able to dwell in this manner in his sukkah.14

5 If one feels at ease when praying in the sukkah and can concentrate there on his prayers, he should enter the sukkah to pray, for at other times during the year, when he does not pray in a synagogue, he enters his home to pray.

When does the above apply? In a place where there is no synagogue or where it is impossible for him to go to the synagogue. If, however, he can go to the synagogue, he should go; he need not pray in the sukkah.

6 When one recites Havdalah over a cup [of wine], he should enter the sukkah to recite it,15 for at other times during the year, he would enter his home to recite Havdalah.

7 One may take a snack16 outside the sukkah.17 One may not, however, take even a short nap outside the sukkah.18 With regard to sleep, no distinction should be drawn between a nap and sound sleep,19 since sometimes a person will doze off briefly and that will suffice. Hence for him,20 this is considered as sound sleep that obligates him to enter the sukkah.

8 In cold regions, where the [weather] will make sleeping in the sukkah uncomfortable if one does not have enough pillows and blankets, there is no requirement to sleep in the sukkah. Moreover, [there is room for leniency] even if one has sufficient bedding, but he cannot prepare a place for it in the sukkah for all seven days of the festival so that he will not have to go to the trouble of removing it from the sukkah at mealtimes and then returning it to the sukkah for sleeping. [If] this entails so much trouble that were he to be faced by such a difficulty at home, he would not sleep at home,21 he is not obligated to sleep in the sukkah, for whoever suffers discomfort while dwelling in the sukkah is not obligated to dwell in it, as stated in sec. 640[:5ff.].

9 At present, people at large have adopted the practice of following a lenient approach when it comes to sleeping [in the sukkah]. Only those who are punctilious in their observance of mitzvos sleep in the sukkah.22

There are those who have offered rationalizations for married men, [explaining] that they are obligated to bring happiness to their wives during the festivals23 and women are not obligated [to observe the mitzvah of] sukkah.24 Hence the fact that a person does not desire to separate from his wife is considered a matter associated with a mitzvah,25 and whoever is occupied with the performance of a mitzvah is exempt from performing a different mitzvah,26 as explained in sec. 640[:18]. Thus [a married man] is not obligated to sleep in the sukkah at night. [The above line of thought applies] even if one’s wife is not ritually pure, for she is happy when her husband shares the privacy of their room with her, as will be explained.27 Nevertheless, it is desirable that one follow the stringent approach and have a private sukkah where he can sleep together with his wife, and thus perform both mitzvos.

10 [The following laws apply when a man] marries a virgin bride28 two or three days before the festival29 and thus the seven days of the [wedding] celebrations extend into the festival. (Weddings are not held on Sukkos itself, as stated in sec. 546.30) In earlier generations, it was customary for the bride and groom to spend all seven days of the [marriage] celebrations secluded in a private room called a chuppah. Other people would join them only at times when they wanted to celebrate with them and eat and drink with them.

The groom, his attendants, and all the bridal company — i.e., the men who eat with the groom — are exempt from [the mitzvah of] the sukkah for all seven days of the [wedding] celebrations. They are permitted to eat, drink, and celebrate outside the sukkah, i.e., in the room called the chuppah. One cannot celebrate properly in a sukkah,31 because one can truly rejoice only in the chuppah, which is essentially where the bride and groom dwell; it is here that they are alone. The essential dwelling place of the bride and the groom cannot be in a sukkah, for a [typical] sukkah has only three walls and is open on the fourth side. A groom would be embarrassed to rejoice with his bride in such a place.

Today, therefore, when a sukkah is customarily built with four walls,32 even a groom is obligated [to observe the mitzvah of] sukkah.33

11 We have already stated34 that it is permitted to eat a snack outside the sukkah.35 What is meant by a snack? [An amount of food no greater than] the size of an egg (kebeitzah),36 for one commonly eats [up to] a mouthful at a time outside his home. And a mouthful is equivalent to the size of an egg, for [our Sages taught37 that] the mouth38 does not contain a quantity [of food] exceeding the size of an egg.

With regard to what does the above apply? With regard to bread made of [one of] the five types of grain,39 or to cooked40 food made of these types of grain.41 With regard to other types of food, and needless to say, with regard to fruit, [greater leniency applies]. Even if one eats a large amount, and even if he bases a meal on these foods, he may eat them outside the sukkah, because basing a meal on such foods is accorded no more [halachic] significance than eating a snack of bread.

12 It is permitted to drink any beverage,42 even wine, outside the sukkah, even if one drinks more than a revi’is.43 [Nevertheless,] one who is stringent with himself and drinks no beverage, even water, outside the sukkah is praiseworthy.⁴²

When does [the above leniency] apply? When one drinks in a casual manner. By contrast, one is required to enter a sukkah if he [intends to sit down] to drink wine44 or other beverages that one commonly sits down to drink, such as mead or beer in these countries, [even] when a meal is not [served].

