(מב) בַּסֻּכֹּ֥ת תֵּשְׁב֖וּ שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֑ים כָּל־הָֽאֶזְרָח֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל יֵשְׁב֖וּ בַּסֻּכֹּֽת׃ (מג) לְמַעַן֮ יֵדְע֣וּ דֹרֹֽתֵיכֶם֒ כִּ֣י בַסֻּכּ֗וֹת הוֹשַׁ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּהוֹצִיאִ֥י אוֹתָ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶֽם׃
(42) You shall dwell in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall dwell in booths, (43) in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I Adonai your God.
Rabbi Alan B. Lucas, in The Observant Life, 172, 174
The sukkah has some very basic requirements, but beyond these rules its construction is left to one's imagination and creativity. . . . . It is not actually a mitzvah (commandment) to build a sukkah, merely to "dwell" in one – which requirement, in the opinion of most authorities, is satisfied by eating there... Because it is a mitzvah to use the sukkah but not technically to build one, there is no blessing recited upon the construction of a sukkah.
(א) סֻכָּה שֶׁהִיא גְבוֹהָה לְמַעְלָה מֵעֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה, פְּסוּלָה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה מַכְשִׁיר. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ גְּבוֹהָה עֲשָׂרָה טְפָחִים, וְשֶׁאֵין לָהּ שְׁלֹשָׁה דְּפָנוֹת, וְשֶׁחַמָּתָהּ מְרֻבָּה מִצִּלָּתָהּ, פְּסוּלָה. סֻכָּה יְשָׁנָה, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי פּוֹסְלִין, וּבֵית הִלֵּל מַכְשִׁירִין. וְאֵיזוֹ הִיא סֻכָּה יְשָׁנָה, כָּל שֶׁעֲשָׂאָהּ קֹדֶם לֶחָג שְׁלשִׁים יוֹם. אֲבָל אִם עֲשָׂאָהּ לְשֵׁם חָג, אֲפִלּוּ מִתְּחִלַּת הַשָּׁנָה, כְּשֵׁרָה:
(1) A sukkah taller than twenty cubits is invalid. Rabbi Yehudah validates it. And one which is not ten hand-breadths tall, or does not contain three walls, or whose whose [area of] sun is greater than its shade is invalid. Regarding an old sukkah, Beit Shammai invalidate it, and Beit Hillel validate it. What is an old sukkah? Any [sukkah] which one made it thirty days before the festival. But if one made it for the sake of the festival, even [if he made it] from the beginning of the year, it is valid.
(א) שִׁעוּר הַסֻּכָּה גָּבְהָהּ אֵין פָּחוֹת מֵעֲשָׂרָה טְפָחִים וְלֹא יָתֵר עַל עֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה. וְרָחְבָּהּ אֵין פָּחוֹת מִשִּׁבְעָה טְפָחִים עַל שִׁבְעָה טְפָחִים. וְיֵשׁ לוֹ לְהוֹסִיף בְּרָחְבָּהּ אֲפִלּוּ כַּמָּה מִילִין. הָיְתָה פְּחוּתָה מֵעֲשָׂרָה אוֹ מִשִּׁבְעָה עַל שִׁבְעָה אוֹ גְּבוֹהָה מֵעֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה כָּל שֶׁהוּא הֲרֵי זוֹ פְּסוּלָה:
The dimensions of a sukkah: its height may not be less than ten hand-breadths or more than twenty cubits, and its width may not be less than seven by seven hand-breadths; but one can expand its width even by several mil. If it were less than ten [tall] or seven by seven [wide] or taller than twenty cubits by any amount it is invalid.
(ב) סֻכָּה שֶׁאֵין לָהּ שָׁלֹשׁ דְּפָנוֹת פְּסוּלָה. הָיוּ לָהּ שְׁתֵּי דְּפָנוֹת גְּמוּרוֹת זוֹ בְּצַד זוֹ כְּמִין גַּ''ם עוֹשֶׂה דֹּפֶן שֶׁיֵּשׁ בְּרָחְבּוֹ יֶתֶר עַל טֶפַח וּמַעֲמִידוֹ בְּפָחוֹת מִשְּׁלֹשָׁה סָמוּךְ לְאֶחָד מִשְּׁתֵּי הַדְּפָנוֹת וְדַיּוֹ. וְצָרִיךְ לַעֲשׂוֹת לָהּ צוּרַת פֶּתַח מִפְּנֵי שֶׁאֵין לָהּ שָׁלֹשׁ דָּפְנוֹת גְּמוּרוֹת. וּכְבָר בֵּאַרְנוּ בְּהִלְכוֹת שַׁבָּת שֶׁצּוּרַת פֶּתַח הָאָמוּר בְּכָל מָקוֹם אֲפִלּוּ קָנֶה מִכָּאן וְקָנֶה מִכָּאן וְקָנֶה עַל גַּבֵּיהֶן אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵינוֹ מַגִּיעַ לָהֶן:
A sukkah without three walls is invalid. If it had two complete walls next to one another in the shape of [the Greek letter] gamma (Γ), one may make a wall with a width greater than one hand-breadth and stand it less than three [hand-breadths] adjacent to one of the [other] two walls, and that is enough. But one must [still] fashion the shape of a doorway . . .
