DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 1.1 MB)
Succot- How to Conduct Oneself in the Sukka; Which Amounts of Food Require a Sukka

Hacham Ovadia Yosef, in his work Hazon Ovadia – Laws of Sukkot (p. 127), discusses the Halachic principle of "Teshevu Ke'en Taduru," which requires that throughout the festival of Sukkot one must treat his Sukka as his home. Accordingly, one should use in the Sukka the same chinaware, glasses and other fine utensils that he normally uses in his home. It is improper to use disposable plates and utensils in the Sukka if one normally does not use disposable goods. Similarly, one should not bring pots and the like into the Sukka. Just as food is normally served to the table in comely serving bowls and platters, so should one bring food to the Sukka in proper serving utensils. And even if there are those who bring pots directly to the table, since they comprise the minority of people, they, too, must bring food to the Sukka in proper serving utensils.

It is forbidden to perform in the Sukka any activity that might seem degrading to the Sukka, such as washing dishes and diapering a baby. Hacham Ovadia rules that smoking is permissible in the Sukka, as it does not constitute a degrading activity. (He does not address here the issue of smoking generally and the health hazard it could present.) He further writes that one may wash Netilat Yadayim at the table in the Sukka, just as many people are accustomed to doing at their tables inside the home.

Throughout the festival of Sukkot, it is forbidden to eat bread outside the Sukka, unless one eats a quantity of 2 oz. or less. If one eats more than 2oz, he must eat in the Sukka and recite the Beracha of "Lei'shev Ba'sukka." If one eats 2oz or less of bread and wishes to do so in the Sukka, he does not recite the Beracha of "Lei'shev Ba'sukka." If after eating 2 oz. he decides to eat some more, then he should recite the Beracha even though he intends to eat only a small amount. Since altogether the amount of bread he eats on that occasion amounts to more than 2 oz., he must recite the Beracha. This is the ruling of Hacham Ovadia Yosef (ibid. p. 133).

Other grain products, too, such as cake and pastries, must be eaten in the Sukka if one eats more than 2 oz. In such a case, however, one does not recite the Beracha of "Lei'shev Ba'sukka" unless he partakes of 8 oz. or more of these products.

Summary: Throughout the festival of Sukkot one should use in his Sukka the same kinds of utensils he uses at home, including serving utensils. One may not performing degrading activities in the Sukka such as washing dishes and diapering a child. During Sukkot, one who eats more than 2 oz. of bread or other grain products must do so in the Sukka. He recites the Beracha of "Lei'shev Ba'sukka" if he eats more than 2 oz. of bread, or if he eats 8 oz. or more of other grain products.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Does Someone Count for a Minyan If He is in a Different Room?
Is There an Obligation to Live in Eretz Yisrael?
May a Woman Return Home From the Hospital on Shabbat After a “False Alarm”?
Revoking Rabbinic Edicts of Past Generations
Accompanying a Woman in Labor to the Hospital on Shabbat
May a Husband be Present During His Wife’s Labor and Delivery?
May Expectant Parents Find Out the Fetus’ Gender?
Is it Permissible to Pray for the Death of a Terminally Ill Patient Who is Suffering?
Using the Mother’s Name When Praying for a Sick Patient
“Opening One’s Mouth to the Satan”
Does One Recite Tefilat Ha’derech Before a Short Flight?
Customs to Observe After Experiencing a Miracle
The Beracha Recited Upon Entering a Cemetery
The Completion of the 13th Daf Yomi Cycle
May a Synagogue Have a Menorah With Seven Branches?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found