I am traveling on Sukkot. Am I allowed to build and take down a sukkah during Chol Hamoed?

The Short Answer

The short answer is that you may both build and take down a sukkah on Chol Hamoed, the intermediate days of Sukkot. But it’s not so simple.

So let’s talk about building and taking apart separately. Each one has its own rules and issues.

Building a Sukkah on Chol Hamoed

As is often the case, this is actually a debate in the Talmud:1

The Torah says: “You shall prepare for yourself the festival of Sukkot for seven days.”2

Rabbi Eliezer says this means your sukkah has to be up all seven days of the holiday. Obviously, then, you need to build it before the holiday starts. (He concedes that if you built your sukkah in advance, but it fell down, you can put it back up on Chol Hamoed.)

The other sages, however, read this verse differently. They say it means that you can make a sukkah whenever you need to for the entire seven days (except on Shabbat or Yom Tov, when building is forbidden).

The law follows the other sages, and you may build your sukkah on Chol Hamoed.3

Some understand this to mean that, even though some work is forbidden on Chol Hamoed, you are allowed to build your sukkah in the most professional way. Others advise that, if possible, you should only use amateur construction methods.4

For more about working on Chol Hamoed, see Why No Work on Chol Hamoed?

Dismantling a Sukkah on Chol Hamoed

You might think, “If I can put it up, I can take it down, right?”

Not so fast.

The Torah tells us: "The chag (“festival”) of Sukkot shall be seven days for G‑d . . ."5

Now, that’s two elements:

  1. Chag, which means “festival,” and also refers to the festive offerings (chagigah) enjoyed during the holiday.
  2. Sukkah, the shelters that give this holiday its name.

The rabbis interpret this verse to mean that just as the Temple offerings are sacred, so, too, is the sukkah consecrated to G‑d for all seven days of the holiday.

Now, in its narrowest sense, this refers only to the sechach—the organic material on top of your sukkah. Those are holy branches up there.

However, the sages extended this sacredness to include the entire structure, even the walls.

Accordingly, the sukkah covering and walls may not be repurposed for any other use for the duration of the holiday. They’ve been consecrated for seven days of exclusive sukkah use. That’s even if the whole thing crashed to the ground and broke to pieces.

So, for example, if you are sitting in the sukkah and feel an urge to pick your teeth, you may not pluck off a splinter to serve as an ad-hoc toothpick.

Now, does this “sacredness” mean that the sukkah may not be dismantled?

There is a minority view this is indeed a problem, since it displays a disregard for the sukkah’s sacred purpose.6 In a case where the dismantling is not disrespectful, such as if you’re taking it down to rebuild it somewhere else (or if you need to transfer sechach from one sukkah to another one that needs), this is obviously not a problem.7

Most authorities, however, say that you may take down your sukkah (without using professional techniques) on Chol Hamoed if you need to.8

(Of course, bear in mind that even if your sukkah was dismantled, you are still not permitted to use any of its materials for the entire duration of Sukkot, except to incorporate it into another sukkah.)

And as we say at the end of the After-Meals Blessings on Sukkot:

May the Merciful One raise up the fallen sukkah of David for us!