(ב) הָעוֹשֶׂה סֻכָּתוֹ תַחַת הָאִילָן, כְּאִלּוּ עֲשָׂאָהּ בְּתוֹךְ הַבָּיִת. סֻכָּה עַל גַּבֵּי סֻכָּה, הָעֶלְיוֹנָה כְשֵׁרָה, וְהַתַּחְתּוֹנָה פְּסוּלָה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, אִם אֵין דִּיּוּרִין בָּעֶלְיוֹנָה, הַתַּחְתּוֹנָה כְּשֵׁרָה:
(2) One who makes his sukkah beneath a tree, it is as though he made it inside a house [and is thus invalid]. Regarding a sukkah on top of a sukkah, the top one is valid, and the bottom one invalid. Rabbi Yehudah says: if there is no lodging in the top one, the bottom one is valid.
There is a dispute among modern halakhic authorities as to the precise size of the measurements used in the Mishnah and later halakhic sources. With respect to measures of length, the dispute amounts to a 20% variance, with Rabbi Avraham Hayyim Naeh (Israel, 1890-1954) setting the width of a "finger" (אצבע) at 2 cm and the Hazon Ish (Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, Russia/Israel, 1878-1953) setting it at 2.4 cm. Since a "hand" is fixed at four "fingers," and a "cubit" at six "hands," the relevant measurements for the following texts work out as follows:
- 1 hand = 4 fingers = 8-9.6 cm / 3.15-3.78 in
- 3 hands = 24-28.8 cm / 9.45-11.34 in
- 4 hands = 32-38.4 cm / 12.6-15.12 in
- 7 hands = 56-67.2 cm / 1.84-2.2 ft
- 10 hands = 80-96 cm / 2.62-3.15 ft
- 4 cubits = 1.92-2.3 m / 6.3-7.55 ft
- 20 cubits = 9.6-11.52 m / 31.5-37.8 ft
- 1 mil = 960-1,152 m / 3,149.61-3,779.53 ft
(ד) הִדְלָה עָלֶיהָ אֶת הַגֶּפֶן וְאֶת הַדְּלַעַת וְאֶת הַקִּסּוֹם וְסִכֵּךְ עַל גַּבָּהּ, פְּסוּלָה. וְאִם הָיָה סִכּוּךְ הַרְבֵּה מֵהֶן, אוֹ שֶׁקְּצָצָן, כְּשֵׁרָה. זֶה הַכְּלָל, כֹּל שֶׁהוּא מְקַבֵּל טֻמְאָה וְאֵין גִּדּוּלוֹ מִן הָאָרֶץ, אֵין מְסַכְּכִין בּוֹ. וְכָל דָּבָר שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְקַבֵּל טֻמְאָה וְגִדּוּלוֹ מִן הָאָרֶץ, מְסַכְּכִין בּוֹ:
(4) If one raised a grapevine, a gourd, or and ivy upon it, and placed the sekhakh [the leafy roof covering of a sukkah] on top of it, it is invalid. But if there was a greater amount of sekhakh than them, or if one trimmed them [the plants, such that they were not longer attached], it is valid. This is the rule: anything that can be rendered impure or does not grow from the ground cannot be used for sekhakh; and anything that cannot be rendered impure and that grows from the ground can be used for sekhakh.
Rabbi Isaac Klein, A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice, 160, 173 (internal citations omitted)
This covering, called sekhakh, must be of material that grows from the soil, has been detached from the ground, and cannot be defiled. Hides and the like are excluded because they do not grow from the soil; vines and tendrils are excluded because they are attached to the ground; cloth, utensils, or metal objects are excluded because they can become ritually defiled. The sekhakh is usually of cut branches or plants.
The most commonly used materials for s'khakh today are some mixture of pine or other evergreen coniferous tree branches and/or bamboo poles or bamboo mats.
(ה) חֲבִילֵי קַשׁ וַחֲבִילֵי עֵצִים וַחֲבִילֵי זְרָדִין, אֵין מְסַכְּכִין בָּהֶן. וְכֻלָּן שֶׁהִתִּירָן, כְּשֵׁרוֹת. וְכֻלָּן כְּשֵׁרוֹת לַדְּפָנוֹת:
(5) Bundles of straw, bundles of wood, or bundles of shoots may not be used for sekhakh. And all of them, if they are untied [from their bundles], are valid. And they are all valid for use as walls [of a sukkah].
(ב) אין מסככין. כשהן קשורים. ולא מפני שהן פסולים אלא פעמים שאדם בא וחבילתו על כתפו ומעלה ומניחה על גבי סוכה ליבשה ונמלך עליה לסכוך, והתורה אמרה תעשה ולא מן העשוי בפסול, וזה לא נעשה אפילו לצל אלא ליבש והוי עשוי בפסול:
May not be used for sekhakh when they are bound – not because they are invalid [in and of themselves] but because sometimes a person comes with his bundle on his shoulders, lifts it up and places it on the sukkah to dry, and decides to use it for sekhah; but the Torah said "make" and not "use what was already made improperly," and this [bundle] was not even put there for shade, just to dry, and so it is "already made improperly."
Rabbi Alan B. Lucas, in The Observant Life, 173-174
It is also customary to decorate sukkot with posters, drawings, and colorful paper, and also with fruit and vegetable hangings... While not technically required, all this extra adornment falls under the general category of hiddur mitzvah, the rabbinic injunction not merely to perform the mitzvot correctly, but in as aesthetically pleasing a way as possible.
