DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 676 KB)
Succot- The Mukse Status of the Sukka Decorations

There is a Misva to decorate the Sukka before Sukkot; the Sukka decorations are referred to in Halachic literature as "Noi Sukka."

The Rama (Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Cracow, 1525-1572) writes in his glosses to the Shulhan Aruch (Orah Haim 638:3) that one may not move or handle the Sukka decorations on Shabbat or Yom Tob, as they are considered Mukse (listen to audio recording for precise citation). This ruling is cited in the name of the Tur (Rabbi Yaakov Ben Asher, Germany-Spain, 1270-1340). One must therefore ensure not to fiddle with the Sukka decorations, neither those which hang from the Sechach nor those attached to the walls. The Be’ur Halacha (commentary by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933) adds that if a decoration falls down on Shabbat or Yom Tob, one may not pick it up until after Shabbat or Yom Tob ends. One may pick it up on Hol Ha’mo’ed.

If a Sukka decoration falls on the table, and one wishes to remove it from the table, he may lift and shake the table so that the decoration falls. Alternatively, the Ben Ish Hai (Rabbi Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909) rules that one may ask a three- or four-year-old child to remove the decoration from the table. It is forbidden, however, for an adult to directly remove the decoration from the table.

This Halacha does not apply to pieces of Sechach that fall onto the table. If chips of wood or bamboo, for example, fall onto the table on Shabbat or Yom Tob, one may remove them, because they have the Halachic status of "Geraf Shel Re’i" – a substance that people find revolting. Halacha permits removing such items even though they would ordinarily qualify as Mukse. Therefore, although one may not remove Sukka decorations from the table, it is permissible to remove pieces of Sechach that fell onto the table.

Summary: Sukka decorations are considered Mukse on Shabbat and Yom Tob, and one may not handle them on Shabbat or Yom Tob, even if they fall. If a decoration fell onto the table on Shabbat or Yom Tob, one may ask a young child (aged three or four) to remove it, or shake the table so it falls. If pieces of Sechach fall onto the table on Shabbat or Yom Tob, one may directly remove them from the table.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Purim- Laws Regarding the Megila Scroll
Purim – Does One Add Al Ha'nisim in Birkat Ha'mazon if the Meal Ends After Dark?
Purim – Sending Mishlo'ah Manot to a Mourner
Purim – When is the Preferred Time for the Purim Meal?
Handling a Megila on Shabbat
Purim Katan: Haman's Decree and Kashrut
"Purim Katan" – the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Days of Adar Rishon
Purim- Is Megilat Esther Considered Muktze on Shabbat
Purim- Machatzit Ha'shekel
Purim- Reading Haman's 10 Son's Names In One Breath, and Is It Permissible TO Recite The Berachot on The Megila If Less Than A Minyan
Purim- When and How To Recite Havdala When Purim Falls Out On Motza’ei Shabbat
Purim- An Explanation and Understanding of the Page with 10 Names in Megilat Esther
Purim- Some Halachot When Taanit Esther Is Observed On Thursday Prior To Purim That Falls Out On Saturday Night
Is It Permissible for A Sofer To Use Silk Screening Process When Producing a Megilah or Sefer Torah
Purim- Certain Required Characteristics of A Kosher Megilah
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found