Community Magazine September 2021

26 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE What does one do if he forgot to recite the berachah of shehehiyanu on the first night of Sukkot? The next morning, when he recites the berachah on his  lulav  and  etrog , he should have in mind for the berachah of shehehiyanu to apply also to his sukkah .  What is the proper practice to follow if rain falls on the first night of Sukkot? Preferably, one should wait for a short while for the rain to stop, and if it persists, then one may eat inside. If the rain stops after he ate his meal inside before he went to sleep, he must eat at least an ounce ( kezayit) of bread – preferably two ounces –  in the sukkah . If one did not eat in the sukkah on the first night of Sukkot due to rainfall, he nevertheless does not recite the berachah of shehehiyanu the following day, even though he then eats in the sukkah for the first time. What if only a light drizzle falls? One should determine whether that amount of rain would force him to relocate if it were falling in his house. If it would, then at that point he is exempt from the obligation of sukkah and should eat inside. Otherwise, he should eat in the sukkah , though one who starts eating when a small amount of rain falls does not recite the berachah of “ leshev basukkah .” When it comes to sleeping, even a slight amount of rain suffices to exempt a person from the obligation to sleep in the sukkah and allow him to sleep inside. What if the rain has stopped, but water is still dripping into the sukkah? If the amount of water dripping into the sukkah would be enough to force a person to move elsewhere if this were happening in his home, then he is not required to sit in the sukkah . But if the shechach is thick enough such that the rain is not entering his sukkah , he must eat in the sukkah . If one covered his sukkah with an awning when it started raining, must he remove the awning when the rain stops? Even if one is in the middle of his meal when the rain stops, he must interrupt his meal to remove the awning. If one had continued eating under the protection of the awning when rain fell, he does not repeat the berachah of “ leshev basukkah ” after removing the awning when the rain stopped. Must one return to the sukkah if the rain stops after he had moved inside? If one already sat down to eat inside because of rain, he is not obligated to return to the sukkah when the rain stops. If he nevertheless wishes to return to the sukkah , he recites a new berachah of “ leshev basukkah .” Similarly, if one went to sleep indoors due to rain, he is not required to move back into the sukkah in the middle of the night when the rain stops. Is one allowed to travel on Sukkot to a place where he will not have access to a sukkah? One who must travel to a different city for business on Sukkot, and has no sukkah available to him where he is staying, is exempt from the mitzvah of sukkah.  However, one who is traveling for vacation or pleasure is still obligated to eat and sleep in the sukkah , and thus such trips may not be taken on Sukkot if no sukkah will be available Are children required to eat in the sukkah? Boys from the age of five or six, depending on maturity, are required to eat in the sukkah . Nevertheless, one may give such a child food that requires a sukkah even if the child might not eat in the sukkah . However, one may not tell the child that he must eat inside, and if the father sees his son eating inside, he should tell him to eat in the sukkah . Must one eat in the sukkah if it is full of mosquitos, or very cold? If the sukkah causes significant discomfort, such as if it is infested with flies or mosquitos, then one is exempt from the obligation to eat and sleep in the sukkah . If it is cold outside, one should wear warm clothes and eat in the sukkah . One who eats in the sukkah when it is very cold but wears warm clothing recites the berachah of “ leshev basukkah .” One should also sleep in the sukkah with warm blankets, but if he is afraid of getting sick, he may sleep inside. Coordinated by Pnina Souid