LAWS AND CUSTOMS FOR SUKKOTH 1. One should begin the mitsvah of building the sukkah immediately so that one can finish one mitsvah with the beginning of another. One should start building after the breakfast of Yom HaKippurim, and ideally finish that same night. If not then one should try and finish building the sukkah the next day. It is proper for everyone to build his own sukkah to sleep and eat in, rather than have others build it for him. In particular, he should try and place the "skhakh" [the foliage comprising the roof of the sukkah] on the sukkah himself. 2. A sukkah must comprise three walls and skhakh. The height of each wall must be a minimum of 10 tefahim, which is 80 centimeters. Others say that each wall must be a minimum of one meter. The walls needn't reach the skhakh, and may even be some distance away. However, a sukkah in which the skhakh is more than twenty amot high (approximately 9.6 meters) is pasul [invalid] 3. A sukkah must have an area of seven tefahim by seven tefahim. Seven tefahim is minimally 56 centimeters, but it's good to be strict and measure it as 70 centimeters. 4. The sukkah must be suitable for all seven days (eight outside Israel) of the Festival. 5. The skhakh must be from material that grows from the ground, such as tree branches. It also must be from material that cannot become impure nor be defined as a vessel. It may not have a receptacle or be usable for any purpose such as the leg of a bed. 6. Since fruit can become impure, one may not hang if from the skhakh except for decoration. As such, it should hang within four tefahim (twenty-four centimeters) from the skhakh. 7. However, a lamp can (and probably should) hang more than four tefahim below the skhakh so as not to create a danger. 8. One should be careful not to build a sukkah under a balcony or overhang as that renders the sukkah invalid. A sukkah beneath telephone wires or beneath laundry lines is kosher, however, there are those who are stringent about this. 9. One must place the skhakh on the sukkah after one has erected the walls. If one erected the walls before placing the skhakh, then the sukkah there are those who will say the sukkah is invalid. However, others permit it. If the walls of the sukkah fall down before the Festival, then one must remove the skhakh before re-erecting the walls, however, if they fell during the Festival, one can replace the walls without having to remove the skhakh first. 10. A sukkah erected thirty days prior to the Festival is kosher, even if parts of it weren't renewed, however, initially, one should renew a part of the main body of the sukkah for the sake of the holiday. 11. One cannot use branches that are still attached to the tree as skhakh. 12. It is a mitsvah to beautify the sukkah. 13. If one's sukkah fell on the actual holiday, and there isn't any other sukkah that he can use, one is permitted to request a non-Jew to fix it on the holiday, so that he can eat and sleep in the sukkah on the holiday. 14. One should have in mind, when eating the first bite of bread, to fulfill the Torah mitsvot of eating in the Sukkah. There are those that say this explicitly in a kavanah recitation before the blessing. 15. Before entering the sukkah each night, one should say the kavanah recitation for entering the sukkah which includes the verse "You shall live in Sukkoth seven days; every native and Jew shall sit in Sukkoth, in order that your descendents will know that I caused the Children of Yisrael to live in Sukkoth when I took them out of the land of Mitsrayim (Egypt - the narrow place)" [Vayikra 23:42-43]. 16. Even though the brakha, "leshev b'sukkah" refers to the mitsvah of living in the sukkah, the poskim [halakhic decisors] ruled that it should be recited at meals where bread is eaten, but one should have in mind, sleeping, sitting and all other eating that will take place in the sukkah. 17. It is permitted to eat snacks and to drink outside a sukkah; however one who is strict upon himself will receive a blessing. 18. It is forbidden to sleep even a little outside a sukkah. Also, any meal (defined as including bread) is likewise forbidden outside a sukkah. 19. According to the Kabbalah, every evening, one should send a cooked meal to a poor person. One should have in mind that this portion is designated for one of the seven "ushpisin" [According to the Kabbalah, each night of the Festival is in honor of a different spiritual guest: Abraham, Yitshaq, Ya'`aqob, Moshe, Aharon, Yosef and Dawidh. 20. One should treat the sukkah with respect as it represents, symbolically, the Heavenly Cloud of Glory that enveloped the Children of Yisrael during our wandering in the desert. 21. An ill person, even one with a headache or pains in his eyes is exempt from the mitsvah of living in a sukkah as long as it will give him relief being in another place. However, if it makes no difference to his illness being in the sukkah not, then he must live in the sukkah. Further, even an ill person is obligated to eat a bite of bread the size of an olive inside the sukkah on the first night of the holiday (as long as it does not adversely affect his condition). 22. A woman is exempt from the mitsvah of sitting in the sukkah as it is a mitsvah restricted to a specific time (from which women are generally exempt). Nevertheless, a woman that does fulfill the mitsvah will receive a blessing. 23. Likewise, one is exempt from living in the sukkah (particularly sleeping) if one lives in an unsuitable climate and it would cause undo disturbance. 24. It is a good custom to learn the tractate Sukkah in the Mishna on the night(s) of the festival. 25. One should not eat any meal after noon, `Erev Sukkoth. 26. The lulav should be longer than four tefahim, some are stringent that all of the leaves should be no less than forty centimeters, but in a time of need or immediacy, one can rely on thirty centimeters. 27. Hadas and Aravah must each be three tefahim long (thirty centimeters). In a time of need, they may be as short as twenty-four centimeters. 28. One should be careful to buy one's etrog from a reputable dealer, or from a know garden. Unfortunately there are unscrupulous people in the world who would sell someone another citrus or an etrog that is the product of a graft. Either of these is considered pasul (invalid) and one does not fulfill the mitsvah with them, for the first day of the holiday or any of the subsequent festival days. 29. The etrog should be free of blemish and should have its pitom (that part that connects it to the branch) attached. 30. A green etrog is kosher (assuming all other requirements are meant). 31. One cannot fulfill the mitsvah with a stolen etrog on the first day of the holiday. 32. To recite the blessing over the four species, one should hold the lulav (bound up with the hadas and aravah) in his hand right hand, alongside the etrog in one's left hand. However the etrog should be upside down until after the recitation of the brakha (blessing). In this way, one fulfills the mitsvah after reciting the brakha (as with most blessings, i.e.; one says the blessing before eating the food). 33. One should say the brakha, then say the brakha "shehekiyanu," and then turn the etrog right side up. If one forgot to say shehekiyanu on the first day, one should say it on the second. 34. If the first day is Shabbat, like this year, one does not wave the lulav on the first day. There is a disagreement amongst poskim if one should say the brakha, shehekiyanu on the second day in such a situation. One should consult one's rabbi in the matter. If one is in doubt, the general rule is to be lenient with blessings, so as not to say God's name unnecessarily. 35. After one says the brakha, one should shake the lulav three times in every direction. According to Minhag Yerushalmi, which follows the custom of the Ari z"l, one should wave it south, north, east, up, down and west {when one waves it downward, one should not turn the lulav upside down so that its head is facing downward, but should simply shake it in the direction of the floor}. One should turn his whole body and face the direction and shakes the lulav forward from the chest and then back. When one turns to face a new direction, he should always turn to his right. 36. It is forbidden to eat before waving the lulav. 37. Women are exempt from waving the lulav, however it is customary for most women to do so today. Sephardim rule that a woman should not say the blessing, as they are not obligated (and thus the phrase "and commanded us to..." would be an empty phrase. In addition, it is a general rule, that when there is a doubt about the necessity for saying a brakha, one should not say it). Many Ashkenazim, on the other hand, do permit women to say a blessing. Everyone should follow his own custom.

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