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You can build it very small1 You can build it very large3 You can build it on a ship4 You can build it in an alley6 You can build it on a wagon8 You can make the s’khakh of wood10 Make the s’khakh from boughs of a tree Build your sukkah tall or short You can build it somewhat soon If your sukkah is well made |
You can build it very wide Build it if your name is Jim Build it if your name is Sue14 From the sukkah you can roam You can invite some special guests16 You can sleep upon some rugs In your sukkah you should sit If in the sukkah it should rain And if it should be very cold So build a sukkah one and all Sukkah rules are short and snappy |
1. The minimum height of a sukkah is 10 tepachim. A tepach is a measure of the width of the four fingers of one’s hand. This is typically about 3 inches wide, so the minimum sukkah height is about 30 inches. The minimum allowable width is 7 x 7 tepachim. This would result in a sukkah of 21 x 21 inches. (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Sukkah 4:1)
2. The maximum height is 20 amot. An amah is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. If one’s amah is 16 inches, the maximum height almost 27 feet. Others say that 30 feet is the maximum.
3. According to Maimonides, a sukkah can be built to a width of several miles. The Shulchan Aruch also says there is no limit on the sukkah’s width.
5. One may construct a sukkah by wedging poles in the four corners of the roof and suspending s’khakh from the poles. The walls of the building underneath are considered to reach upward to the edge of the s’khakh. (Hilchot Sukkah 4:11)
6. But there are certain considerations to account for in building a sukkah in an alley or passageway. (Hilchot Sukkah 4:8-10)
7. There is a location mentioned in the Talmud called Ashtarot Karnayim. According to the discussion there are two hills with a valley in between where the sun does not reach. The halakhah is that you can build your sukkah in Ashtarot Karnayim, or other places where the sun does not reach the sukkah because of artificial impediments, provided that if the impediment were removed, shade from the sun would now come through the s’khakh. (b Sukkot 2a)
8. You can go into a sukkah built on a wagon or a ship even on yom tov. (Hilchot Sukkah 4:6)
9. Dragons are ok, and so are camels—according to Maimonides (but dragon rhymes with wagon much better). You can build your sukkah on an animal or in the crown of a tree, but you can’t go into it on yom tov. There is a general rule against riding an animal or ascending into a tree on yom tov. (Hilchot Sukkah 4:6)
10. Basically, you can use that which has grown from the ground and is completely detached from the ground. So, for example, you cannot bend the branches of a tree over the sukkah to form the s’khakh, but you can cut the branches from a tree and use them as s’khakh. Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 5 deals with the rules for the s’khakh.
11. This would be a violation of the rule cited in the prior footnote.
12. The sukkah should not be built sooner than 30 days before the chag. However, if the structure is built prior to 30 days, as long as something new is added within the 30 days, the sukkah is kosher. (Shulchan Aruch, Hilchot Sukkah, Perek 636, Section 1)
13. Of course it’s a well known rule that you must sit in the shade from the roof of the sukkah and not in the shade that may be cast by the walls. It seems that this might affect the height of the walls, depending on the longitude of the location where you are building your sukkah.
14. Traditionally, women, servants and minors are patur from the mitzvah of sukkah. In our day we hope we know better than to leave out more than half the Jewish people from the observance of mitzvot. Of course, that’s just a personal opinion of the author.
15. You should eat, drink and live in the sukkah for the seven days as you live in your own home. One should not even take a nap outside of the sukkah. (Hilchot Sukkah 6:6)
16. During Sukkot the souls of the seven shepherds of Israel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David, are said to leave Gan Eden to partake in the joy of the earthly Sukkot. Each day of Sukkot, all seven souls are present, but each takes his turn to lead the other six. Collectively these transcendent guests are known as ushpizin, an Aramaic word meaning “guests.” (Zohar, Emor 103a)
17. If it rains one should go into the house. How does one know if it is raining hard enough? If sufficient raindrops fall through the s’khakh and into the food so that the food is spoiled—go inside! (Hilchot Sukkah 6:10)
18. We are supposed to enjoy ourselves in the sukkah. If it is cold enough in the sukkah that food congeals, one is exempt from eating there. According to the Shulchan Aruch, “One who is exempt from remaining in the sukkah and does not leave is called an ignoramus, will obtain no reward for staying there, and is not permitted to say the benediction.”
19. The Torah mentions joy with reference to Sukkot more frequently than to any other festival; for example, “And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God” (Lev. 23:40); “And you shall rejoice in your festival” (Deut. 16:14).
—Adapted from Rabbi Arthur E. Gould, Sukkot 1999–2001.