[In such situations], however, there is no need to recite the blessing leishev basukkah, because the drinking is secondary to eating and [this] blessing that one recited in the morning covers his drinking throughout the day. Similarly, it covers sleeping and relaxing in the sukkah throughout the day. There is no need to recite a blessing over [these activities], even if after eating one leaves the sukkah and [then] makes a long interruption before drinking, sleeping, or relaxing. Since [these activities] are all subordinate to eating, which is the main component of the mitzvah of dwelling in the sukkah,45 they are covered by the blessing recited over eating. Even if one drinks, sleeps, or relaxes [in the sukkah] before he eats, he is not required to recite a blessing, for [these activities] are subordinate to the eating that follows them.

13 If one went and sat down in the sukkah in order to drink,46 and changed his mind and decided to eat [bread], he must now recite the blessing leishev basukkah. He was not required to recite the blessing leishev basukkah for drinking, because it was covered by the blessing he had earlier recited over eating. [With regard to eating, by contrast,] a [later] meal is not considered as subordinate to a previous meal, but is considered a significant entity in its own right.

When does the above apply? When one left the sukkah between the end of the previous meal and the beginning of the later meal, and tarried for an hour or two outside the sukkah47 [instead of] returning immediately. Alternatively, it applies even when one returned immediately, but at the time he left the sukkah he intended to remain outside it for a long time and not to return immediately. In these situations, the blessing one recited over the first meal does not cover the second meal, since he made an interruption between them by making what is unquestionably a departure with no intent to return immediately.

If, however, one did not make an interruption by making [such] a departure with no intent of returning immediately, he is not required to recite a second blessing on the later meal. [Moreover,] even if one spends all seven days [of the festival] in the sukkah without making a complete departure from which he does not intend to return immediately, he is not required to recite the blessing leishev basukkah [at any time other than] the first time he enters the sukkah.

14 The above applies when one reenters the same sukkah in which he ate his first meal. [Different rules apply,] however, if he enters another sukkah, even if it is located in the same courtyard, close to the sukkah in which he recited the blessing for his first meal. If, when in the [second] sukkah, he desires to eat something that may not be eaten outside a sukkah, he is required to recite the blessing leishev basukkah again. [This applies] even when he would not be required to recite a blessing48 before eating this food. For example, in the middle of the meal that he ate in the sukkah in which he recited the blessing, he interrupted his meal and went to eat in the other sukkah. [Although in such a case he does not have to recite a blessing before eating,]49 he must recite the blessing [leishev basukkah] again.

15 Even if one does not desire to eat in the [second] sukkah, but enters there to sleep or to relax, he must recite the blessing leishev basukkah, for the sleeping and relaxation in this sukkah are not covered by the blessing that he recited in the [first] sukkah. If, however, he entered [the second sukkah] to partake of types of food that may be eaten outside the sukkah, it is not necessary to recite the blessing [leishev basukkah again].

If one [intended to take a seat in the second sukkah] in order to drink wine⁴⁴ or other beverages that one commonly sits down to drink, the letter of the law requires him to recite the blessing [leishev basukkah again], for these beverages may not be drunk outside the sukkah.50 Nevertheless, since some authorities raise questions about [the recitation of] this blessing, it is proper not to [decide to sit down and] drink [such beverages] except in a sukkah in which one ate that day and within which one recited the blessing leishev basukkah.51

16 If one forgot to recite the blessing leishev basukkah until he had completed his meal, he should [nevertheless] recite the blessing after the meal. Though the blessings for the observance of mitzvos should be recited before performing the deed,52 sitting in the sukkah after the meal is also included in the mitzvah.53 Hence, one is [still] reciting the blessing before performing the mitzvah.

17 There is no fixed number of meals that one must eat in the sukkah.54 If one desires, he may eat in the sukkah, and if he so desires, he may eat only foods that may be eaten outside the sukkah55 — for the mitzvah is only that if one eats [a significant meal], he may not eat outside the sukkah.

When does the above apply? On Chol HaMoed. On Yom-Tov,56 and on Shabbos that falls within the festival, when one must eat more than a kebeitzah57 of bread as stated in sec. 291[:1, and sec. 274:6], one must eat in a sukkah. If it rains, however, he may enter his home, as will be explained [in subsection 21 below].

When does this apply? After the first night of Yom-Tov.⁵⁴ On the first night of Yom-Tov, i.e., the eve of the fifteenth of Tishrei,58 one must eat in the sukkah even if it is raining and the rain causes discomfort.

[Generally,] whenever one feels discomfort, he is released from [the obligation of dwelling in] the sukkah. Nevertheless, the first night [of Yom-Tov is an exception and] one is obligated to eat in the sukkah. We derive [this concept] through a verbal association59 with the festival of Pesach. With regard to the festival of Sukkos it is written,60 “On the fifteenth day of the... month.” And with regard to the festival of Pesach it is later written,61 “On the fifteenth day of the... month.” Just as with regard to the fifteenth day stated later, there is an obligation on the first night to eat at least a kezayis62 of matzah, as stated in sec. 475[:32], so, too, with regard to the fifteenth day [stated concerning Sukkos], there is an obligation to eat in the sukkah.63 One fulfills his obligation by eating a kezayis [of bread] in the sukkah, just as he fulfills his obligation by eating a kezayis of matzah [on the night of Pesach].64

Nevertheless, [if one leaves the sukkah,] he is still obligated to eat more bread at home. For at every Yom-Tov meal there is an obligation to eat more than a kebeitzah of bread, except that when it is raining in the sukkah, one is required to eat no more than a kezayis there — the same [minimum quantity that is required to fulfill the mitzvah of] eating matzah [on Pesach].

Moreover, even when it is not raining, if one desires to eat a kezayis in the sukkah and eat precisely a kebeitzah65 at home, he may do so.66 Nevertheless, a person who is stringent and eats his entire meal in the sukkah when it is not raining is praiseworthy, as stated above.67

18 When a person eats in the sukkah when it is raining, he must also recite Kiddush over wine in the sukkah, for Kiddush may only be recited in the place where one eats his meal.68 [In such a situation, one] should recite the blessing leishev basukkah before [the blessing] Shehecheyanu,69 just as if it was not raining.

19 Some authorities differ with the above and maintain that at all the meals of Shabbos and Yom-Tov, one is not required to eat more than a kezayis of bread. Hence, [these authorities argue,] if one desires to eat only a kezayis on Yom-Tov, or on the Shabbos during the festival, and to eat it outside the sukkah, he may do so.

[These authorities agree that] from the association with Pesach, we derive that it is an obligation to eat in the sukkah on the first night [of Yom-Tov. They maintain, however, that] this association does not teach that we are obligated to eat [in the sukkah] while it is raining. [They maintain that] since [a person] feels discomfort because of the rain, he is exempt from the [mitzvah of] sukkah even on the first night.

The halachah follows the first view. Nevertheless, [different rules apply] on the eve of the second day [observed in the] Diaspora. Since we know the dates of the month70 and thus [the observance of the second day] is merely a custom, one may rely on [the leniency of] the second opinion; one is not required to eat in the sukkah [on the second night] if it is raining.

If one desires to undertake the stringency of following the first opinion on the second night as well, he need not recite Kiddush in the sukkah. Instead, he should recite Kiddush and eat his entire meal at home. After he has eaten he should enter the sukkah and eat a kezayis there, [but] should not recite the blessing leishev basukkah.71

20 Since [the obligation to] eat [in the sukkah] on the first night is derived from the association with eating matzah, [its observance] must resemble [the observance of the mitzvah of eating matzah] in all its particulars: During the day, before the onset of Yom-Tov, one should not eat from the [late] afternoon72 onward, so that one will eat in the sukkah with an appetite;⁶⁴ one should not eat in the sukkah until after the appearance of the stars;73 and one should be careful to eat before midnight. In all these particulars, [this mitzvah] resembles [the obligation of] eating matzah, as stated in the laws of Pesach.74

21 When is it permitted to leave the sukkah because of rain with regard to the meals of the festival other than on the first night? When so many drops of rain descend into the sukkah that, were they to fall into a cooked dish of beans which spoils quickly if only a small amount of water is added to it, that dish would spoil.75 In such a situation, a person may leave the sukkah even though he does not have cooked food in the sukkah at this time.

A person who does not know how to calculate such a measure should reckon: If this same quantity of rain would come down into his house, he would leave his house, he may leave the sukkah.

22 All of the above applies with regard to eating. With regard to sleeping, there is no need to assess whether enough rain has come down to cause cooked food to spoil, for sleeping even in a light rain is distressful. [In such a situation] one may leave the sukkah, for anyone who feels discomfort is exempt from the [mitzvah of] sukkah.76

Just as it is permissible to leave the sukkah because of rain, so, too, one may leave it because of excessive heat or because of mosquitoes. [This applies] even if they do not cause one discomfort, but they spoil his food. Similarly, if it is so cold that fatty foods congeal, one may eat his whole meal at home.

23 Whenever one is exempt from [the mitzvah] of sukkah, but does not leave the sukkah, he is not rewarded for dwelling there [at that time]. Instead, he is considered a commoner.77

24 When one leaves the sukkah because of rain, he should not leave brazenly, but submissively,78 like a servant who came to pour a drink for his master, and his master poured it out on his face, as if to say, “I do not desire your service.”79

25 If one was eating in a sukkah, it rained, and he entered his home to complete his meal, he may complete that meal at home.80 [Even] if it stopped raining when he sat down to eat, he is not required to return to the sukkah.

26 If one was sleeping in the sukkah, it rained, and he entered his home to finish sleeping and before he lay down the rain ceased, he must return to the sukkah. If, however, he already lay down inside his home and then the rain ceased, he need not return to the sukkah, but may sleep at home that entire night. Even if he woke up before dawn [and wanted to go back to sleep], he is not required to take the trouble of returning to the sukkah to finish sleeping,⁷⁶ but may finish sleeping at home.

[Moreover,] even if dawn has passed and he is still sleeping at home, there is no need to wake him up [to go to the sukkah]. Rather, he should be allowed to sleep until he wakes up on his own accord. If, however, he wakes up after dawn and desires to go back to sleep, he must go to the sukkah and sleep there, for it is already after dawn.81